Weekly Seeds | June 9, 2024 | Tokyo Government thinks we need another app

When the PM skipped the user interviews

Rumor has it that the Tokyo government is expected to launch a dating app in an effort to get more people to marry and ultimately turn around declining birth rates. I doubt that the reason people are single in Tokyo is because they don’t have the right dating app, and I suspect that asking people to submit their tax return for signup will also create some (undesirable) friction.

Here are some “user interviews” (from the last 2 weeks):

1. NYMag wrote about the trend of heterosexual women vowing off dating men, and published a follow-up article highlighting user stories.

2. The new book "BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity" highlights the extreme loneliness and isolation young men are experiencing.

3. Canadian author Treena Orchard, published an anthropology-oriented book on their experience using dating apps; the TLDR is in the title: Sticky, Sexy, Sad: Swipe Culture and the Darker Side of Dating Apps..

Sexual Adulting skills

Hinge Releases it’s annual LGBTQIA+ D.A.T.E report, sharing insights from 14,000+ members of Hinge’s LGBTQIA+ community. At the top of the list is education! Emotional intimacy is the #1 topic LGBTQIA+ daters say they want advice on. Ready to jump in? We’re hosting a “speak your desire!” workshop with Bear & Fifi in 1 hour.

Learning more about the experience of transgender women

This month, I’m immersing myself in learning more about the experience of transgender women. As expected, a week into this and I now have 50 open tabs on my computer and 5 new books in my wish-list, including articles highlighting the limitations of each of these books. 

Send me your favorite content, videos, influencers, podcasts etc.

Two related news stories coming through this week:

1. Bailey Anne Kennedy is the first trans women to win state championship in a US beauty pageant.
2. Trans painter Jamie Diaz is free, after almost 30 years of incarceration.

Organizers <3 community support #1

SF’s Beloved tea house, the Center SF, is getting tangled up in red tape and expensive renovation to get the tea house up to code with SF food and beverage requirements. How can we help The Center SF? Continue attending the workshop and classes offered by the Center.

H/T Oshan Anand for sending this article over.

Organizers <3 community support #1

Burner Map is raising funds to rebuild it’s app, so you can find your friends on the playa. Burner Map has helped tens of thousands of burners connect with their people for over a decade. Let’s help them upgrade the tech to meet the latest facebook need.

Note: This newsletter represents my personal opinions and thoughts. I understand I may have unexamined views and I appreciate when people point them out so that I am made aware and can start thinking about them. When I make mistakes I am committed to learning about my impact on others and repairing. 

Contact me anytime: noa@heyplura.com