The Real Problem With TikTok’s ‘Fruity’ Boy Trend
On TikTok and X, the “fruity” boyfriend has become a hot topic. But the trend exposes the real issues that arise when dating apps reduce everyone to an archetype.
Apps “create this expectation that you check these boxes and have a certain type of person sort of delivered to you,” says Sharabi, citing the viral “Man in Finance” TikTok as an example. Applying dating-app heuristics to people in this way can also be objectifying, not to mention potentially offensive to both the so-called “fruity” men and the people they’re being likened to.