Hookup culture
[8][9] Adolescents and emerging adults engage in hookups for a variety of reasons, which may range from instant physical gratification, to fulfillment of emotional needs, to using it as a means of finding a long-term romantic partner.
[14] Historians D'Emilio and Freedman put the beginning of casual sex, including college hookups, further back in history, to the early 1800s, and explain the phenomenon as shaped by historical and cultural forces.
[17][15][16] Technological advancements, such as the automobile and movie theaters, brought young couples out of their parents' homes, and out from their watchful eyes, giving them more freedom and more opportunity to engage in casual sexual activity.
[19] This new outlook was influenced by several factors, including the eradication of 1930s censorship laws regarding sexually explicit content in media, and also a growing accessibility to birth control pills, condoms, and other forms of contraception.
[19] Kathleen Bogle has stated that the growing acceptance of casual sex in the 1960s could also be attributed to a sharp rise in female student enrollment at colleges and universities.
[19][20] With a greater number of females on campuses compared to males, women had to adjust to the sexual scripts outlined by men, which are based more on engaging in uncommitted sex rather than on developing relationships.
[14] These developmental shifts, Garcia's systematic review of the literature suggests, is one of the factors driving the increase in hookups, a "popular cultural change that has infiltrated the lives of emerging adults throughout the Western world.
"[14] The review shows that hookups are becoming increasingly normative among young adults and adolescents in North America and have taken root throughout the Western world, which represents a notable shift in how casual sex is perceived and accepted.
Research on hookups is not seated within a singular disciplinary sphere; it sits at the crossroads of theoretical and empirical ideas drawn from a diverse range of fields, including psychology, anthropology, sociology, biology, medicine, and public health.
[42][43][44] Journalist Sabrina Weill asserts that "casual teen attitudes toward sex—particularly oral sex—reflect their confusion about what is normal behavior" and adds that they are facing an intimacy crisis that could haunt them in future relationships.
For example, a study of Canadian college students who planned to hookup while on spring break showed that 61% of men and 34% of women had sex within a day of meeting their partner.
"[21] Kimmel believes that while sexual promiscuity once existed on college campuses alongside more traditional forms of dating, hooking up is now "the alpha and omega of young adult romance.
For instance, when a male student was asked if he felt that women looked for different components in a hookup; his response was that most females generally did not lean towards a "one and done" thing.
She cites Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton,[65] Hanna Rosin,[66] and Kate Taylor[57] who posit that hookup culture is good for women as it frees them to focus on their studies and on their professional development for careers instead of seeking a long-term partner or marriage.
Freitas believes the lessons imparted by hookup culture have "set back" students who often have little experience dating, and few skills in asking a romantic partner out as a result.
Most of those social media applications are identity profiles, public thought disposals, and virtual photo albums of oneself in which others' are just a click away from cyberanalysis of how that individual displays themselves physically, sexually, psychologically, emotionally, and mentally on the internet.
[17] Most people choose to take part in hookups to experience physical intimacy and sexual pleasure, but that type of behavior can result in a variety of negative outcomes, too.
"[78] In Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think About Marrying, Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker report that having more sexual partners is associated with "poorer emotional states in women, but not in men.
[80][14] Students who reported to Freitas that they were profoundly upset about hooking up stated the encounters made them feel, among other things, used, miserable, disgusted, and duped.
"[10] Until recently, those who studied the rise of hookup culture generally assumed that it was driven by men and that women were reluctant participants, who were more interested in romance than casual sexual encounters.
[107] As the cost of personal computers dropped and online access has increased, Heldman and Wade, along with others, argue that internet pornography has "emerged as a primary influence on young people's, especially men's, attitudes towards sex and their own sexuality.
"[4][104][108] Heldman and Wade believe that the increase of access to pornography via the internet is what "spurred" hookup culture, in part by challenging the idea that "good sex" takes place in a monogamous relationship.
[108][1] Feminist Gail Dines has opined that pornography is "a cultural force that is shaping the sexual attitudes of an entire generation" and a "major form of sex ed today for boys.
[73] For example, gay men with an anxious-ambivalent attachment style (an individual made uncomfortable by "close emotional relationships, but will desperately try to seek out reassurance from another person") might be more reluctant to use condoms during sexual intercourse because they believe that will make them feel more wanted by their partner.
[19][32][25][16] Researchers like Kathleen Bogle and Donna Freitas have interviewed males and females, both separately and together, to gain a better understanding of the hookup culture on campuses in the United States.
[19][32] Their studies have focused on how the growing hookup culture has shaped the trajectory of dating and forming relationships, and they have also aimed to gain a better understanding of the difference in sexual scripts between men and women.
[123] Experts have suggested several areas for future research, including additional studies about how members of the LGBTQ community are impacted and have been affected by hookup culture.
"[19] Finally, a third avenue for future research could include an analytical view of individuals who use apps like Grindr or Tinder with hopes of finding connections or developing relationships, rather than using them for the more common use of casual hookups.
[19][32][25] Many ideas and beliefs about the growing hookup culture suggest that the act of engaging in uncommitted sex is found primarily among teenagers or college students.
"[25] The conversations seldom present information about motives for engaging in sex aside from reproduction and rarely acknowledge the positive emotions associated with that type of activity like physical pleasure.
