Hookups - defined as a sexual encounter with “no strings attached”. This trend has become a normative heterosexual relationship that is catching further public attention. This concept refers to the idea that casual sexual encounters are the best way to engage sexually. People that are searching for hookups, are generally looking for either one night stands: a single sexual encounter without any expectations of any further relations, or friends with benefits: someone who is either looking for a friendship or has a friendship with another that is seeking to take their relationship to a new level without dating. There are many factors that contribute to the rise of the hookup culture. For instance, hypersexualized media from celebrities to businesses …show more content…
Technology advances have made our lives effortless, and because of this, it makes it simple to hook up with strangers on our cellular devices. There are multiple applications that are specifically made for hookups. For example, Tinder, Meet Me, and Badoo is examples of great apps that help us with finding one night stands or friends with benefits. Tinder is the most used app in the hookup culture. In fact, there are an estimated 50 million users on the app, according to the “DMR”. Technology has developed lowered barriers to entry. In other words, before these advances, people had to put in the effort to get a hookup partner. Now, technology made it so simple to find a partner that it practically “... removes much of the need for charm; it’s more like dropping a line in the water and hoping for a nibble”(Forbes). Undoubtedly, people in our generation don’t have to put so much effort into talking to strangers over text or through other media. Another instance that proves that technology has indeed influenced the hookup culture, is that we are given too much access to sex on our smartphones. As matter of fact, according to Lux Alptraum “ As smartphones have enabled discreet and easy sexting, and mobile dating apps have enabled on-demand sex, a number of other factors have changed about our daily lives as well ”. Cellular devices give people the freedom to find casual sex on multiple applications such as Snapchat, Skout, and Badoo. Evidently, technology is making it uncomplicated for us to use our smartphones to find casual
Donna Freitas “Time to Stop Hooking Up. (You Know You Want to.)” First appeared as an editorial in the Washington Post in 2013. In this essay Freitas aims to convince her readers that hooking up may seem easy and less stress than a real relationship, but in reality they become unhappy, confused, and unfulfilled in their sex life. “Hookups are all about throwing off the bonds of relationships and dating for carefree sex” personal experience, compare and contrast are a few techniques Freitas skillfully uses to strong convincing essay.
In Hookups Starve the Soul, an essay by Laura Vanderkam, Mrs. Vanderkam argues the fact that the real problem with hookups is not the act of promiscuity, but rather the lack of meaning behind it. I believe one is entitled to do whatever he or she pleases, with his or her body. Having the ability to hook up, particularly for college students, forces the person to become more confident and comfortable along with giving the participant a sense of power. On the contrary, through this sexual freedom, men and women are still held to different standards.
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
In reaction to the media’s numerous stigmas around college hookup culture in recent years, sociologists and psychologists have begun to investigate adolescent and young adult hookups more systematically. In “Is Hooking Up Bad for Young Women?” by Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura Hamilton and Paula England, this issue is addressed through a reaction to previous articles from sources on opposite sides. One side of the argument over sexual activity for young women places them at risk of “low self esteem, depression, alcoholism, and eating disorders,” while the other side argues that the underlying issue is the “moral panic over casual sex.” This issue has been seen by many as a “sudden and alarming change in youth sexual culture,” but systematic research has shown that experiences of young women in college
In the article, “I Had a Nice Time With You Tonight. On the App,” written by Jenna Wortham from The New York Times, she talks about how social media and other applications affect people in relationships. Many people believe that technology and dating apps let individuals feel closer to one another even if they are thousands of miles apart. Others, however, believe that interaction through phones is causing relationships and meeting people to be not as genuine. Even though Wortham has evidence that technology hinders relationships, she believes that applications can help individuals feel closer to each other.
Due to the multiple levels of intimacy involved in hooking up, the term, “hooking up,” can indicate many different actions.
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.
Hookup culture is a new pattern for American college students involving transient sexual intercourse and having no expectations of a traditional romantic relationship. Hookup activities may include a broad range of sexual behaviors, such as kissing, dancing sexual, oral sex, and having sex. In recent years, hookup culture has become more popular than it was in the past, and sexual behaviors have changed over time in the United States. Popular media representations of sexuality demonstrate the pervasiveness of sexual hookup culture among emerging adults. The themes of books, plots of movies and television shows, and lyrics of numerous songs all demonstrate a permissive
The hookup culture has become deeply ingrained in the college experience, all across the country students are fulfilling their desires while preserving their autonomy. On the surface the hookup culture doesn’t sound so bad, however, I am going to argue that the hookup culture itself stems from and promulgates problematic societal inequalities. I will develop my claim by first discussing the dominance of the hookup culture and the societal pressure placed on those who don’t want to participate or are unsure about participating in what the culture has to offer. Then, I will illustrate why the general dynamic of the heterosexual hookup is an uneven playing field even for women who actively choose to participate in the hookup culture. Finally,
Ms. Silver states, “Dating culture has evolved to a cycle of text messages, each one requiring the code breaking skills of a cold war spy to interpret.” This statement is not entirely false but it is however a little dramatic. Years ago, it took courage and planning for a boy to ask a girl out on a date now we are able to hide behind a screen and wait for a response to “Hey you wanna hang tonight?” I agree with Cheryl Yeoh when she expresses the fact that she wants to keep the old traditions alive because if someone truly wants to see you, they will put in the effort to do so. Technology is also taking us away from reality and into a fake
According to the article “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse,’” “People used to meet their partners through proximity, through family and friends, but now Internet meeting is surpassing every other form” (Sales). Jo Sales’ point is that the Internet is overtaking other ways of meeting a partner. In the past, the way of finding one’s potential partner was through family members, but now society is moving in the direction of using the Internet as a way to find their partners. Students in college provided a great amount of information regarding hookup culture, which supported Jo Sales arguments. According to Martin Monto and Anna Carey, “Current research and the popular media have claimed that the hookup culture is a widespread phenomenon that has replaced traditional dating...” (Monto and Carey 606). In making this comment, traditional relationships that were once said to be loving and caring have moved to sexual activity called hookups. Research shows how hookup culture has overtaken the roots of traditional dating and will continue to expand in the future. The study shows how college students were involved in one-night stands frequently knowing that they do not want to build a long lasting relationship. Traditional dating in the past formed stable relationships, and the idea of hookup culture was not even a topic of discussion. Questions
The paper “Dude Sex: White Masculinities and “Authentic” Heterosexuality Among Dudes Who Have Sex with,” published in the Sexualities Journal and authored by Jane Ward revolves around the idea that whiteness, masculinity and culture interact to offer a heterosexual culture to white men who want to have sex with men, thus reaffirming their identity as “straight men” and consequently rejecting or distancing themselves from gay culture. The author uses the Casual Encounters section of Craigslist-Los Angeles for her research and found a number of types of ads of such encounters. One such type is regular dudes, who are str8 dudes in heteroerotic culture who seek casual encounters with other men while reinforcing straightness with the use of stereotyped cultural norms that make them “bros or dudes”.
Social networking and other social technology allows for interactions to occur between friends and family regardless of their location. While people remain social through communicating at a constant rate, the essence of face-to-face interactions is in part affected. In romantic relationships, open and honest communication with one’s partner is critical to the trust and development of the relationship. Young adults use social technology such as the Internet and mobile phones on a daily basis to maintain their relationships. Due to the miscommunication that often occurs from not a lack of face-to-face interactions, social technology shapes the way romantic relationships function. Therefore, social technology impacts romantic relationships through a technological determinist outlook, leading to trust and dissatisfaction issues through the Internet and mobile devices, thus negatively changing face-to-face relationships. Different rhetoric of online communication shapes and transforms problems such as deception in online dating, social monitoring and control on social networking sites, creates negative interpretations and implications of text messages, and thus creates a new image and mindset of romantic relationships.
“Can you remember the last time you were in a public space in America and didn’t notice that half the people around you were bent over a digital screen, thumbing a connection to somewhere else?” (Fredrickson, 2013, pg. 1). In a world today where sending a text message containing the message “I luv you,” is equally powerful to that statement said in person to your significant other. Today’s generation is surrounded by the constant need to have technology and mainly cell phones at your fingertips. Gone are the days when people would talk to one another whilst standing in line, now it is all about having and using your cell phone to pass the time. All of this takes bondage on having an interpersonal relationship with each other and conversing face-to-face. Mainly, cell phones are a handicap to this and they inhibit the ability for a male to communicate with a female or vice versa, leading to the foreign territory of intimate relationships. The main reaction to this is saying that technology has shaped this motive and texting is a way of life. One can beg to differ saying that there just needs to be a new understanding of when, where and how much a cell phone is used around other people. This understand standing starts with coming up close and personal with why it happens. It can be said that this boils down to it being a physical distraction, emotional distraction, and a handicap to society’s ability to have interpersonal communication.
Based on a research of Online Dating & Relationships, Smith and Duggan stated that the ways of finding partners have been changed with the times. In the past, people used matchmaking, arranged marriages and printed personal ads. With the rapid technology advancement, there are alternative methods - online dating sites and smart phone dating apps. To compare with the people who date traditionally, people who date online are active to choose their dream man or woman by browsing the others profiles (9).