Dalla Lana School of Public Health

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About the Book:

In Sticky, Sexy, Sad: Swipe Culture & The Darker Side of Dating Apps, lifelong luddite Treena Orchard chronicles being a newly sober woman coming off a much-needed break from relationships and reluctantly taking the digital plunge by downloading a dating app. Instead of the fun, easy experiences advertised on swiping platforms, she discovers endless upkeep, ghosting, fleeting moments of sexual connection, and a steady flow of misogyny.

Orchard uses her skills as both an anthropologist who studies sexuality and a sex-positive feminist to explore what it feels like to want love while also resisting the addictive pull of platforms designed to make us swipe-dependent. The book asks: What are the social and human impacts of using dating apps? How can we maintain our integrity and warm-blooded desire for intimacy while swiping? Can we resist some of the problematic aspects of swipe culture? Is love on dating apps possible?

From how we swipe for the connection we crave to how these platforms dilute the diversity of our intimate lives, this remarkable book cracks the code of modern romance. Told with humour and vulnerability, Sticky, Sexy, Sad is a riveting and inspiring manifesto about how we can stay true to ourselves amid the digitization of love in the twenty-first century.

Author Bio:

Treena Orchard is an anthropologist, author, and activist in the School of Health Studies at Western University. She researches and engages in activist debates about sexuality, gender, and health among diverse cultural and digital communities. Deeply committed to public scholarship, she regularly writes for and is featured in leading online publications, including Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, and The National Post, and The Conversation.

Event Details:

Please join us as we hear Dr. Orchard discuss her latest book. This event is hybrid, but as space is limited, we encourage you to register as soon as possible to save your spot.

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