Dating app Bumble launches new campaign to help bridge the ‘romance gap’

According to a YouGov poll commissioned by Bumble, 52% of respondents think men should always make the first move.

Almost 2 in 3 people in the UK (63%) said they expected men to take the lead, but only 8% expected the same from women.

Dating app Bumble launches campaign for equality

The latest research from Bumble suggests that daters want a very different kind of dynamic relationship.

86% of Britons say equality is important between people who are dating or in a relationship.

Meanwhile, 74% of respondents said there are different expectations and expected behaviors based on your gender when it comes to relationships.

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In other words, an overwhelming majority think there is a love divide and there are pressures for men and women to act a certain way.

The dating app recognizes that we have made “positive progress towards equality, traditional gender roles and expectations are still very present, and even accepted in dating”.

In fact, some behaviors that we deem romantic for men are viewed negatively if they come from a woman.

The research, which gathered responses from across Europe, found that:

• Men are always expected to take the lead: More than half of people (52%) say society expects men to take the lead in relationships, with this figure rising to almost 2 in 3 in the UK (63% ), while just 8% believe that society expects women to do so. For men, just over 1 in 4 (27%) feel compelled to take the lead.
• Women don’t have to look desperate: In the UK, more than half (51%) of stateswomen are expected to avoid appearing overly enthusiastic, clingy, attached or desperate. Interestingly, this is felt much more by women (62%) than by men (40%).
• Men worry about their lack of experience between the sheets: Almost a fifth (18%) of British men fear being judged for their lack of sexual experience. Almost the same number of women (19%) fear being judged for the opposite – their number of intimate encounters.
• Women have a “lifespan” in dating: 42% say women are expected to prioritize finding a relationship and settling down before they are ‘too old’. On the other hand, only 13% say that society expects this from men. For women, 1 in 3 (32%) felt pressure to compromise on what they wanted when dating or in relationships.
• Men are meant to be breadwinners: In the UK, 1 in 2 (53%) say men are expected to earn more money and be responsible for finances, with just 3% agreeing that this is expected of women . 1 in 10 women (10%) felt worried about being judged for earning more than their partner.
• Women change behavior: Amidst all this expectation, it’s no surprise that 1 in 3 women (33%) have changed their behavior to make someone feel more powerful or more comfortable.

A couple on a date. 1 credit

The new campaign is part of Bumble’s efforts to empower people to create healthy, equitable relationships and challenge “obsolete” gender dynamics.

“The Romance Gap is a new term, but many of us will know that feeling. Those times when you’re wondering if sending that text is making you sound too lively, waiting for them to take the lead, or worrying if you are judged for being too lively, too inexperienced, too old. At Bumble, we’re focused on creating an app that empowers women to take the first step and date them from the start. But we alone can’t. changing societal expectations,” said Naomi Walkland, Bumble’s vice president for Europe.
Ms Walkland continued: ‘An unexamined Romance Gap limits us, with 1 in 2 people agreeing that building equal relationships is difficult. The only way to close the love gap is to acknowledge it exists and start an open conversation about its impact on how we see ourselves, our partners, and our relationships. Only when we are aware of this can we challenge ourselves to eliminate gendered expectations of who should do what.

It’s not just that outdated gender dynamics are bad for equality, they prevent us from making real connections with people, the dating app believes.

According to his research, 52% say the impact of gender roles makes people behave in a way less true to who they are.

However, it appears that change is on the way with 58% of respondents believing that in an ideal world we would have no expectations of who earns more, a more successful career (55%), or who takes the first step in initiating a date (49%).

You can see the rest of Bumble’s research, campaign, and tips for starting a conversation via the Bumble website.