Hooking Up And Dating Essay

For just a little over a century now, the date has been a vehicle for creating lifetime lovers. A date could be defined as two people getting together for an activity when the possibility of romance between them has been broached but not ruled out. Dating took rise with the rise of the automobile. This allowed for young courting couples to experience new things together- away from the eyes of their parents and outside of the home. Dating soon replaced courtship, and became the main path to finding love. Throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first century, groundbreaking events like the feminist movements of the 1960-70s, the legalization of the birth control pill, 1973’s Roe v. Wade, and more recently with the 2016 election year- having the first female candidate nominated in a major party to run for president, have all shaped American society toward a more equal, empowering, and uplifting place for women (CITATION FOR DECLINE OF THE DATE). These infact have also changed the dating world, especially in college. The thought of students graduating with a degree AND a significant other
is one that is not as easily attainable. The hookup culture has taken rise over the dating world because more women are focused on attaining college degrees and chasing career paths than searching for and involvement in serious, monogamous relationships. BLANK, the author of an article titled, Peter Pan Goes to College, reminds us that “Fifty years ago, the average college student might have expected to achieve financial independence, buy a home, marry, and have children- all within a few years of graduation, if not before” (CITATION FOR PETER PAN). This is no longer the case for today’s students. The changes over the past decades, from the mid twentieth-century feminist movement, to Hillary Clinton’s race for the White House, have granted autonomy to, and pushed women to chase the career they desire. This is exemplified in the fact that today, women outnumber men in college enrollment by 4 to 3, and outperform them in graduation rate and advancement to post-graduate schooling. College women favored hookups because they saw relationships as too demanding and potentially too distracting from their goals. They are seeking an edge, an upper-hand, to acquire top credentials and grades, leadership positions, and internships. Time is of the essence and filled with meetings, sports practices, community service projects, research, experiences to better themselves and their resumes. This can cultivate a hookup environment. A relationship could be equivocal to a four credit hour class, so students opt for a lighter one hour class. Additionally, men being the minority (on average), notoriously hold more power in the sexual encounters, and they prefer casual sex to long term relationships (CITATION FOR SEX ON CAMPUS). Another factor that has contributed to this new found sexual freedom, and adjustment of the status quo (of college relationships) is the ability to delay marriage and have temporary relationships that don't derail education or career (CITATION FOR BOYS ON THE SIDE).
Hooking Up and Dating are Two Sides of a Coin, an article by AUTHOR, suggests that, “The hookup culture has not lead to college students having more sex, but to a shift in the social conditions under which uncommitted sex takes place” (CITATION FOR HOOKING UP AND DATING).
Students are not having more sex than students before them, but rather sexual activity is more likely to occur outside of monogamous, committed relationships (rather, a hook-up). Both hooking up and dating provide opportunities for sexual experimentation and activity, but hookups emphasis sexual activity with “no strings attached”, or no emotional attachment. A study carried out by BLANK, analyzes the attitudes towards casual sex by an individual’s background characteristics and college peer group- this attitude is also analyzed for suggestion of a double standard between men and women of similar sexual
history.