Love is a beautiful feeling—one that creeps on two individuals and makes them stay together, regardless of their faults and flaws. However, you can hardly find, quantify, or qualify your love for a person these days without going through the process of dating. In fact, dating has become quite the norm in so many climes, as it helps to analyse the future of a relationship and ensure the continued renewal of love in the relationship.
Dating in the United Kingdom is identical to dating in many of its neighbouring European nations. Though, there are etiquettes that mark out and makes that of the UK stand out. Some of these things are the extreme politeness of the British people, their conservativeness, amongst other things. However, the beauty of meeting people and falling in love is marred by the discrimination of some certain race.
What is it like dating as a minority?
Many things come with being an ethnic minority, but none of it is as painful as the feeling of being undesirable. That feeling of being passed over shunned because of the colour of your skin is not a nice one. In the United Kingdom, minorities constitute just 14% of the overall population, with the numbers falling as low as 4% in countries like Scotland. This implies that you are always going to stand out as long as the colour of your skin is not white.
Growing up as a black or brown kid, you might not really feel the effects of racial discrimination. You know it is there, but you do not have the entire grasp of the reality of the situation. However, as an adult, you are burdened with responsibilities, and in the fulfilment of these responsibilities, you are attacked, ignored because of the colour of your skin. Racial discrimination has crept into so many concepts of society. It is in the educational system, the labour market, the political terrain, and even the dating market.
Studies have shown that minorities are shunned the most on many dating apps. Information gotten from many dating apps reported that Asian and black men receive fewer messages than whites, while black women are messaged the least. Reports from many black women indicate that they are treated less-delicately than their white counterparts, and are hyper-sexualised, that is, they are regarded in many circles as just sex toys. Some dating apps reviews are not really about the usability of the app, but the way the platform allows or discriminates against rude comments on minorities. Social media, because of its level of anonymity, is a tool used regularly for passing these inappropriate comments.
How have the minorities dealt with this problem?
To deal with issues such as these, dating sites that are targeted to members of the minorities are being created. Take, for example, Asian single solution, a dating app for Asians. Applications, such as these, are directed to finding partners for people from their race. Though it doesn’t fit into the idea of globalisation and world unity, it is a way for the minorities to cope and find love.