On Grindr, I often come across profiles of white men who are nude or visibly showing their bulge. However, I’ve noticed that whenever I try to upload a photo to my own profile, it takes significantly longer to be approved—and in some cases, even fully clothed photos of me are flagged as inappropriate.

This raises serious concerns: Is this happening because I’m Black, or because my body doesn’t align with the app’s narrow standards of what is deemed acceptable? (For context, I am not morbidly obese.)