In a tech-dependent dating culture, where it takes but a swipe to reject someone, single fat women can see the venture of finding love online as incredibly difficult.
When couples therapist and fellow plus-size woman Krista Niles discovered a key piece of research on male online daters, she spent a year gaming the algorithm of a popular dating app to ensure fat babes were only matched with fat-preferring or indifferent partners.
This is the cornerstone of The Curvy Cupid Course, Niles’ online group course that takes plus-size women step by step through dating via OKCupid.
A 2015 Chapman University study of 28,000 heterosexual participants examined their weight preferences for potential partners. While 80% of men stated it was essential their partner have a slender body, this left 20% who either prefered women of size or were indifferent to size altogether. For Niles, this information was a game changer.
“If you would have asked me before I saw this research, I would have guessed 2%, 5%,” Niles said. “And I think a lot of women I encounter think that.”
