Lulu

I saw something today that (almost) literally made me sick to my stomach. 

Lulu is a new app for girls to rate guys. And I'm not just talking about celebrity guys, but also the guy-next-door, the high school crush, whoever.

"When should I use Lulu?
If you meet a guy at a party and hit it off, admit it: you’re going to Facebook and Google him when you get home. Lulu is the place to do your research. Except we’re not going to bore you with whether he’s registered to vote. No way. Lulu tells you the stuff you want to know: is he a heartbreaker or your future husband? Lulu is the fastest way you can find out if he has a good track record with the ladies."

The ratings are based on looks and personality, of course. Like if his personality is "future husband material." Because, of course, the only thing women care about in men is whether or not he'll be your future husband. Because women, in order to create relationships with men, can't possibly care about whether he's registered to vote or not.

"By girls, for girls … strictly girls only, meaning no boys allowed," says the description on the app store

Guys, do you feel left out? No worries. Lulu's got that covered.

"What is Lulu Dude?
Lulu Dude is a separate app we created for the boys because we do not let them into the original Lulu.
Guys don’t see what the girls see. We let them select their relationship status and profile picture and we encourage them to get their “fan base” to review them.
Lulu Dude is also a place for guys to get self-improvement tips. Think of Lulu Dude as Cosmo for guys."

How otherizing is this? Have we learned nothing from feminism? Do we not understand the basic concepts of objectification and how it's not good? Oh, don't even get me started on how this otherizes gay relationships. Um, "By girls, for girls"? Really? You mean guys can't be attracted to guys?

And it's expecting guys to voluntarily otherize themselves, to accept the objectification and dehumanization.

"On LuluDude, guys can put their best faces forward on Lulu, so they can change their profile pictures, they can add their own personal hashtags about themselves, they can tell a girl what their turn-ons and turn-offs are, they can change their relationship status, and, at the same time, we give them a hint of how they’re performing on Lulu. If a girl does a review of them and they score high in one of the categories, they get a trophy, so it gives them a sense of how they’re doing."

 I can't even fully articulate my feelings about this right now, but essentially, they expect the men to perform, to propagate an image of themselves. This is all about images, about how people come across, but nothing about this app seems to focus on how things really are. If a guy finds out he's not doing well on Lulu, he might do various things (mentioned in the above excerpt) in order to change that image. For the guys on the app, they can do nothing but interact with their image. 

"Is Lulu evil?
Lulu is cheeky, but definitely not evil. Our quiz is sweet, not tacky or vulgar. We know what girls talk about when they discuss their latest crush… we’re just making it easier to have that discussion. Call him out on bad behavior. Give him credit for being a true gentleman. Either way, Reviews are a quick, fun way to contribute the collective wisdom for women everywhere."

I think the very fact that you asked if Lulu is evil says that something is up. "Collective wisdom for women": ENTER WOLLSTONECRAFT. This is what women's education looks like now? This is what we're expected to educate ourselves with? We're not supposed to have a problem with this.

Oh, and another thing that's terrifying? It doesn't give men a choice. 

And as far as I can tell, there's no opt-out for men who'd rather not be shagged and tagged: when I set up my account, the Facebook profile of every chap I know was dragged into the Luluverse and I was invited to comment on their eligibility. I'm sorry, guys. It didn't ask me if I wanted that to happen, never mind you.

Fellow Lit Critters, please be terrified. Check out the article I looked at, whose author was sufficiently disgusted and snarky, and please for the love of Wollstonecraft do not download the app.

Now, commence explosion of anger. (Willa, I'm looking at you.) On a side note, I can't help but think this sounds a bit like an alien invasion:

"TSD: What has been the general response to Lulu among the college campuses you’ve visited?Lulu: So far phenomenal, actually. All of the college campuses that we have an active program in, we penetrate probably about 35 to 40 percent of the female population. They join Lulu in the first couple weeks of entering the college campus, and then at least 60 percent of the guys are on Lulu after we enter these communities. So among those that speak against Lulu, you actually see that they’re quite active users of it."