Feeling Like a Fetish: Racialized Feelings, Fetishization, and the Contours of Sexual Racism on Gay Dating Apps

Abstract

ABSTRACT Whom we date and are intimate with is structured by race and racism. Recent research has focused on “personal preference” discourse and sexual stereotyping to highlight how and why race and racism affect online and offline interactions. Yet relatively less work focuses on racial fetishization – race-based fixation on a bodily part or characteristic that involves both idolization and demonization of racial difference. Drawing on recent theorizing around racialized feelings, we investigated how racial fetishization materializes and makes men of color feel. We used two sources of data: 858 unique profile screenshots and 26 in-depth interviews with users of Grindr, Scruff, and Jack’d – three popular dating apps for sexual minority men. We found that while instances of racial fetishization were rare in public profiles, a majority of men of color discussed its prevalence. As a result of racial fetishization, men of color described feeling: (1) objectified; (2) that it hindered the formation of platonic or intimate connections; and (3) boxed in and minimized to a stereotype. Our results suggest that racial fetishization induces particular racialized feelings in men of color, and we suggest ways that these racialized feelings might be connected to the reproduction of racial and sexual inequality.