“They’re All Honky Bros…”: Exploring Canadian Women of Color’s Experiences Using Geosocial Networking Applications

Abstract

Abstract Digital-sexual racism is mediated though geosocial networking applications (GSNAs), also known as dating/hookup apps. Digital-sexual racism seeks to explain how access to multiple profiles, emphasis on self-presentation, and increased anonymity found on GSNAs results in racism and discrimination for people of color. Scholars have started to explore digital-sexual racism on GSNAs; however, Canadian women of color (WOC) have not been included in this exploration to date. Informed by a feminist lens, we conducted focus groups with 12 WOC from Ontario, Canada, to explore how the intersection of their race/ethnicity, gender, and geographic location influenced their experience and engagement with GSNAs. We summarized our results as follows: (1) forms of digital-sexual racism, (2) influence of geography, and (3) sexism from men of color and immigrant men. We argue that the intersection of race, gender, and geographic location affords a unique experience between WOC/non-WOC and within the broad WOC category as well.