Created in 2009, the popular location-based gay dating app Grindr has been used widely by queer people who occupy masculine spaces for the purpose of finding other queer people for friendship, relationships, and sexual encounters. Over the course of its existence, Grindr users have created their own dialect and culture around casual, anonymous sex that has revealed some of the worst of humanity's dispositions towards each other. Grindr is an unregulated online community which cultivates miscommunication, allows anonymous people to send racist, transphobic, ableist, and fatphobic remarks to others with no consequences, and encourages instant gratification at any cost.
The Grind is a criticism of gay hookup culture as it has risen to prominence on apps such as Grindr. Through the complete envelope of emotions experienced during an anonymous hookup, The Grind reveals how harsh and brutal the culture Grindr encourages can be. This work sheds light on the insidious way that queer people who occupy masculine spaces have corrupted the joyous act of queer pleasure and sparks a conversation about the way we treat our friends, partners, and total strangers.
The Grind is under exclusivity with Nick May until June 1, 2024.