© 2016 BRANISLAVA ŽIVIĆ VIA STOCKSY
Brilio.net/en - Death isnt a pleasant topic for everyone. In fact, most of us try to avoid it. Yet there are those who walk amongst us who make it a career, and even a passion. But they are far and few between. With modern technology however, its easier than ever to connect with people. Theres Tinder, Christian Mingle, so Carla Valentine decided to create Dead-Meet.
As the technical curator of London's Barts Pathology Museum, where she's responsible for restoring, cataloging, and displaying 5,000 examples of Victorian specimens of human remains in jars, Valentine is no stranger to death and the remains of the dead. Even her CV is stacked with experience of the dead. Her references include eight years working in a mortuary, and having studied forensic pathology and spent time excavating plague graves and medieval burial grounds. She's also currently working on a dissertation about the sexualized gaze, anatomical museums, and the varying degrees of intimacy that humans share with the deadand she doesn't shy away from much.
Image via Carla Valentine
All the young London native wants to do is normalize her passion. When discussing the dead, there seems to be a reactionary response that defies all logic. I've had people tell me that they could imagine themselves torturing someone, or keeping them as a sex slave, but can't imagine having sex with a dead body. What's that about?"
While wide acceptance of her career may take some time, Valentine wanted a platform to connect those that work in the same field. If anything, it made first date topics a lot easier to discuss. "When I was working in mortuaries, I noticed that many people who worked in the same industry seemed to get together quite naturally," she says. "Funeral directors were dating pathology technicians; embalmers were dating mortuary managers." But its a pretty small community and aside from romantic notions, many might just want to meet each other to discuss their passions. After her research led her to discover that no one had created a site like this before, Valentine decided to step up. And thats how Dead-Meet was born. Active for over a year, Dead-Meet.com is a free dating and networking website for death professionals with more than 1,000 active membersfrom funeral directors to crematory operators, EMTs to anatomical illustrators, all searchable by occupation.
The site is a step up from Tinder as there isnt much a hook up pressure on users. According to Romany Reagan , a PhD candidate at University of London who studies mourning heritage in the city's Abney Park Cemetery and is a member of Dead Meet, said she joined just to meet friends. She even had a boyfriend when she joined and primarily joined just to meet people with the same interest.
Carla playing Cupid is quite heart-warming, even if it revolves around graves and tombs.
(brl/tis)
