Hook Up Culture Research

Relational – Cultural Theory (RCT) began as a feminist perspective that allowed psychologists a more appropriate measure of women’s experiences in terms of relationships that were not created by and for other male researchers. The inception of this theoretical perspective originates from the recognition that most research and consequent response considers the male as the norm and makes assumptions about the experience of women based on that norm that may not give a correct account of the female experience. This standpoint, however, has evolved and “may also include a better understanding of male growth and development” (Robbins, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2012, p. 125). It allows for a greater understanding and ability to serve those who experience any number of situations and circumstances during the life course. Robbins et al. explain, “it has expanded to better account for all human experience, both male and female” and connects the individual problem to the greater social world; that is, it looks at the individual relationships and consequent suffering within the context of the greater culture (2012, p. 125).

In the assignment, I will give an imaginary case study of a counselling client with issues relating to fear and sadness and contemplate how their problems discover in their life. The case study will clearly focus on sociocultural issues, such as race, culture, gender and sexuality. It will look at how convenient it can be to accept how important sociocultural issues can be when considering individual suffering. The main focus this assignment will be weight up with regards to sociocultural issues will be, culture, race and sexuality. The counselling approach being used will be person centred therapy. The case study is based on 27 year old woman who is black and gay. She has anxiety around men which is the outcome of an intimidating, abusive grandfather who raised her.

The connection between sexual abuse and psychiatric disorders are connected in the ways that make people depressed, create eating disorders, or have really bad rust issues and stay away from the opposite gender as much as they possibly can. It even got as bad as PTSD in some people, the cost of medical attention rises for people who were abused. Sometimes even genes come into the possibilities of disorders in a person. With different variations of genes, some people are more likely to need help later on with disorders. The problem is that a lot of people will not get help because they do not actually know that they have symptoms that could be helped.

There are a few reasons I can think of (which I will expound upon in the following short paragraphs); however, I am not sure how plausible each of these explanations will be. Firstly, the idea that Millenials shy away from commitment could be propagated by those with a substantial amount of influence who, due to a lack of meaningful interactions with today’s youth, ignorantly believe the superficial characterizations of youth as “self-absorbed” and enveloped in a “culture of individualism” (www.scientificamerican.com). An example of such a person would be Dr. Jean Twenge, who bases her conclusion that Millennials are egotistical on “statistics...anecdotal testimonies and pop-culture examples” (www.newyorker.com) as opposed to sincere real-life encounters.

movement and the sexual revolution. In today’s time, raunch culture is the new trend of Playboy

Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura Hamilton, and Paula England explain that millennials are not hooking up more than baby boomers were when they were in their 20s, it is just that more attention has been drawn to casual sex. Paula England surveyed 14,000 students from 19 different colleges and universities about their sex lives and only 72% of students had hooked by their senior year of college. 80% of those men and women had had less than one sexual encounter per semester. These statistics are quite different from what we are led to think about today’s twentysomethings.

The article that is of interest is “The Decline of the Date and the Rise of the College Hook Up” by Paula England. In this reading, the author is interested in understanding what relationships mean to college students at Stanford University. In this excerpt, England wanted to understand the hook up, which has become the most common trend on college campuses. The research deals with both males and females to show the commonality as well as differences based on gender. The students shape the research and define the ever changing terms. England argues that the gender revolution has not lead to equal treatment to men and women based on their sexual experiences when forming a reputation.

Everyone knows that hook-ups are in and what to expect for sex, right? I get the impression that everyone puts up this front that makes him or her seem smart about sex and hook-ups, but realistically they are faking it till they make it. As I read through this article, “Sex, Lies, and Hook-up Cultures” by Donna Freitas, I realized there are so many rumors about sex and hook-ups that the younger generation doesn’t honestly know the truth about sex. Donna Freitas, a professor, took the time surveying college students about religion and sex at their college. She discovered how most students lie about sex and many of them are trailing into the ways of casual sex. Freitas realized how many students are pressured into hooking-up with others and what the culture of hooking-up means to other students. Shockingly, she found how more students were willing to have sex with someone then to ask him or her out on a date. Catholics, especially were shown to have no knowledge about what having sex means in their religion along avoiding it in their faith. Freitas also talked about how more students are accepting of having sex with their partner than to actually have a full conversation about sex with them.

Is hooking up harming your development as a maturing young adult? Hooking up is having intimate relations with another person with no intentions of any commitment. Emerging adulthood is the considered the period of life between the ages eighteen and twenty-five. During this stage of life, people experience many things and mature from being a teenager in high school, to a fully functioning adult. There are four domains of development: social, emotional, cognitive, and physical. Stress is a large factor in development, and a relationship is something that can call upon much unneeded stress. Although relationships cause a lot of stress, they also provide a strong basis of support, which can positively affect development. Hooking up is seen as a way to get the stress relieving benefits of a relationship without all the emotional attachment that causes stress in a relationship. Hookups are a great benefit to college student development.

Across the U.S. college students on a variety of campuses have part taken in what is commonly known as the “hookup culture.” The hookup culture does not always have to include sexual intercourse although it most often does, but it is merely the idea of having physical pleasure with another person outside of an emotional relationship. College students, even at some of America’s most prestigious colleges realize hooking up has completely overthrown the idea of being in an actual relationship. Emily Foxhall a Yale student wrote an article for the Yale Daily News in 2010 stating that the hookup culture is so prevalent on Yale’s campus because students have enough stress to worry about, casual hookups are easy (Foxhall, 2010). The question becomes, is the college hookup culture vital and normal to the college experience or should it be condemned for being harmful to college age persons mentality.

The American Dream involved having a family, getting a well paying job, and being married. If this does not prove how rapid the downfall of dating became, then move back a little further. In the 1950s, women subconsciously acted submissive in front of men so that they would feel superior and manlier. Chivalrous tendencies and the spheres of women and men are so deep rooted into American culture that it is difficult to comprehend these alterations. Women pushed for equality in a relationship, and despite their success, the dating world was changed forever. “Going steady” became the new style of dating, and women and men were left with no commitment and no more courting.

It is a pattern that emerged in today’s society because it sexually liberating (Van Syckle, 2015). Young women feel that hooking up is a form of controlling their lives (Van Syckle, 2015). However, it can lead to other social problems.

The American Anthropological Association decided in 2010 to remove the word science from the statement of the long range plan. This decision caused a long standing debate in the anthropological community to reawaken with a forceful start. Different anthropologists claim how removing science allowed more sub- divisions of anthropology to be included under the statement umbrella. Others claim how it diminished the name of what anthropology was as a science. This argument questions how anthropology will thrive or unravel if it moves away from the sciences and into other areas of interest.

Gender Expression I think gender expression should be up to the individual as a person. I mean it is so common to have a “tomboy,” but people go crazy if a man starts to portray “feminine” qualities. I can understand it being a little awkward because it is not what we are used to seeing; however, the awkwardness is our problem to deal with. We should make somebody else uncomfortable just because we are uncomfortable with what they are doing.

Culture and ideologies shape relationships, in which both define to whom one associates with. The question arises about which has more influence in international relations. Is it cultural factors such as customs, language or societal norms or political polices and philosophy. In 1996 Samuel P.Huntington published “The Clash of Civilizations” which the author gave a geo political theory that cultural differences between civilizations rather than ideological differences would be the primary source of global conflict in the post-cold war. This essay will focuses on the argument in Huntington’s book about how it presents the world, the problem and the proposal for a solution.