Sexual behaviour that occurs today allows for a lot more promiscuous behaviour than would have been acceptable in the past. Among the most modern trends is short-term casual sex encounter. These casual sex relations are defined as a relationship where partners engage in sexual activities without referring to it as romantic, (Grello, Welsh & Harper, 2006). These are purely physical relationships and can occur between strangers but generally develop out of a friendship, (Grello, Welsh & Harper, 2006). The duration of these relationships can last anywhere from a couple of hours to infinitely longer, (Conley, 2010). In a survey measuring the number of people who engaged in casual sex within a year, 70-85% of participants between the ages of 12 and 21 said that they had, (Grello, Welsh and Harper, 2006). Teenagers and young adults are among the most likely to engage in this type of relationship as it is heavily correlated with engaging in risky behaviour such as drugs or alcohol use, (White, Fleming, Catalano & Bailey, 2009). Those who engage in casual sex have a higher possibility of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection, a risk that most women are not willing to take, (White et al, 2009). In addition, there are other gender differences that influence the likelihood that one will engage in a casual sexual relationship. Research has shown that men are more likely than women to engage in these casual encounters, (Conley, 2010). The motivation behind casual relationships lies on basic evolutionary theory that men would want to engage as many partners as possible to spread their genes while women attempt to find beneficial genes as their potential investment is higher (Li & Kenrick, 2006). These motivations influence the...
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...n casual sex relationships. Men engage in these relationships more frequently then women and it is deemed more socially acceptable. The differences in the gender can be seen in the underlying motivations that influence men and women to engage in such behaviour. This paper provides a basis for the evolutionary theories of casual sex and provides a tentative explanation for the double standard in western cultures where it is socially unacceptable for women to be as promiscuous as men. Other studies can be done to look at the effects of age on casual sexual relationships as well as gender differences to isolate causes for this sex difference. In the future, a study that incorporates the he effects of age, alcohol consumption and gender differences would be effective in identifying patterns of casual sex in teenagers, a topic that requires more research.
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
Risky sex is described as having more than one sexually driven relationships with more than the primary one. Cherlin (2013) talks about serial monogamy, when individual engage in sexual activity with multiple individuals in a lifetime. Further sugg...
They base their findings on the National Health and Social Life Survey, which found that those born after 1942 were “more sexually active at younger ages” than those born from 1933-42, and the trend toward greater sexual activity among young people “appears to halt or reverse” among those born from 1963-72. In addition to these facts, an English survey of more than 14,000 students from 19 universities and colleges about their hookup, dating, and relationship experiences revealed that 72% of students experience a hookup at least once by their senior year in college, but hooking up hasn’t replaced committed relationships and is not a new concept to young adults. The evidence is convincing and shows that students often participate in both at different times during college (69% of heterosexual students participated in a relationship lasting at least 6 months by senior year as well.) Based on this, the amount of hookups and committed relationship by college students seems to even out over
In the article the researchers were trying to challenge the sexual strategies theory. It seems as though sexual strategies theory is different genders having different preferences when choosing a mate, in the case of long and short term relationships. The hypothesis at first was that both boys and girls felt that attractiveness was important. Girls would be more inclined to date someone because of social status and that boys would be the complete opposite. They also expected that social status would only become important when the person is attractive and social status would be important no matter if the person is attractive on no for girls. The last thing that was tested was according to Ha (2009) “the potential moderator effects of self-perceived mate value on adolescents desire to date with an attractive person.” Also according to Ha (2009) “They hypothesized that boys and girls preference for attractiveness and high social status would be independent of their own perceived mate value.” The information used to come to result of the theory has been known to be collect using surveys ...
The purpose of this research was to contribute a thorough analysis of sexual behavior among young adults. The hypothesis was young adults would engage in nonsexual activities with friends with benefits less than typical friends but more than casual acquaintances. Another hypothesis is that friends with benefits also have to be friends. The authors conducted an experiment in which they asked 163 young adults about their sexual activities which included light nongenital, heavy nongenital, and genital activity. They also have to
For generations sex has been a part of our culture. It used to be that sex was a sacred thing reserved for marriage. It still is; however, it is a much less of a common find today, especially among teens and younger adults. This is a problem physically, mentally and emotionally. ‘Hooking up’ ‘one-night stand’ ‘sex with no strings attached’ is the act of having sexual relations that are supposed to mean nothing and are a ‘one time’ thing. Or as it was described in “Hookups and Sexual Regret Among College Women.” “a sexual encounter, usually lasting only one night, between two people who are strangers or brief acquaintances” (Eshbaugh) Yet the hookup culture is swiftly destroying our generation’s view on love, happiness, love, and relationships. Our generation is being left unprepared, unhappy, and unloved as the hookup culture consumes us; making our world a darker and emptier place.
Since these hormones are peaking during the emerging adulthood phase it causes “ frequent orgasms, powerful sex drive, erotic responses being joyful, fertility being optimal, miscarriages being less common and lastly serious birth complications being unusual” (Berger, 2015, p. 394). With some of the positive that come with this increased level of hormone production there are also some negative consequences that arise. “The bodies of emerging adults still crave sex” (Berger, 2015, p. 394). Due to the impulse for wanting sex comes with an increased rate of sexually transmitted infections during this time period. “Most men and women in the US about 80% of sexually active people are infected with an STD at some point in their lives. Half of the 20 million new STDs each year are among young people between the ages of 15 to 24. Despite many schools focusing on abstinence-based sex education, it's not necessarily sex that's the problem, but rather, unsafe sex” (Papisova, 2015). Again during this time we emerging adults are continuously exploring and learning, so this one of the consequences we do seem to face. We can’t blame emerging adults as being the only reason as to why there is a higher risk of STI’s. There are also other various reasons for the growing number of STI cases some of the primary reasons
From a young age , many individuals worldwide are socialized according to their gender and what is appropriate for males and females. Socializing according to ones gender starts from the moment you are born when the nurses give you either a blue or pink blanket to wrap the child in. This allows society to known whether the child is a male or female. The double standard for gender occurs within many areas of development for instance the clothes one wears, the toys that are placed with, the jobs and careers one chooses in their later life. Attachment given by a child's parent reinforces an individual to be socialized and children can also contribute how their parents treat and see them , these are social constructs within parenting (Ambert,2012). All of these things can be gender separated and still are in today's society. Another area where males and females are socialized differently is in the area of sexuality and what is acceptable for males is not always for the female gender. Gender specific norms govern the appropriate amount of partners , when it is acceptable to engage in sexual activity and what motivates ones behavior (Kreager &Staff, 2009). This shows society individuals are socialized according to their gender because males are socialized into behaving a different way than girls but it still be accepted as a norm. Women are taught that it is okay to have sexual relationships but they need a reason, example being in a committed relationship, where as men just need a place. This is a common perception based on ones gender , formed from a western conservative view point ( Fugere et.al, 2008). Gender socialization is a process where boys are seen to be given wings and girls are to be given roots (Myers, Spencer, Jordan...
Not surprisingly the lack of useful sexual information is one of the reasons of the spreading sex related diseases. According to The American Social Health Association (1998) each year there are near ten million of new cases of sexually transmitted diseases among the teenage...
Evolutionary framework for human mating is based on three elements. First, strategies for mating developed to solve specific problems in human evolutionary history. Second, people behave differently depending on the type of mating involved. There are two types of mating, short term and long term mating. Short term mating is defined as casual sex (i.e. one-night stands and brief affairs). Long term mating is seen as a committed relationship (i.e. dating, going steady, and marriage). Third, males and females developed different strategies due to the difference in problems they have had over the course of human evolution (Buss 241). This paper will examine those strategies specific to males.
There has recently been an increase in casual sex and promiscuity throughout millennials. Although millennials have fewer partners, they are having more casual hookups. Today “a large generation gap in both attitudes toward premarital sex and number of sexual partners” is greatly affecting our society (Kaplan). Promiscuity is increasing and close relationships are fading. Many are worried the world of dating will soon disappear. This promiscuity “creates a sense that hooking up has replaced traditional dating as the primary means of developing and maintaining relationships among young people, especially college students” (“Is Casual Sex on The Rise in America”). People are not marrying until later in life. They spend much of their younger years single, but not alone. They jump around from person to person, such as in Huxley’s dystopia. Although, unlike Huxley’s dystopia, relationships still exist. Many eventually find their partner and become married later on in
The reason that many students find casual sex appealing is the fact that it is wrong. We as human beings find the danger of doing some thing wrong intriguing. We are animals and are always testing our limits. Sex is an explored subject that is hushed as we are children growing up. We are taught that is not to be talked about and that we should always have boundaries before we practice this interesting, yet provocative action. As college students we are free from all authority and we tend to explore these new actions. Our animal instincts kick in and we are soon experiencing new emotions and feelings that we end up succumbing to under different circumstances. We explore all the different things that we are shunned away from as children and are able to do so without any authority telling us other wise. Our boundaries are set free and then we are dealt with the choice of emotional sex or casual sex. Most people do not see the emotional side of sex until they become older. As college s...
There has recently been an increase in casual sex and promiscuity throughout millennials. Although millennials have fewer partners, they are having more casual hookups. Today, “a large generation gap in both attitudes toward premarital sex and number of sexual partners” is greatly affecting our society (Kaplan). Promiscuity is increasing and close relationships are fading. Many are worried the world of dating will soon disappear. This promiscuity “creates a sense that hooking up has replaced traditional dating as the primary means of developing and maintaining relationships among young people, especially college students” (“Is Casual Sex on The Rise in America”). People are not marrying until later in life. They spend much of their younger years single, but not alone. They jump around from person to person, such as in Huxley’s dystopia. Although, unlike Huxley’s dystopia, relationships still exist. Many eventually find their partner and become married later on in
People in society today can find potential sex partners in a heartbeat. In Nancy Jo Sales’ article “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse,’” she talks about how powerful the Internet and dating applications can be in helping one find potential partners. Jo Sales argues that dating applications and the Internet are not generally used for dating, but they are used for finding instant sex partners that lead to one-night stands. Short-term relationships are increasing due to the Internet and applications and will continue to increase in the future. Scholars have argued that sexual activity has tremendously increased, moving from traditional dating to a new style of dating called hookups. Also, research indicates numerous examples
A fundamental step for understanding the links between human nature and intimate relationships is by understanding human sexuality. Alfred Kinsey, in his pioneering study on human sexual behaviour, illustrated the degree to which individuals differ in their sexual attitudes, beliefs and preferences (Kinsey, Pomeroy & Martin, 1948). In particular, a marked difference was highlighted in individuals’ sociosexual attitudes and behaviours. Following this, many of the sociosexual features individuals differ in, including preferred frequency of sexual intercourse, the number of different sexual partners they predict to have in the future, and their willingness to engage in uncommitted relationships, have shown to covary (Eysenk, 1976, as cited in Barnes, Malamuth & Check, 1984). Considered together, these features compose an individual difference dimension named sociosexuality (Snyder, Simpson & Gangestad, 1986). Sociosexuality reflects the tendency to engage in uncommitted, casual sexual encounters (Simpson & Gangestad, 1991). Those with a restricted sociosexual orientation typically prefer closeness and commitment from their romantic partner before engaging in sex (Simpson & Gangestad, 1991). Such individuals claim they rarely have one-night stands, and require emotional intimacy within a romantic relationship before feeling comfortable with sex (Simpson & Gangestad, 1991). Conversely, unrestricted individuals require little or no emotional bond with a partner in order to have sex. These individuals are more likely to be involved in extra-marital relationships (Seal, Agostinelli & Hannett, 1994), and exhibit more frequent displays of sexual assertiveness such as flirting (Simpson, Gangestad & Nations, 1996).