The Importance Of The Hook Up Culture

Most of the time, people associate sex with love but this is not always the case. Sometimes people have sex and exclude the “love” aspect. Examples of this would but the hook up culture and casual sex. Cooks and Baur (1990) define hookups as a “short term, loveless sexual liaisons that occurs during a brief interval” (p. 195). Hooking up can also consist of only kissing, fondling, oral sex, anal sex, or vaginal intercourse. The frequency, depth of relationship, location, feelings, time of day, alcohol or drug use, socioeconomic status or religion are all irrelevant in participating in a hook up. (Stepp, 2007)

There are three ways of participating in the hook up culture, casual sex, one-night-stands, and friends with benefits. One night stands, which are typically what people think of when they think of the hook up culture, are when two people meet for the first time and engage in intercourse. After that night they do not have sex and it is very probable that they may never see each other again. Often times, two people engaging in a one-night stand do not share

Many think that today’s youth is going down hill and they imply that the way things have been done are superior than the way things are done now. Hooking up has been a part of culture for longer than most things.

In the past, how a person would find their spouse was through courting. The parents, families and sometime even the community would keep an eye on a couple to ensure that their sexual interaction was kept to an acceptable manner and to make sure babies where not being born out of wedlock. (12) “Over time, romantic feelings began to largely outweigh material considerations in the search for a potential partner” (p. 12). In the 19th and 20th C, these feelings were caused by sexual attraction, which therefore increased the importance of sexual interaction