The Hook Up Culture

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.

Modern dating and relationships, as they are today, would never be considered a social norm for past generations. Other, earlier, generations were much more conservative. For instance, today’s version of dating is ‘Netflix and chill’ and online dating. Dating as a social norm changed nearly every decade. In the 1900s and 1910s it was considered a social norm to ask permission to date a woman from her parents and be supervised by the woman’s parents when they were together (Dating 2). In the next decade, the 1920s and 30s, dating had a significant change in what would be considered socially acceptable during that time period. Young people of the time considered dating a relaxed way to get to know another person (Dating 2). Dating at this time was more about social status than the person themselves. In the time of the 1940s to 1950s, women were significantly more concerned with a man’s likelihood of surviving the war than his social status (Dating 2). During this time, there was more of a chance that people would have premarital sex within a committed relationship (Dating 2). Teens and young adults “went steady”, which was the precursor to getting married (1950s 2). The final intention of the relationship was marriage, so more individuals had premarital sex. Around the mid-1960s, birth control made an appearance, and this time was also considered the end of dating

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 reading that interested me most was “The Decline of the Date and the Rise of the College Hook Up” by Paula England and Rueben J. Thomas. The initial motive for this research was that an undergraduate student of England’s “wanted to do a research paper on why students on campus didn’t date much anymore” (pg 69). The two researchers, England and Thomas, then began questioning students on Stanford University’s campus about what they thought about the increasing occurrence of hook ups as compared to going out on dates.

Bogle (2007) states that there has been a noticeable shift towards a hookup script, replacing the traditional dating script, suggesting that young adults today are less likely to develop romantic relationships. However, dating relationships often develop as a result of a couple hooking up (England and Thomas, 2006 as cited in Uecker, Pearce, & Andercheck, 2015) meaning that college students have the potential to form romantic relationships; it is the process of forming such romantic relationships that has changed.

Hooking up has become an increasingly studied culture by many sociologists around the country. These studies have been done to understand the shift from the old culture of dating to the new culture of hooking up that we experience now. Many people find it interesting that the kids of our generation have become so sexualized and carefree compared to the college days of our parents. Many people wonder how we got to this point and how the dynamics of hookups work, and why we continue to go on with them even sometimes at cost of our mental and physical help. One of these people was Kathleen A. Bogle, who wrote an entire book on the subject called, Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus, which is the focal point of this essay.

Most feminists neglect these notions because they show superiority of the man as well as undermining the women. This significantly decreased the willingness of Americans to put in the effort to date someone, because it is seen as such a burden. As was said before, the part of the American Dream that included marriage seemed very important during and before World War II, but after, why even marry? Hook up culture is defined as “spontaneous, commitment-free (and often, alcohol-fueled) romantic flings.” This definition tears down the new forms of dating that have come to be in American society. It is difficult to settle down or live an ‘ideal’ life because there is no promise that everyone is looking for a long-term committed relationship. As technology starts to match the population of desperate singles up with random people, the need and want to prove oneself worthy of another’s attention and affection ceased to exist. Romance no longer finds itself within American society, it is just an idea that seems appealing to the masses. Tech entrepreneur Cheryl Yeoh from San Francisco refuses to go on a date unless it is a week away, because she knows there will be nothing special or romantic about it if there is no time to prepare. Actions like these attempt to save the dying romance culture. But modern technology is an uncontrollable force that is manipulating the minds of future

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.

In her book, Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus, Kathleen Bogle studied the different relationship trends over the past 100 years. She explained how young adults shifted from calling on each to dating each other to now hooking up with each other (Bogle 2008). In today’s society, college-aged adults have adopted the practice of hooking up, which involves different levels of intimacy (kissing to sex) without a long-term commitment to one’s partner. Throughout her research, Bogle explored the social script for hooking up and the different relationship dynamics for young adults due to this practice (2008).

Allie Bukatman’s popular press article “The Hook-Up Culture Has Killed The Possibility Of Dating In College,” examines what precisely the hook-up culture is and why it’s not necessarily a good thing. Bukatman focuses on the expectations of the hook-up culture, explanations for this casual sex phenomenon, causes for why commitment is an intimidating thing, and power in relationships, all the while providing her perspective on this matter.

In the article, Is hooking up bad for young women, can be summed up by saying that young girls having sex is nothing new. The term hooking up has a both negative and positive aspects for girls. With the negative side, young girls are labeled more as a whore and a slut by their peers if their casual encounters are made public. While reading this article the thing that caught my attention the most was women who have had more sexual encounters with men have less desire for sex, then women who have been in a long term relationship. Many people who have been in a long relationship, feel like because they've been with that guy for so long, they must have sex, as opposed to the girls who aren't in a relationship don't know who to have sex with. The

What is romance nowadays? It is the lamest form of a relationship according to ever-growing trends in America. Instead of treating girls with respect, young men are now making the assumption that they (young ladies) ought to be used as sexual toys, here to entertain and please. Unacceptably, the crux of this repulsive issue leads straight back to the growing acceptance of super-physical relations between young people. As Jeffrey Zaslow explores in his article, “Some Date: How Homecoming Is Losing Out To Hanging Out,” young people, particularly young men would rather spend their nights “hooking up and hanging out” than show true romance and do something as simple as going to a school dance.

On most college campuses and in the lives of most young adults of the college aged group, it is typical to find “hook up” culture running rampant. Instead of typical dating routines, young people are turning to casual sex or other casual flings after college parties or in bars. Though it does not affect only college students, this practice is becoming more and more widely accepted in American culture, and in fact is becoming an alternative to normal dating relationships. Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman, in her article “In Control? The Hookup Culture and the Practice of Relationships”, presents however that this practice cultivates characteristics that are discordant with long term relationships. Taking part in the practice of “hooking up” compromises

Author Donna Frietas took interest in the hookup culture trending on college campuses after students of hers confessed ambivalence towards casual sexual encounters. From these conversations Frietas (2008) found that many of these encounters weren’t always consensual or enjoyable. However, students still felt pressured to participate in these acts (p. 127-128). She was curious to learn the role religion and spirituality played in the intimate lives of college students. In 2008 Frietas published Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America’s College Campuses arguing that promiscuity is not a healthy way to exploring one’s sexuality. She found that this “hook-up culture” emerging at universities consisted of destructive behaviors revolving

College and universities have made great strides over the years. The campuses have grown, and the resources have improved tremendously. However, it is questionable if that social scene on these campuses has changed for the better over the years. “Work hard, party hard” has become the motto of college students to live by. Students spend the week focused on their academics, striving to grow as intellects. However, the weekend becomes the time when students look to go out and socialize at the various parties. And this is exactly what the weekend is for. With growing causal party scenes, college students have been more inclined to have a casual relationship with the opposite sex. Traditional dating on college campuses is rarely seen anymore