By Nathan Franco, Class of 2028
On September 11th 2024, the HRC’s Gender Studies Lab welcomed visiting Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology Andrew Wortham to speak about his research project titled “Casual Queering: Playing Chinese Gay Dating Apps Wrong.” About 35 students and ten faculty members attended.
Professor Wortham began by introducing various queer terms and analytical thinking along with a little description of his past venture(s) in Kunming, where he had the chance to study gay dating apps like “HeeSay,” previously known as “Blued.” The application “Blued” was usually downloaded by queer individuals with the “hard core” goals of finding romantic, sexual, or platonic relationships, however, as Professor Wortham showed, the people behind the scenes who worked for “Blued” had different goals, namely to encourage “at risk” individuals to get tested for HIV/Aids (Blued, like other dating apps, have a connection with the Centers for Disease Control).
Professor Wortham further discussed having worked “hand-in-hand” with one exceptional Kunming-based employee who constantly persuaded at-risk individuals to come to his office and get tested by using a more masculine or feminine way of communication in order to accomplish his “hard-core” goal.
Apart from these “hard core” goals, Professor Wortham established the term “playing” in context to gay dating apps. Rather than viewing gay dating apps through an absolute (i.e. “hard core”) lens of finding a partner or for sexual engagement(s), the worker in Kunming used gay dating applications in the same manner as if he were playing a game. It did not have to be serious, so his conversations with users were typically mellow, dramatic, satire-filled, and comedic (“low stakes”). Users with their goals in mind usually kept the conversation going to fulfill time, reliving the stress and anxiety the app may have caused (through “play”).
However, entering some of these apps with romantic and sexual goals also comes with “normativity and discontent,” which can cause stress and make users want to uninstall the app. But in the end, they may find themselves reinstalling such apps because, as Wortham explains, “play” in these interactions that are not purely sexual results in users deciding to interact again.
Professor Wortham describes casual queering as “[p]laying hard-core, normative dating app goals in a way that is not (at least temporarily) about accomplishing the goal, but instead joyfully filling time.” This means rather than using queer applications for the” hard-core” goal of finding a romantic or sexual partner; users are using them in the “wrong” way to engage in low-risk, fun conversations.
During the last 15 minutes, there was a Q&A session with Professor Wortham and the audience. Some of the questions asked were:
Q1: Is the HIV/AIDs status of a person posted on their profile?
A1: Yes, in some apps, you can opt-in to show your status and when you were tested. But this can come with a lot of problems because some people who are HIV+ would be unlikely to post their status visible because of discrimination and alienation.
Q2: After working at these queer app companies, how did workers get the right at-risk people to get tested?
A2: This is normally done through a manner of trustworthiness. People who were there and were willing to talk eventually led to a causal relationship, which led to getting tested.
Q3: Why are people at risk unwilling to be tested? What about the new 7-day drug that could prevent HIV?
A3: Some people are terrified about getting a positive result. There is a lot of stigmata/false information about how HIV is spread in addition to social isolation and the chance of being outed, which is why these companies encouraged people to speak with their families and friends, even going as far as providing a script.
Regarding the drug, as this is a new drug, many people, especially in rural areas, do not know that this drug exists. While some may fear being seen taking the drug or having the drug. Resulting in them not even getting the drug in the first place.
Q4: How is “play” different from flirting?
A4: “Play” often goes together with wasting time when you are bored. For example, one person known for being exceptional was contacted (by a queer app employee) in a playful manner, in which the whole office ended up playing a “game” in were other workers would share ideas of what to text back. There is always potential for conversations to become casual and playful.
