[NABS-L] Using online dating apps and putting oneself out there

Wed Aug 21 15:43:52 UTC 2019

I'd be curious, when it comes to online dating, when people disclose their blindness: Do they do so right away, or wait until they actually meet? (I know this is subjective for everyone).
I think that online dating is a good way to meet people but that one must be careful where they go. For example, a friend was showing me their Tinder profile, and the bios of people seem very superficial, so you really don't know what the person is like. (I've also been told that this site shouldn't be taken seriously, but that's down to opinion).
Vejas 

> On 21 Aug 2019, at 04:52, Sami Osborne via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Rahul and all,
> 
> While I have never utilized dating sites myself, I would personally discourage this. This is not to say that no one should do it, of course—everyone makes their own personal choices, but in my opinion online dating is not really "dating" someone, even though you and your partner might consider it so. When you date someone, you are really in their presence (in person), a lot of the time, and you're constantly going out and showing affection with each other. For me personally, it's far easier to meet a potential partner when they live near where you live. There are lots of ways of meeting people in person (IE. maybe they work the same job as you, or maybe a friend could hook you up with your future partner, or maybe you'd meet them at a bar or other public venue, etc. Of course I presume (since I've never done this myself) that you could ask to have a partner close to home when setting up an online dating account, but you'd probably also have no guarantee of that; you could end up with someone 1000 miles away, and you might never end up seeing each other in person because you might not have the money, or some other reason.
> 
> Another thing that's an important factor in dating is attraction, so that you know who you really have feelings for. Again, I could be wrong about this, but I feel that this is probably a whole lot easier in person than virtually; when you're face-to-face with the person you want to be your partner, at least you know all the features that really draw you to them. With online dating you could very well end up with someone with something you don't like in reality, even though it might not appear that way (they could have bad breath (no offense)), or, if your partner is sighted, they could offer you compliments about, say, your hair or eyes that draws them to you. I seriously doubt they'd be able to do this while just spending time virtually.
> 
> Again, this is not to say that people shouldn't do online dating if they don't want to, but this is just my personal opinion on this. My understanding of "dating" is that you're constantly out doing things with your partner (as long as you both have deep attractions to), going out, showing affection, offering compliments, offer gifts to on their special day, and just hanging out with each other a lot. Furthermore, if you date a sighted partner, I'm pretty sure you'd want someone who would break up just because of your blindness, and who just will accept you for who you are as a person. Your partner would most certainly want to be someone who's willing to guide you around when necessary, describe the scenery when you're out if unfamiliar, and who just doesn't view  you as inferior and just accepts your blindness for what it is: just a part of your person, not the characteristic that defines you.
> In fact, now that I think about it, this brings me to possibly another problem with online dating, especially if you're visually impaired: you could choose not to disclose to your partner that you have a vision loss, but then if you guys see one another, he/she would automatically see your cane or dog and then break up with you right on the spot, leaving you feeling terribly depressed. In person your partner will just see it and immediately be able to make the decision whether to go forward or not.
> 
> I hope I made some sense here. Again, I'm just expressing my rather strong opinion, not trying to discourage anyone or anything.
> 
> Thanks for reading,
> 
> Sami  
> 
>> On Aug 21, 2019 3:51 AM, Michael Capelle via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Same here
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Amanda via NABS-L
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2019 2:42 AM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: cape.amanda at gmail.com
>> Subject: Re: [NABS-L] Using online dating apps and putting oneself out there
>> 
>> I am curious about this as well. Thanks for asking! :)
>> 
>> Amanda
>> 
>>> On Aug 21, 2019, at 3:25 AM, Rahul Bajaj via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi All,
>>> 
>>> Please do forgive me if this has been discussed before. I was wondering if you have any pointers about using online dating apps, from a blind person’s standpoint. So far, I have found Hinge to be most useful, as it is largely based on personality traits rather than looks, but have not received a single expression of interest.
>>> 
>>> Apart from dating apps, are there any other ways that you have foubnd of putting yourself out there?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Rahul
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
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