Somewhere, out there in the vastness of the internet, there’s probably a solitary ‘lad’ chirpsing girls online using tactics he picked up from 2007 pick-up classic The Game. But for the new generation of bros using dating apps to pick up girls, it’s not about the negs or even just straightforward flattery. These bros are using Tinder to get laid – by identifying as feminists. 

New York-based comedian Lane Moore first identified this trend with her Tumblr Male Feminists of Tinder. The blog highlights the excruciating profiles of feminism-appropriating bros who probably couldn’t distinguish their Naomi Wolfs from their Naomi Campbells. Special props go to Will, 30, a "feminist in the street and a misogynist in the bed", and Jeff, 25, who "wants to lie on your bed and ask you difficult questions", presumably about the gender pay gap or why there are so few women on FTSE-100 boards.

Dazed caught up with Moore, who’s currently performing a comedy show about Tinder, to find out what inspired the blog. 

“I actually have a comedy show called Tinder Live, so I'm on Tinder a lot. And I kept on seeing all these guys with profiles saying they were feminists or making these weird intense statements about how they were obsessed with women’s issues, which is cool, but it just made it seem like they were basically holding up signs saying "I DON'T HATE WOMEN" and it seemed kind of weird. So I tweeted out a couple photos and people really went for it and started sending me profiles they'd seen too. I made the Tumblr immediately and the reception has been massive.”

We asked Moore what the reaction to the blog’s been like. “Everyone’s loving it, which is great. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone immediately understood what I was doing and why. It’s so easy for people to misunderstand things on the internet, but from the get-go people were like, "Yes! Got it. Love it. Absolutely.”

Of course, presenting your best version of yourself online isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Like the modern-day equivalent of politicians holding babies for photo ops, nowadays most Tinder profiles include pictures of you on that charity run – or at least hugging your grandma. The Humanitarians of Tinder already satirised this phenomenon expertly. But in a world where feminism is rarely out of the headlines, New York bros using feminism to get laid raises questions about whether so-called "clickbait feminism" has finally crossed over into the dating sphere.

What does Moore think of New York bros riding the coat-tails of fourth wave feminists to get laid? “I think it's insufferable and hopefully it will end soon.” A tip for all those bros thinking of lying on your bed and asking you difficult questions: just don’t.