Projects

Geosocial networking applications (GSNAs) like Tinder, Grindr and Bumble are changing “the way we act both romantically and sexually” (Garcia, 2015, as cited in Sales, 2015). People used to meet their dates through existing social networks; now, thanks to GSNAs and online dating, many people meet someone from social networks to which they have no connection (Hergovich et al., 2018).

One result is an increase in interracial marriages (Hergovich et al., 2018). Another is that marriages formed online appear to fare better than those formed offline (Cacioppo, Cacioppo, Gonzaga, Ogburn, & Vanderweele, 2013). In short, the techno-cultural society (Duguay, 2017) in which we live is changing how we live life and with whom we meet and fall in love.

However, these advances are not without critique. In her ominously titled “Tinder and the Dawn of the Dating Apocalypse” article in Vanity Fair, Sales (2015) paints a picture of callously detached young men playing “a numbers game” and young women lamenting the lack of respect, absence of emotional connection, and harassment they receive. Several researchers have documented the misogyny on both social media and GSNAs (Banet-Weiser & Miltner, 2016; Jane, 2016; Ringrose & Lawrence, 2018; Shaw, 2016; Thompson, 2018), but this work is in its infancy and limited by its focus on single demographics (usually straight, young men and women).

More broadly, scant research has explored the cultural impact and influence of GSNAs on the way that gender identity, sexual practices, public and private spaces, quality of life, and technology are intertwined. Adopting a cyberqueer theoretical framework, we explored the impact of GSNAs on adults’ gender and sexual identities and sexual social practices, using an appnographic methodology (Cousineau, Oakes, & Johnson, 2018).

The following four objectives:

1.  Generate qualitative interview data that address the impacts of GSNAs on gender and sexual identities, relationships and quality of life within straight, bisexual, lesbian and gay communities, and across diverse gender identities 
2. Conduct focus groups to generate data on how the use of GSNAs in public spaces affects the shape and configuration of those spaces
3. Promote a new methodology for the study of GSNAs to equip and encourage qualitative inquiry on the intersection of digitality and social, cultural and sexual practices
4. Undertake knowledge mobilization activities that will engage both an international, multidisciplinary, academic audience and GSNA users regarding digital transformations to gender and sexual identities.

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This study responded to the critical need for research on psychosocial health throughout breast cancer (BC) survivorship by exploring survivor dragon boat racing (DRB). DBR is a woman-centered, sport focused on life after medical treatment for BC. The research question guiding the proposed research was, “What roles does DBR play in women’s psychosocial health throughout BC survivorship?

The specific objectives of the study were:

1. To assess the short-term psychosocial health effects of DBR
2. To assess the longer-term psychosocial health effects of DBR
3. To share the knowledge gained about DBR with key stakeholders. Illness experiences are mediated by gender so feminist standpoint theory (FST) provided the guiding theoretical framework for the research.

A central tenet of FST is the need for research focused on the private and personal perspectives of participants, which can be achieved through qualitative research methods. Thus, the research utilized interviews to allow for direct quotes from survivor dragon boaters.

The significance of the study was twofold

1. Women’s psychosocial health is an area of research that has only recently emerged as a critical area of study for BC researchers, which means the proposed study addressed an important gap in the literature 
2. DBR is surging in popularity amongst BC survivors, yet scant research has comprehensively examined the roles it plays in women’s psychosocial health throughout short and longer term survivorship.

The outcome of the research was the identification of the principles of DBR that are integral to enhancing health and creating positive experiences of cancer survivorship. In so doing, the research made a significant contribution to understanding recovery initiatives for BC survivors that informed future intervention strategies

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Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, and other apps for meeting people are firmly part of Canadians' everyday lives. These geosocial networking applications (GSNAs), accessed through mobile devices, are widely discussed as the catalyst for new connections and relationships as their users find friends, dates, relationships, and even new jobs or apartments by swiping through profiles. However, GSNAs also cause harm and violence, with users reporting experiences of sexual harassment and threats in their interactions.

This project examines how GSNAs are designed, envisioned by stakeholders, and experienced by Canadians to understand how they feature in equitable uses--those fostering positive outcomes across diverse users--and how to address and prevent their use for inequitable, violent ends.

To address this gap, this study spans four objectives, which form the project's driving questions:

1.  What measures, governance policies, and technological features are currently in place on GSNAs to promote user safety, and what gaps and insufficiencies create the potential for harm?
2. How do Canadian GSNA users of diverse backgrounds experience and negotiate the potential dangers and opportunities of the technology?
3. How are various stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, GSNA companies, civil society groups) working to enable safer interactions on GSNAs, and where present measures are seen as inadequate, what improvements do they envision?
4. What tools can be provided to academics and public audiences to empower individuals in the use of GSNAs for equitable use and to stop technology-facilitated violence through the apps?

These questions will be addressed through a qualitative, multiphase, multimethod research design guided by science and technology studies, intersectional digital feminism, and social justice frameworks.

First, GSNAs will be examined through a digital walkthrough, forensic analysis, and platform historiography, resulting in the development of an innovative "safety map" -- an interactive visualization of different features and policies that promote or hinder safety. Second, interviews will be conducted with a range of GSNA users to explore their perceptions of equitable/inequitable behaviour on the apps and their experiences across positive, violent, or harmful outcomes.

Findings will inform a "digital citizenship guide" providing self-defence strategies for harm prevention, advice for digital bystanders, and information dispelling violence-enabling myths. Users' perspectives will be presented to stakeholders in focus groups, where they will weigh in on how approaches to violence prevention on GSNAs are/are not working and to think collaboratively about future solutions. The results of the group discussions will be disseminated through "one-sheets" -- single-page documents highlighting relevant information for stakeholders.

Finally, the results of the previous three phases will be synthesized and mobilized through scholarly outputs and digital short videos to inform users, developers, and other stakeholders of effective ways to address digital harms while fostering equitable dating app practices. This research will make high-impact contributions to knowledge across scholarly disciplines, public and private stakeholders, and for individual GSNA users.

Findings published in open-access academic journals will deepen scholars' understanding of the relationship between mobile technologies and equity within society. This will be of interest across sociology, leisure studies, and communications, as evidenced by the research team's range of scholarly backgrounds. This research will be of use to developers, policy-makers, and support services by providing tangible insights and recommendations on how GSNAs can be redesigned and re-envisioned.

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At many Canadian universities, including the University of Waterloo, returning student leaders are tasked with organizing a series of activities to help introduce incoming students to the campus before the start of classes. This student-led orientation is most commonly known on campus as o-week.

In September 2013, a chant was heard during o-week activities at two Canadian universities located on opposites sides of the country -- St. Mary’s University (SMU) and the University of British Columbia (UBC): “Y-O-U-N-G, we like ‘em young, Y is for your sister, O is for oh so tight, U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for go to jail.” A video of this chant being delivered to incoming students by male student leaders at SMU was uploaded to Instagram and quickly went viral.

Highlighting the normalization of sexual violence on Canadian university campuses, these lyrics had apparently been written down and passed, without issue or intervention, from orientation leader to orientation leader at the Halifax university since, at least, 2009 (Taber, 2013, September 05). At UBC, an internal investigation revealed that over the past two decades a similar chant had become an “oral tradition” during o-week activities at the Sauder School of Business (Hume, 2013, September 18).

To be clear, these are not isolated incidents – nor are SMU and UBC isolated institutions. Instead, these incidents and institutions are emblematic of the broader rape culture that exists on Canadian university campuses. As Walsh (2015) argued, “while girls are told to empower themselves and to voice their concerns, the surrounding cultural environment often reinforces silence, dismissal, and retribution towards women who speak out. Men and boys need to be part of the solution” (p. 134). There is a gap in the way we proactively engage male students in discussion and solutions about gender equity and sexual violence on university campuses in Canada and around the world.

To address this gap, this study used a feminist theoretical framework to mobilize men on campus as local gender equity advocates.

Four objectives framed this three year study:

1. Examine how the socio-cultural context of masculinities relates to sexual violence on a Canadian university campus.
2. Investigate what kinds of relationships, connections, and communities are necessary to establish a campus-based male allies program.
3. Introduce design thinking to feminist pedagogy to create male allies.
4. Produce a publicly accessible toolkit that calls attention to the critical components of mobilizing male students as gender equity advocates, which will be adaptable to individual university contexts and used to disseminate the knowledge gained on a local, national, and international scale.

Year one involved conversational interviews with approximately 30 participants at UW; including 15 male students and 15 male staff, faculty, and administrators. Year two was twofold.

First, researchers worked with a community collaborator who specialized in engaging men on campus to develop a feminist training session informed by the data gathered in year one plus previous sessions piloted at UW in 2016/7. The community collaborator facilitated this training a total of six times across campus to a diverse group of men. During these training sessions, the facilitator identified male students interested in taking on a leadership role addressing sexual violence on campus.

Second, the PI and CI provided mentorship to these men with the knowledge and tools required to self-organize and establish a male allies program. In year three researchers produced a toolkit that provided a comprehensive framework for creating male allies, which will be shared broadly. The toolkit was shared with other institutions locally, nationally, and globally.

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