Hallelujah! Feminist Dating App Siren Hands the Reins to Women

(Image credit: Courtesy of Siren)

published 6 October 2014

Two New Girl episodes ago, Schmidt reminded après-nine-dates Jess that she's the last piece of pie. Although "girls are like leftover dessert" might be rather iffy as a simile, the thought that counts here is that, in the game of finding someone to long-term hang out with, women ultimately do the choosing.

New dating app Siren underscores that idea, swapping out sketchy dudes and am-I-back-in-school questionnaires for more substantive communication that doesn't emphasize appearance nor revolve around appendage length.

CEO Susie Lee and design director Katrina Hess said they imagined Siren as a fun, comfortable space in which women initiate real-world interaction. According to Tech Times, Siren prompts users to upload just one profile-verification photo, then to answer an open-ended question of the day. Only when Siren notifies a woman someone's interested and she decides to make herself visible does the app share her picture. Male users, on the other hand, see a woman's responses—but not her face—until she accepts his invitation. (Take that, Shallow Hals!) As for the "Siren Call" part, that comes in when a woman asks to meet IRL.

At the moment, Siren is in private beta testing, but a nationwide rollout and an LGBTQ version are on their way.

Hear, hear.

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Image via Siren

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Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at Marie Claire. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.

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