What’s true in the hinterlands, however, may also pertain to the big city, where, for now at least, women still prefer face time. It never even occurred to her that these women might have only been looking for sex. Krysten Milne tells the Voice that when she was building GirlDar, she wanted to give lesbians who live outside the major urban centers a way to connect with each other. Brenda even makes users confirm that they understand it’s not to be used as a sex app. Unlike Grindr, however, they all take pains to distance themselves from projecting an explicitly sexual vibe.
All begin with a non-paying tier FindHrr, Dattch, and Brenda (a chat app) offer upgrades for extra functionality like sending videos. Like Grindr, FindHrr, GirlDar, Dattch, and the forthcoming Parlez use geolocation to enable users to find and connect with others users in their immediate vicinity. If they’re virtually cruising, it’s for “that perfect soulmate they can enjoy the high life with,” according to Nicola Chubb, co-founder of FindHrr. Women want more than just the location and stats Grindr provides. Grindr founder Joel Simkhai tells the Voice he “just didn’t see a big enough demand” for a female-only version.Įven so, a new wave of dyke entrepreneurs are attempting to lure visitors by offering more than just nearby potential bedmates. Last year, Grindr, far and away the preferred cruising app for gay men, introduced Blendr for heterosexual users.
That means holding out for the first few dates anyway, in stark contrast to those gay men for whom “date” means “fuckfest this Friday.” Women have been saying they want to be able to hook up the way the guys do at least as far back as 2001, when Elizabeth Perlman complained on a website called The New Gay, “I certainly wouldn’t mind competing with the gays to take back my right to be a slut if it meant being a normal person who collects vagina photos on my cell phone.” The reality, however, is that while gay men quickly monopolize new technology to find the fastest way to get laid (remember those AOL chat rooms?), lesbians tend to use social media to be more, well, social. Ever since hookup websites (and subsequently apps) became the way gay men play, lesbians have been asking, “Where’s our Grindr?” But perhaps the better question would be, do lesbians want to bang or just hang with friends? And if you build a women-seeking-women app, will they come?