When you think of innovation in light of Silicon Valley your mind might, naturally, gravitate towards thinking about technology and all of the cool new companies and products/services that are being developed. While you would be right, there’s a new type of innovation taking hold of SV - a sexual one. An article recently published on Wired details the new sexual revolution that is sweeping the tech hub: polyamory. Apparently, millennials are intrigued by polyamory, a term which describes the love life of an individual who is romantically or sexually involved with multiple partners at once (Sancton, 2017).
The author of the article seems to think this is taking hold of SV because navigating this type of relationship involves engineering as well as emotional challenges: it’s not so easy to navigate a web of relationships. But, fear not, there’s an app for that.
This article interested me because it added a new layer to Richard Florida’s theory. In his document, titled Ontario in the Creative Age, Florida outlines that Creative Cities are dependent on the three Ts: technology, talent, and tolerance (Florida and Martin, 20). Tolerance involves accepting diversity, and the LGBTQ community are mentioned here. For example, tolerance towards gays and bohemians is associated with human capital and creativity-oriented occupations (Florida and Martin, 21). Regional income, according to Florida, will flourish if we can be truly tolerant. And it appears that SV is doing just that - they are accepting of all types of sexuality - not simply those we hear about every day. And, polyamory is not limited to the millennials - middle aged CEO's are apparently joining the club as well (Sancton, 2017).
In order to ensure that anyone wishing to partake in the revolution, whether within or outside of SV, knows whats coming for them, the author compiled a set of rules that should be followed:
1) Familiarize yourself with OkCupid. This dating site has a considerable number of polyamorous users, and the app has a questionnaire that can help you figure out if you’d fit in to the lifestyle.
2) Study up - monogamy, for some, is a construct. Do you agree?
3) Join the club - there are some quasi-official poly clubs, some even featuring meet ups online or in person.
3) Join the club - there are some quasi-official poly clubs, some even featuring meet ups online or in person.
4) Don’t be a leech - AKA don’t go to a meet up looking for a hook up. “These are not orgies.”
5) Be honest (and avoid Manhattan) - transparency is key - don’t lie to your partners otherwise you’re simply cheating.
6) Don’t get jelly - cause, duh.
Work Cited
Florida, R. & Martin, R. L. (2009). Ontario in the Creative Age. Martin Prosperity Institute, pp. 1-36.
Sancton, J. (2017, Apr. 4). The Ins and Outs of Silicon Valley's New Sexual Revolution. Wired Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2017/04/silicon-valley-polyamory/
Great post Reem! I am definitely one of the people that has only thought of technological advancement in regards to innovation within Silicon Valley, and had no idea that there was a sexual innovation occurring. This is a really interesting concept, and I’m intrigued with how integrated this sexual innovation is with other trends within the creative cities. The relation to Florida’s theory and his discussion of technology, tolerance, and talent, makes me question whether or not this revolution will expand to other creative cities outside of Silicon Valley. I don’t think that other cities are necessarily intolerant or unaccepting of all types of sexuality, but they are definitely not as informed as Silicon Valley, so it is definitely possible that this revolution coming to light might spark something similar in Toronto’s tech industry.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone posted about this because I saw this article as well and thought to myself this isn't too surprising. Through personal experience, I've had conversations with adults a generation older who are blown away by our dating life: the lack of 'commitment', endurance, and patience we have for our partners. Not to mention apps like Bumble, Tinder, and Grindr who claims to be "The world's largest gay social network app", these all focus on quick, easy ways to make connections with people of interest. I think the fact that there's an app called "QuickFlirt" does help critics prove their point, in terms of degrading modern ways to intimately connect with people, but the takeaway here is that technology advancement continues to shape our culture, and how we interact with those around us.
ReplyDeleteContinually we see how ICTs, SNSs, and tech tools in general, affect our lives negatively through shifting social norms from the online world, into the offline world; in this sense the polyamory trend in SV is another example of how technology - whether indirectly, or directly - is increasingly opens our minds to new understandings of culture, and social concepts we have become so accustomed to.
Links mention:
More info on QuickFlirt. Also this website is interesting to say the least ("become a betterman").
http://ca.askmen.com/dating/online-dating-sites/apps/
Grindr Homepage:
https://www.grindr.com/