Flirting with categories

Pursuing intimacy by invoking and negotiating gendered sexual scripts

Bibliographic Data

ID3068883
AuthorsElisabeth Muth Andersen (0000-0003-2844-0617, University of Southern Denmark, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume14
Issue2
Pages149-177
Publication date2025-08-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Language and Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2211-3770 • E-ISSN: 2211-3789
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/jls.24020.and
OpenAlexW4413281400
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited45

This study explores flirting practices in Danish Tinder chats, focusing on how users employ social categories to pursue intimacy. Drawing on membership categorization analysis and the small story paradigm, and engaging with sexual script theory, it is demonstrated how participants invoke and negotiate standardized relational pairs (SRPs) to playfully position themselves and their potential partners. The research reveals that users creatively deploy asymmetrical SRPs, such as prince-princess, doctor-patient or serviceperson-hotel guest, as metaphorical devices to introduce and explore romantic or sexual scenarios. These practices allow users to navigate the challenges of self-presentation and relationship-building in online dating contexts, balancing humor, creativity, and sexual innuendo. The study demonstrates how participants simultaneously reproduce and challenge traditional gender roles and sexual scripts through their interactions. By examining these micro-level linguistic practices, we gain insight into the broader sociocultural norms and expectations surrounding online dating and intimate relationships in a Danish context

Flirting · Communication · Gender Studies in Language · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Psychology

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