Bumble Dating Site Removes Anti Celibacy Campaign, Calling It a ‘Mistake’ After Backlash
Yes, the one sexual proclivity that gets zero respect but a lot of criticism or ridicule are people who do possess a libido but who choose not to act on it, for whatever reasons – people who are celibate, such as myself.
I am a hetero celibate, but I’ve also seen homosexual conservative / Christian celibates online get a lot of insults and backlash from progressives over being celibate.
There are many good reasons to stay celibate and single, including, but not limited to, not contracting sexual diseases and infections, no unplanned pregnancies, no man can use you for sex to dump you the next day, weeding out people with Cluster B personality disorders or traits, etc.
There are a lot of advantages to being single and/or celibate.
Unfortunately, liberals, conservatives, many feminists, and progressives do not respect celibacy – being sexually abstinent – but mock it.
They all think it’s weird or not doable, not achievable. Yes, it is doable. Yes, an adult can remain a virgin into one’s 30s or older. Even if one has been previously sexually active, one can start abstaining and remain the course.
It’s a matter of self control.
You don’t have to cave in to societal pressure to have sex, you don’t have to cave in to peer pressure, shaming, criticism, or your sex drive. Being sexually abstinent is not impossible.
Also – when you stay single (and celibate) you learn about yourself. You learn about who you are and what you really want in life (apart from sex, dating, marriage).
When you’re single and celibate, and you discover who YOU are and what YOU want in life, and what you will not put up with from other people, and it becomes more difficult for toxic people to manipulate you and take advantage of you.
I think I did a blog post months ago, or I saw a video months ago which I may have shared on social media, by a therapist who said the easiest way to weed out abusers and other Cluster B disordered people is to NOT have sex with them while dating them.
A lot of Cluster B disordered or traited persons rely on wild romance, seduction, sex appeal, and sex to “snare” a partner early in a relationship.
A lot of women with Borderline Personality Disorder or Narcissism use seduction and sex to trap men into relationships very quickly. Sometimes males with BPD or Narcissism use this tactic on women targets.
Having sex with someone can cloud your judgment about that person or the relationship. If you date without having sex, you remain clear and level headed, you really learn about the other person, which makes it more difficult for the person to manipulate you.
Do most in society care about any of the benefits of being abstinent or single? No. From what I’ve seen, no.
Most people buy into the false fairy tale dream that one cannot find meaning, happiness, and purpose and completion unless one is in a romantic relationship and having sex. Which is a bunch of crap.
Most people do not respect the choice of adults like myself to remain celibate. Yet, they expect people like me to respect all their gross, hedonistic sex behaviors and promiscuity. It’s a one way street.
One of the articles I’ve seen about this includes quotes from various women on social media, who mention that dating apps and sites like Bumble want women to disregard what they, the women need and prefer, to cater to what men want – which is easy sex.
This reminds me of the grotesque, disgusting essay written by Christian sociologist Mark Regnerus years ago (and I blogged about it at the time), where, he and the Conservative Christians who even bothered to notice that marriage rates are on the decline (most Christians remain oblivious that singles now out-number marrieds) responded by telling Christian single women to give up their dating standards and dating deal-breakers to be willing to marry a known pornography addict.
I’m not a feminist, but I do believe we live in a culture that Favors men. This doesn’t mean that men as individuals never encounter stress or problems in life (because they do), but the types and amount of problems men face are not the near same as what women deal with.
And often, society – including marriage-idolizing Christians and people who run secular dating apps – expect women to drop their own beliefs, values, needs, preferences and safety to cave in to cater to what MEN need, want, and prefer. It’s disgusting.
Men and what men want is always elevated above women’s needs and safety, and this is wrong. Men and their needs or preferences are not more important than women and what women want.
(Link): Bumble apologises for anti-celibacy ad after backlash
Excerpts:
Natalie Sherman,Business reporter, BBC News
May 2024
Dating app Bumble has apologised for adverts that critics said shamed women who were not sexually active.
The marketing campaign included messages such as “A vow of celibacy is not the answer” and “Thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun”.
Bumble said the ads were supposed to bring humour to “a community frustrated by modern dating”.
But critics said the adverts were tasteless and ran counter to the company’s stated aim of empowering women.
“In a world fighting for respect and autonomy over our bodies, it’s appalling to see a dating platform undermine women’s choices,” wrote Jordan Emanuel, a model and actress who has talked publicly about her decision to refrain from sex for a year.
(Link): Bumble removes anti-celibacy campaign, calling it a ‘mistake’ after backlash
by Brooke Kato
May 14, 2024
Singles are swiping left on Bumble.
On Monday, the dating app issued an apology and announced it would remove its controversial anti-celibacy advertisements after receiving backlash online about its new campaign, which it called a “mistake.”
Last month, Bumble rolled out new features to the app to put women in the driver’s seat while dating. The revamp was accompanied by a series of adverts that joked about the frustrations of dating.
Billboards reading “a vow of celibacy is not the answer” and “thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun” riddled the Los Angeles sky. Meanwhile, a commercial depicted a woman joining a convent after swearing off dating, only to fall head-over-coif for an ab-baring gardener and join Bumble on a forbidden phone.
The campaign seemed to be a response to the increasing number of women growing tired of dating and swearing off sex, or “voluntary celibacy,” which some individuals may partake in due to religion or trauma — not just an unfortunate series of bad first dates.
Online, women slammed Bumble for mocking the personal choice, chastising the company for thinking sex could solve singles’ dating woes. Even Julia Fox chimed in, commenting that she’s “never been happier” after spending more than two years celibate.
Amid the criticism, Bumble released an apology online acknowledging their “mistake,” promising to remove the advertisements, donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline and offer the billboard space to organizations that support women, marginalized communities and abuse survivors.
“Our ads referencing celibacy were an attempt to lean into a community frustrated by modern dating, and instead of bringing joy and humor, we unintentionally did the opposite,” Bumble’s statement reads, in part.
The company added: “Some of the perspectives we heard were: from those who shared that celibacy is the only answer when reproductive rights are continuously restricted; from others for whom celibacy is a choice, one that we respect; and from the asexual community, for whom celibacy can have a particular meaning and importance, which should not be diminished. We are also aware that for many, celibacy may be brought on by harm or trauma.”
Bumble, which was released in 2014, placed the power in women’s hands by “flipping traditional gender roles,” only allowing women to make the first move. At the time, this was a radical concept that set the app apart from competitors like Hinge or Tinder, on which either of the singles could message the other.
In April, however, Bumble introduced “Opening Moves,” which gave users the option to prompt matches with pre-written questions, relieving the burden of messaging first.
“For years, Bumble has passionately stood up for women and marginalized communities, and their right to fully exercise personal choice,” the company said in its statement.
“We didn’t live up to these values with this campaign and we apologize for the harm it caused.”
(Insert of their post here with their public apology)
Unhappy users, however, were not pacified by the company’s response, who claimed the app “leaned into the feelings of men” with a lack of “regard for women,” while others advised that the app should hire “a female marking team” next time.
“Men wrote that ad campaign and realized the app can’t work without women,” wrote one person.
“Too little, too late,” commented another. “There’s no coming back from the demoralization and disrespect you’ve shown women with these ads.”
“I don’t know how you let this campaign ever get out of the approval stage,” chided someone else.
(Link): Women Cancel Bumble And Embrace Celibacy Following Billboards Encouraging Hookups
Women are uniting to boycott Bumble and embrace celibacy as a response to the app’s billboard encouraging hook-ups.
By Nicole Dominique
May 13th 2024
Bumble fumbled.
The app has been working hard on its rebrand, with its socials recently featuring exhausted women in paintings and photographs who seem to desire chivalry. The campaign is leaning into the idea that women are absolutely tired of online dating and not having their needs met, and is a direct response to the feedback of female users who said that pursuing men was “a lot of work” or “a burden.“
As a result, Bumble unveiled “Opening Moves,” a feature granting men the opportunity to initiate conversations, a departure from its previous model of women making the first move. When I first heard about Bumble’s rebrand, I gave it the benefit of the doubt – it is a woman-owned app, after all. Surely, they would understand women’s plight when it comes to meeting men, right? Turns out, I was wrong. Very, very wrong.
Bumble’s pivot seemed to be going well until they propped up their latest billboards promoting promiscuity and rejecting celibacy, with one audaciously stating, “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer.”
… Women Boycott Bumble
The campaign has angered many women (rightfully so), prompting them to speak out and advocate for celibacy while avoiding casual sexual encounters. “Essentially, what you’re saying is if a male takes us on a date and buys us a dinner, we owe him our body,” said influencer Eman in a TikTok video, garnering over half a million views.
“And if we’re celibate, that’s not valid. You’re delegitimizing our celibacy because you want males to have more access to our bodies. And then you think that we’re gonna have a positive reaction to that?”
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of comments from women on TikTok declaring that they’re done with dating apps. “oh, deleting Bumble immediately,” wrote a girl named Molly.
Another user said, “I never realized before that my body was the commodity on these apps,” and it’s unfortunate that she’s right. Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and similar apps commodify people, especially women, by encouraging men to window shop and swipe on their preferred bodies. It’s atrocious what these apps have done to real-life relationships and how they’ve perpetuated the mistreatment of women. It makes sense why so many of them say that a vow of celibacy is the answer to all of this.
“This new Bumble ad shaming women for not sleeping with the men that are on their platforms and hopping off the platforms is the reason you guys need to realize that dating apps were not made for you,” noted a content creator named Val on TikTok. “They were truly made for men.”
Val goes on to say that based on previous survey responses from male users, the men on there aren’t even “looking for a girlfriend.” They’re just there to pursue women as lazily as possible and to have sex with them. She continued, “They don’t have to buy you a drink, they don’t, they don’t have to take you to dinner. They can possibly swipe a few times, [and] find someone desperate enough to give them something physical. And that is not us because we are being smart.”
Bumble, which boasts nearly 70% male users, is demanding that women disregard their self-worth and sleep with strangers so they can make a profit. Sex sells, and celibacy doesn’t. Their campaign is a desperate attempt to remain relevant in a society of women finally waking up to the lies of the sexual revolution and its consequences that brought on decades of objectification, hypersexualization, and abuse.
It’s a reckless and potentially dangerous ad. A (Link): BYU study from 2005 found that 25% of rapists used online dating platforms to target vulnerable victims. Now, almost two decades later – and with dating apps being more accessible than ever – we can only imagine how much that number has increased.
In addition, a (Link): 2019 ProPublica investigation revealed that over a third of the 1,200 women surveyed by the Columbia Journalism Institute experienced sexual assault at the hands of people they met via online dating platforms.
And it’s safe to say that most women probably won’t find their soulmates on dating apps. A recent study found that (Link): 65.3% of Tinder users were married or in a relationship, and only 50.3% were using the app to meet someone offline.
Perhaps the most ironic thing I’ve learned about Bumble is that its founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, met her husband on a skiing trip, who was introduced to her by a friend. She also recently discussed how AI would change the future of dating by creating better matches for people as if we’re already not all disconnected from each other.
(Link): Bumble fumbles anti-celibacy ads, kickstarting social-media debacle
May 13, 2024
BY MARCO QUIROZ-GUTIERREZ
Dating app Bumble is in a scramble to remove a series of ads arguing that celibacy is not the solution to women’s dating problems after it was called out on social media.
The billboards, which included messages like, “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer,” among others, sparked outrage online by some who believed the messages rejected women’s autonomy.
Tinder cofounder Whitney Wolfe Herd started Bumble in 2014 as a woman-first dating app, yet many social media users said the anti-celibacy campaign went against its principles.
On Sunday, a litany of online comments criticized the company, including under an Instagram post for Mother’s Day, where users promoted celibacy and shunned the company for what they saw as a campaign that commodified women and their affection.
“[S]tay away from companies that try to ridicule women for their personal choices when they don’t benefit them,” one commenter wrote.
On TikTok, several videos calling out the company and asking women to delete their accounts garnered hundreds of thousands of likes. Actress Julia Fox commented on one viral post saying “2.5 years of celibacy and never better tbh.”
One TikTok influencer, The Windwitch, said in a Sunday post that even the photos used with the ads were offensive.
“Bumble we are not your product to sell,” she said in the post.
…In the past few years, the concept of celibacy has become more popular with largely heterosexual women who are frustrated with rates of violence, traditional gender norms, and men in the dating pool. In South Korea, proponents of the 4B feminist movement gained traction (Link): starting in 2019 by renouncing men, marriage, sex with men, and having children.
…Still, Bumble’s stock is down 20% since January and it has increased its focus on attracting Gen Z users to its platform. The company revealed a new logo and an app refresh last week to try to rejuvenate its image before stumbling with the anti-celibacy campaign.
(Link): Bumble faces backlash over anti-celibacy ad campaign: ‘Stop trying to shame women’
Public responses to the apology have been as fiery as the initial backlash.
May 14, 2024
By Randi Richardson
Bumble has apologized after a recent ad campaign referencing celibacy prompted backlash, with critics claiming it shamed people for choosing not to have sex.
The dating app company has since removed the ads from its global marketing campaign and, in an Instagram statement posted May 13, responded to the critiques of its message.
…A since-removed video ad posted to X on April 30 was also part of the campaign. In it, a woman joins an all-female religious group but later becomes infatuated by a shirtless man trimming the hedges. That night, another woman gives her a phone with Bumble loading. The first woman then leaves the group and the text reads, “We’ve changed so you don’t have to.”
Many critics of the ads have said they minimize the variety of reasons people, especially women, may choose to be celibate.
“In a world fighting for respect and autonomy over our bodies, it’s appalling to see a dating platform undermine women’s choices. Wasn’t this app supposed to empower women to date on their terms?” an X user wrote in response to the billboard.
“Bumble need to f— off and stop trying to shame women into coming back to the apps,” another chimed in. “Run ads targeted at men telling them to be normal.”
“You can date whilst being celibate so it makes no sense anyway! You’re enforcing male entitlement to our bodies,” a third person added.
“Bumble doing a campaign attempting to shame celibacy/abstinence is an unserious way to tell the public yall are nervous. It’s also a very offensive way to tell your female customers that you’re profiting off of their legs being open,” a fourth wrote.
…The apology [from Bumble] also was met with some criticism.
“The celibacy community isn’t pressed. We didn’t ask for allyship from you. You dressed those ladies as nuns to insinuate that celibate women are recluse and limited. We aren’t. We actually happy over here,” one person commented on the apology post.
“ONLY SORRY BECAUSE YOU WERE LOSING CUSTOMERS,” another wrote.
“You didn’t lean into a community, you leaned into the feelings of men,” a third wrote. “You had no regard for women. You made it a woman’s problem to fix the lack of sex men are having. How about addressing why women are not interested in having a relationship with men? Maybe tell the men to fix themselves instead of the women to give in. Do better.”…
Related:
(Link): CDC Report: Virgin Teens Much Healthier Than Their Sexually Active Peers (2016 Report)
(Link): Ending Priestly Celibacy Would Not Stop Abuse by E. Condon – Celibates Are Not Pedophiles
(Link): Craigslist confessional: I’m in my 40s, never married, and a virgin—but I’m happy by Abigail
(Link): People Were Asked to Guess A Virgin From A Group Of Strangers. The Results Were Unexpected
(Link): Progressive Are Now Marketing Their Own Version of Christian Purity Culture as “Radical Monogamy”
(Link): I Haven’t Had A Boyfriend For A Decade. Here’s What I Learned. by R. Thompson
(Link): What I Learned From Being Accidentally Celibate For 5 Years by C. Brooks
(Link): Where the Sexual Revolution Went Wrong by Maria Albano
(Link): The Sexual Revolution Has Backfired on Women by S. Moore
(Link): No, Christians and Churches Do Not Idolize Virginity and Sexual Purity (they attack both concepts)
(Link): Why Sex-Positive Feminism is Falling Out of Fashion
(Link): Christian Preacher Admits He Won’t Preach About Sexuality For Fear It May Offend Sexual Sinners
(Link): ‘I stopped having sex or relationships for ten years. Here’s what happened’ by Anonymous
(Link): We’re Casual About Sex and Serious About Consent. But Is It Working? by J. Zimmerman
(Link): How Not to Have Sex: Why We Shouldn’t Treat Virginity Like a Burden by K. Rosenfield
(Link): Dear Abby: I Rushed Into Marriage, Now My Husband Completely Ignores My Existence.
(Link): Living Myths About Virginity (via The Atlantic)
(Link): Debunking Eros: Why Romantic Love Isn’t the Only Love Worth Having by Mimi Haddard
(Link): Young, Attractive, and Totally Not Into Having Sex by K McGowan
(Link): Abstinence and ‘Purity Culture’ Are Often Conflated but Aren’t The Same, Tim Keller Explains
Christian Pundit 
That’d be like McDonald’s running ads for Keto bars. 😆
And how are you, CP?
What’s most irritating is the conservatives even ridiculing celibacy. That’s to be expected with the left, but either way the motivation is the same: to mock those they can’t control and manipulate. I’m a celibate man trying to follow Christ, and I’ve been accused of being leftist for refusing to date until and unless I actually encounter someone with whom a healthy and God honoring relationship without necessarily requiring kids, and NO, Genesis 1:28 doesn’t require marriage and kids for all, or even kids for all fertile couples. There’s this really bothersome thing called the new covenant, you should study that some time.