Hook Up Culture

Just with a swipe right, being able to access people’s looks, conversations, and locations has never been easier than it is right now. Tinder is an online dating application (app) that allows users to match with each other based on physical mutual attraction and has been called “shallow,” the “dating apocalypse” and “a cave habitat for garbage males”. (Has Love Grown as Dating Apps Flourish?). In research, data shows that 22% of adults from the ages of 18-24 are using this app to find a people to connect with across America (Smith). Although this app has been a boom in society for young adults, many people are negatively affected by the outcomes it results in. For instance, one’s self esteem is proven to be lowered using this app due to insecurities

Although hook-up culture does exist in person such as people meeting at bars, parties, or through mutual connections, by limiting interactions arising strictly to screen conversations, the purposes of dating can be lost through conversation and only relying on physical attraction. Within person hook-up culture, people are capable interact socially beforehand and know what they are getting themselves into. People risk their heart for no reason to just end up having disappointments and risk their safety to a stranger that knows one’s location due to the limited information released through the application profile. It is also known to be bad for your mental health with regarding personal appearance and insecurities escalating due to this app based off physical attraction. However, if something bad happens to a person on the application, who is responsible for the action? Since people are putting themselves at risk it seems that both parties would be at fault for something to

As stated previously about motives regarding men and women, this connects well to the literature on self-objectification and social media. Mandy Oaklander’s research shows how women who have self-depreciating effects have a low self-esteem that are affected by the outcomes: “Tinder users had lower levels of self-worth, reported being less satisfied with their faces and looks and were more ashamed of their bodies. They were also more likely to think of themselves as sexual objects, to internalize societal ideals about beauty, to compare their appearances to others and to constantly monitor how they looked, the researchers found” (Oaklander). With identifying myself as a woman in today’s society, I can testify this issue of self-esteem can be punctuated when constantly searching for ways to fill a void, either through relationships or the presence of social media, of one’s image and a lack of confidence the standards placed on women should look today. By trying to improve one’s personal image, using Tinder as remedy for looking for security in one’s looks, allows people to objectify others and having higher expectations instead of accepting individuals for their