Hooking up is typically viewed as a new trend that was created by millennials, however that is not the case. Hooking up has been going on for quite some time at least since the sexual revolution of the 1920’s when women began to embrace their sexuality. However, hooking up is now a more commonly known concept due to the increased sexual liberation of young adults today, as well as other social factors. Now that the concept of the hook up culture is in the public eye, there is an increasing amount of curiosity about what hooking up means, why it occurs and what its possible consequences could be. Hooking up does have some redeeming qualities, however for the most part the hook up culture has negative consequences by causing physical and mental …show more content…
According to Psychology Today, hooking up is defined as “a sexual encounter occurring between two people outside of a dating or romantic relationship”. These sexual encounters can range from kissing to sexual intercourse. The study entitled Predictors and Consequences of Sexual “Hookups” among College Students: A Short-Term Prospective Study, which was posted on the NCBI website goes a step further in defining what constitutes as a hook up by making it clear that hooking up is “between partners who do not expect a romantic commitment”. Ironically, young adults and college students who are most involved in hook up culture do not have a clear definition of hooking up themselves. A study by Amanda Holman, who is a doctoral student at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, and Dr. Alan Sillars from the University of Montana, which was mentioned in an article on Huffington Post, showed that “94 percent of participating students were familiar with the phrase “hooking up,” there was no consensus about what “hooking up actually entailed”. This ambiguity makes the phenomenon of hook ups hard to research, thus there is little evidence as to what the long term effects of hooking up …show more content…
Apps like Tinder make it easy for young people to find someone who is interested on a casual sex encounter. These apps are popular among young people due to their instant gratification and efficiency. A man interviewed by Vanity Fair was quoted to say, in regards to Tinder, “ Sex has become so easy. I can go on my phone right now and no doubt I can find someone I can have sex with this evening, probably before midnight.” These dating apps create a type of sex market for young adults allowing them to find a sex partner with the flick of a finger. One women admits to Vanity Fair, “They start out with ‘Send me nudes’. Or they say something like ‘I’m looking for something quick within the next 10 or 20 minutes—are you available?’ It’s straight efficiency”. Men and women no longer have to put in much effort when it comes to meet a sexual partner. Instead of going out and talking to a few people to find a potential mate, men and women have access to thousands if not millions of other young adults from the comfort of their own home. The Vanity Fair article “Tinder and the Dawn of the Dating Apocalypse”, points out that dating apps like this have a huge impact on the males psychology because “when there is a surplus of women...the whole mating system tends to shift towards short-term dating. Marriages become unstable. Divorces increase. Men don’t have to commit, so they pursue a short-term mating strategy. Men are making
Donna Freitas “Time to Stop Hooking Up. (You Know You Want to.)” First appeared as an editorial in the Washington Post in 2013. In this essay Freitas aims to convince her readers that hooking up may seem easy and less stress than a real relationship, but in reality they become unhappy, confused, and unfulfilled in their sex life. “Hookups are all about throwing off the bonds of relationships and dating for carefree sex” personal experience, compare and contrast are a few techniques Freitas skillfully uses to strong convincing essay.
Conor Kelly argues in her article, “Sexism in Practice: Feminist Ethics Evaluating the Hookup Culture” that the hookup culture is sexist and disempowers women. Although, he mentions it is difficult to define “hooking up” but majority of the students will agree that it involves “some level of sexual activity without the constraints and expectations of a relationship” (Kelly 65). In other words, when two people have casual sex with no strings attached, when they both finish they both can go on with their lives without
As stated in the book, “college students have much to teach about sex” (8). That is because the values, ideologies, and worldviews of the students are representative of greater American culture. Although flawed, hookup culture on American campuses hold the possibility of accepting a culture of inclusivity, care, pleasure, and freedom while also rejecting predatory behavior, racism, classism, and abuse. Dismissing hookup culture all together is blind to the reality that young adults are going to have sex, and since sex is non-negotiable, one’s aim should be to foster open dialogue and critical thought onto a future where everyone enjoys the ability to freely explore sexuality, sex, and gender on their own
In reaction to the media’s numerous stigmas around college hookup culture in recent years, sociologists and psychologists have begun to investigate adolescent and young adult hookups more systematically. In “Is Hooking Up Bad for Young Women?” by Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura Hamilton and Paula England, this issue is addressed through a reaction to previous articles from sources on opposite sides. One side of the argument over sexual activity for young women places them at risk of “low self esteem, depression, alcoholism, and eating disorders,” while the other side argues that the underlying issue is the “moral panic over casual sex.” This issue has been seen by many as a “sudden and alarming change in youth sexual culture,” but systematic research has shown that experiences of young women in college
One of the points Freitas makes in the beginning of the book is, “The rise and “progress” of hookup culture rests in the fact that young adults are simply getting better at being uncaring.” (13). Is it “uncaring” of the active independence of choice to engage in hookups without the shame? Women for centuries have been sexually repressed by societal pressures, so when they choose to become liberated from the shame, they are met with the idea that they are ambivalent to sex. She says that hookup culture hinders people from becoming successful in her terms, “ We cannot encourage our students and children to become whole, integrated, empowered, and virtuous people if we fail to adequately address hookup culture and to articulate how it works against these goals.” (15). So, not only does it make people “uncaring” to Freitas, it also somehow discredits your capability to be successful. Those ideas sound very much like the rhetoric used on women for centuries to defuse their empowerment. She also includes, “Ultimately, we need to empower them to seek the kinds of relationships they want…”(16). Freitas neglects to acknowledge that some women might want to engage in hookups and not desire a relationship in the traditional sense. There is constant ignorance of choice behind sexuality and expression, confused with a lack of
According to the article “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse,’” “People used to meet their partners through proximity, through family and friends, but now Internet meeting is surpassing every other form” (Sales). Jo Sales’ point is that the Internet is overtaking other ways of meeting a partner. In the past, the way of finding one’s potential partner was through family members, but now society is moving in the direction of using the Internet as a way to find their partners. Students in college provided a great amount of information regarding hookup culture, which supported Jo Sales arguments. According to Martin Monto and Anna Carey, “Current research and the popular media have claimed that the hookup culture is a widespread phenomenon that has replaced traditional dating...” (Monto and Carey 606). In making this comment, traditional relationships that were once said to be loving and caring have moved to sexual activity called hookups. Research shows how hookup culture has overtaken the roots of traditional dating and will continue to expand in the future. The study shows how college students were involved in one-night stands frequently knowing that they do not want to build a long lasting relationship. Traditional dating in the past formed stable relationships, and the idea of hookup culture was not even a topic of discussion. Questions
In “Technology Isn’t Ruining Modern Dating--Humans are” (New Statesman Network, August 7, 2015), Barbara Speed argues the success of online dating websites did not cause people to pursue hook-up culture, but instead the culture influenced companies to cater the needs of already interested people. Essentially, Speed characterizes online dating as a business. If people did not want such a fast paced dating world they wouldn't download the apps to find so-called lovers. Personally, I have never tried online dating myself; therefore, never put myself in a situation where I was judged romantically in a matter of seconds behind a screen. Additionally, people no longer want to spend too much of their time and effort with a person when they can go on their phones and talk to someone with similar intentions in a matter of hours. For instance, Slater’s case study, Jacob, right after he was dumped by a long term girlfriend, he instantly revisited his old dating profile and quickly started seeing girl after girl. However, he has a history of being a passive, negotiator, and low striving guy looking for a girl to fill a void in his life. Hence, Slater fails to mention that people are responsible for their own actions on dating websites regardless of receiving encouraging notifications from old
Journalist, Nancy Jo Sales, in her expository article, “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse’,” destroys the appearance of today’s young adults, specifically men, because of the method they use the dating application Tinder. The audience Sales is informing consist of people pertaining to the upper class as seen as evidence of the expensive brands, such as Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, and Michael Kors, advertise in the 2015 August issue of Vanity Fair. Sales message is that today’s youth use of Tinder is to promote various types of sexual behavior, which in effect causes the decay of commitment to relationships. In order to get her message across to her audience, Sales uses rhetorical appeals of both ethos & pathos in addition to imagery
In Hookups Starve the Soul, an essay by Laura Vanderkam, Mrs. Vanderkam argues the fact that the real problem with hookups is not the act of promiscuity, but rather the lack of meaning behind it. I believe one is entitled to do whatever he or she pleases, with his or her body. Having the ability to hook up, particularly for college students, forces the person to become more confident and comfortable along with giving the participant a sense of power. On the contrary, through this sexual freedom, men and women are still held to different standards.
That is why I believe a lot of people turn to technology. One of the biggest influences in technology are smart phones. Smart phones have access to unlimited amounts of apps and social media sites. Today’s apps aren’t your simple gaming apps anymore. There are a number of dating apps, which allow users to interact with one another, without actually having to have face-to-face contact. This lack of face-to-face contact may increase an individual’s confidence, because it decreases an individual’s fear of being rejected. Dating apps and websites alone, have change the way people date in today’s
The hookup culture has become deeply ingrained in the college experience, all across the country students are fulfilling their desires while preserving their autonomy. On the surface the hookup culture doesn’t sound so bad, however, I am going to argue that the hookup culture itself stems from and promulgates problematic societal inequalities. I will develop my claim by first discussing the dominance of the hookup culture and the societal pressure placed on those who don’t want to participate or are unsure about participating in what the culture has to offer. Then, I will illustrate why the general dynamic of the heterosexual hookup is an uneven playing field even for women who actively choose to participate in the hookup culture. Finally,
"Passes And Plays: The Truth About Safe Sex." The Truth for Youth. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Paul, E. L., & Hayes, K. A. (2002). The casualties of “casual” sex: A qualitative exploration of the phenomenology of college students’ hookups. Journal of personal and Social Relationships, 19, 639-661.
Course Reflection Even as sociology major, it still astonishes me to think on how much sociological factors impact our daily lives. Prior to this course anatomy and biology were the central terms that came to mind when discussing the topic of human sexuality. However, now I have a much broader view of sexuality and can now relate it to sociology in ways I never thought possible. It seems that sociology has as much an impact on sexuality, as biology does. Weeks 9 and 10 of the course were perhaps the most intriguing; we explored the constructs of hookup culture, relationships, and pornography.
This share of people leave an unsolved problem for Tinder - how do you make Tinder an acceptable story to tell? The best bet would be to tap into Tinder’s user growth beyond just online dating. Tinder has great potential, especially in emerging markets, through the diversification of services it provides on its app. By creating features for user differentiation that can include toggles for “casual hook-ups”, “dating”, and “marriage,” Tinder can create niches within its own system to tap into individuals who are turned off by the current reputation of the app. This not only empowers users to curate their online dating experience but also helps Tinder to bring it back to its original intent of connecting