Walk into any college party (or bar) on a Saturday night and I guarantee the sophisticated scenery of “hook-ups” will surround you. As you push through the crowd to reach your friends, you may attempt to avoid contact with two drunken “lovers”. Rest assured you will not be able to escape it, because it will be everywhere. You will witness these make out sessions in the back rooms, in a closet, against a windowsill, on the dance floor, and even perched on an elevated surface for all to see. Hookup culture is a term that is sweeping the nation. According to a study done by the institute for American values, ninety-one percent of college women are willing to testify that “hook-up culture” defines their campus. This study was done over a period of 18 months, studying the values and attitudes of today’s college women regarding sexuality. With monogamy becoming a foreign term to millennials, society is starting to ask why? Hookup culture seems to have trumped dating. On one hand this cultural revolution has our society feeling excited and awakened. On the other hand it is leaving our generation feeling regretful, lonely, sick, and ultimately unsatisfied. Could this be due to the simple facts about the way, and environment, millennials were brought up?

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Hookups, or “brief uncommitted sexual encounters between individuals who are not romantic partners or dating each other” (american psychological association), has become a way of life for many 18-30 year olds. Although sexual flings began to emerge in the 1920s, the terminology of hooking up is quite new. For example, yesterday my friend and I were eating dinner with my parents when my mom asked “are you girls going to hookup with Jenny over this break?”. My friend and I turned to each other and laughed, hooking up in their time meant something totally different. Today, APA data suggests that between 60 and 80 percent of North American college students have had a hook-up experience, or sexual encounter. Of those hookups, a majority are experienced under the influence of alcohol. According to the media education foundation study, on average women consume four drinks prior to sex and men consume six. We are well aware that alcohol often leaves us acting in ways that we will soon come to regret or feel negatively about. In a qualitative study done on 187 participants asking them to report their feelings after a typical hookup, 35 percent reported feeling regretful or disappointed, 11 percent confused, and 5 percent uncomfortable. These statistics show that a little over half of the responses were negative feelings.

Aside from feelings, sexual encounters carry many physical dangers that are all too real to be ignored. Sex carries the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual violence, and pregnancy. Three MAJOR potential life changers that are shockingly being brushed off. Whether this be due to the heat of the moment, or the alcohol, in a study done on college students nearly half of them claimed they were not concerned about contracting a disease. In addition to disease, rape as well as pressured sex are more common than one would think.

Hookup is not the only term that has changed from generation to generation. Dating is now a term used to describe two people who are already in a relationship. Dating is much less common than hooking up. The term dating used to be self explanatory, it was a person who was going on dates with varying numbers of other people. Nowadays dates are often said to come after a hookup and are a signal of relationship interest, although relationships rarely bloom from a hookup. Interestingly enough, while the participants in an IAV study suggest that both members involved in a physical encounter “don’t necessarily expect anything further” 63 percent of women claim that they would like to find their husband in college. This statistic shows a major contradiction to the definition of a hookup, as well as a persons goals. I can completely contest to this statement, being a college student myself. I am constantly hearing of how much those around me long for attention but cannot seem to find a boyfriend. As they continue to throw themselves into “hooking-up” with the hopes of developing something more, they are pushing away from their goal more and more. With not even a text during the day from their “lover”, they find themselves feeling rejected and sad. Studies show that boys, on the other hand, are perfectly content with having multiple partners for the sole purpose of sex. While this may be true, in my opinion this research study fails to recognize the possibility of response bias. Men may be lying during studies about their opinions on hookup culture due to the stereotype associated with men’s sexuality. If they do not fall into the norm, they may be considered gay which unfortunately some people hold negative connotations with.

So, if a majority of us ladies’ true intentions lie in a romantic future, why is it that the rates of sexual encounters on college campuses are continuously increasing? Despite the negative feelings, STDs, and rape possibilities we continue to immerse ourselves in a hookup culture. I believe that it all springs from our generational upbringing. In doing hours upon hours of millennial research, I discovered many interesting facts about our upbringing that may have large impacts on our behaviors today. We grew up in a society where technology was rising. We were/are surrounded by computers, instant messaging, video games, cell phones, internet, apple products, and increasingly shocking inventions. Because of technology, we have become accustomed to instant gratification and we will not have it any other way. According to a survey by the career center at California State University, Fullerton, and Spectrum Knowledge, a research and training firm in Cerritos, California nearly three quarters of the respondents agree to needing instant gratification. Being that this blog will most likely be read by millennials, take a second to think. Think about how impatient you get when a webpage wont load, or when your friend is taking too long to answer a text. We want something, and we seek a response almost immediately. We are also known as the trophy society. By trophy society I mean that everyone needs to be rewarded and praised by an outside source in order to feel achieved. We were that soccer team that received a ribbon even if we lost. Both of these tendencies of millennials could play a huge role in our concerning sexual behaviors.

Maybe the reason that our generation is considered a hookup culture is because sex allows us to feel happy, relieved, and appreciated in the short term. We want to feel a sense of appreciation, and just flat out feel good. Although hooking up has proven not to be a long term deal, it provides the attention and satisfaction we need momentarily. There is no denying that when someone wants something they seek out to get it, it is part of how we are wired. Technology has made that very easy for us. It seems that now this materialistic view is spilling into sexuality. For some people sex can be an easy and quick fix to life’s frustrations. According to a study done by the media education foundation, numerous women even admitted that, “The pleasure that girls receive from hooking up isn’t, like, physical.” With a societal shift in views on sexual activity, I cannot help but wonder how large of a role technology and “trophies” play.

Soruces:

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/02/ce-corner.aspx

https://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/244/studyguide_244.pdf

http://www.thetrophykids.com/articles/have_it_now.html

http://www.americanvalues.org/search/item.php?id=18