A dating app purely for plus size women has been receiving mixed reactions.
WooPlus is a new dating app who brand themselves as 'the most comfortable plus-size dating community' and band about the term BBW (big beautiful women)a lot.
The idea behind the brand came from creators and co-founders Neil Raman and Michelle Li. Neil has a personal reason to be behind the app, with his sister having had negative dating experiences because of her size, while Michelle was shocked by a viral video of a Tinder user being badly treated when her dates saw her full body for the first time and were shocked that she was plus sized.
Speaking to PEOPLE Neil said, 'Marginalization of people with atypical bodies is still a sensitive social stigma for many people involved in online dating. My sister experienced this herself. It was very painful and unfair. I decided to solve this problem and create an app just for big girls.'
The new dating app has already gathered a huge following
The interface looks similar to the popular dating app Tinder with aspects of a more recent dating app Bumble thrown in. Users can swipe left or right depending on whether or not they find each other attractive. Once a match has been made they then have 48 hours to talk to each other before the chance disappears.
Since launching in November the love-seeking site has reportedly amassed over 10,000 users worldwide, which would seem to indicate its popularity.
But not everyone thinks WooPlus is a positive step in the dating game. Rivkie Baum, editor of plus size magazine SLiNK, claims the app takes dating to a 'basic, animalistic level'.
Speaking to the Huffington Post she says, 'I can't help feeling that continuing to make bigger bodies into a fetish by segregating them continues to make falling in love with someone above a size 18 seem unusual.'
Not all coverage of WooPlus has been positive
Elsewhere on the internet the app has been receiving huge amounts of positive news coverage with one Twitter user Debz enthusiastically commenting 'give me all the plus size dating app memberships #wooplus'
So, what do you think? Great idea for the larger lady or another way of singling out plus-sized women? Let us know in the comments below!
