Analysis Of Hookup Culture

Kelly presents several interconnected elements to support his argument that the “Hookup” culture, commonly found on college campuses is morally problematic. Kelly defines a hookup as the practice of pursuing a sexual activity without any expectation of a relationship. He also provides four other requirements to help narrow down his definition of hookup culture. These requirements are, lack of commitment, acceptance of ambiguity, a role with alcohol, and social pressure to conform. These elements when paired with sexual activity outside of a relationship generate the potential for gender power struggle, abuse, manipulation and inequality.
Kelly proposes this negative combination can create a morally compromising situation. In this essay I will

Social pressure to complete an action can produce positive consequences. The result of one’s actions can produce a positive or negative consequence based on our interpretation. The pressure one may experience from other people or society, is not intrinsically right or wrong, positive or negative. People experience social pressure every day whether is something trivial such as, walking upright instead of crawling or something with greater consequences such as driving inside the road’s boundary lines. The four additional requirements Kelly listed were to help demonstrate the harmful and negative consequence that affect women. While the other elements have clear slant toward negative consequences and have a higher potential to be harmful for women, social pressure has the same potential to provide beneficial elements and shouldn’t considered when defining hookup culture. Socialization and feeling the pressure from society, family, and media is a natural and beneficial part of life. While you can feel peer pressure to something wrong, feeling this pressure from your friends or peers does not define what

In actuality, many black students are abstaining from hook up culture. Also a 2013 study presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association finds that only a small fraction of college students have had more than one partner in the past year (Szalavitz). This research would contradict the claim of hook up culture being the predominate culture on campus. If hook up culture is simply a sub culture, the power of social stigma is significantly less for students who don’t participate. The negative consequences that may be experienced by women is only happening to a small fraction of wealthy white women (Heldman). Kelly argues that students who choose to remove themselves from the hookup culture run into social difficulties, because other student still engrained in hook up culture presume their platonic signals as sexual. While they may have social misunderstanding because these individuals interpret interactions differently these misunderstandings should not be perceived as something to be avoided. Embracing cultural diversity will result in misunderstanding and miscommunication. When students who participate in hookup culture interact with those who aren’t it is a mutually beneficial learning experience which may be uncomfortable and awkward but not harmful to