Ready for another Deep Dive?! 🌊
Deep Dives are member-led, one-hour discussions on wide-ranging topics — but always linked in some way to masculinities, gender equity, mental wellness, and/or healthy relationships.
Bring your coffee and settle in for a great conversation. Or, if you've got a busy day, you're welcome to join from your phone while on the go!
This time, we're following up on a previous discussion we had in March about sex and relationships and focusing the conversation on the influence of technology and the internet. 💻
Technology and the internet have changed both the dating and hookup scenes, arguably both for better and for worse. While people now have a wide variety of convenient ways to contact people who share their interests and desires and to view online content that matches their interests and desires, online platforms have generated and entrenched a variety of norms that make dating no easier and no less unenjoyable for some. Many of these norms relate to expectations regarding conceptions of the ideal expression of gender — including masculinity.
This discussion is an opportunity to reflect on the impacts that technology and the internet have had on dating and sex; to reflect on the gendered aspects of these impacts; and to share personal experiences, what we’ve learned, and how we can continue to create the conditions for healthy relationships both online and offline.
Some of the questions we are keen to explore:
What are some of the positive and negative ways in which online dating has changed dating (especially on dating apps)?
How do these impacts differ by gender? How do they differ by sexual orientation?
What are your thoughts on the norms of masculinity that exist in the online dating scene? Which of these norms have you encountered and how did they impact your experiences?
We may feel encouraged to present the *best* version of ourselves and the ‘highlight reels’ of our lives. How has people’s selective/idealistic online presentation of themselves and their relationships (including your own) affected you and others (especially on personal photo-based and video-based apps like Instagram and TikTok)?
How does this selective self-presentation differ by gender?
Have you ever been consciously selective in the way you present yourself and your relationships online and, if so, how?
How has online pornography shaped the norms and expectations that people have of dating and sex?
How do these norms and expectations differ by gender? How do they differ by sexual orientation?
How was the impact of pornography different before the internet was widely available?
We will see where the discussion goes from there!
Hope to see you there on Sunday, May 19 at 10 am PT / 11 am MT / 1 pm ET 🙌
Access to Deep Dives events and our private online community, Inner Circle, are available to Next Gen Menbers only!
What is Next Gen Menbership? It’s a $5-50 monthly or $50-500 annual contribution that goes directly to our youth programs with the added bonus of exclusive discounts, free events, and more!