It’s a well-accepted opinion that Shooters has a pretty much inescapable presence in Duke’s social culture. It’s also a well-accepted opinion that Shooters, while fun, is home to many a DFM (dance floor make-out), and is also just really, really grimy.
Now don’t worry, this isn’t another article (I’ve lost count at this point) criticizing Duke’s infamous hookup culture. But the fact that Shooters, which is so very popular (and sweaty), is essentially a catalyst for a large majority of the hookups on Duke’s campus—many of which are sufficiently awkward in encounters following—has resulted in a pretty big crowd of displeased Duke girls and guys. Some of them were hoping the hookup would turn into a relationship, others couldn’t deal with the “look down at your phone as you walk by a Shooters hookup on the quad” routine, and some of them were maybe just hoping for a free swipe into Marketplace brunch the next morning and didn’t get one. Still others would go back to Shooters in all its sweat-soaked glory and see their boy or girl of interest – gasp – dancing with another partner and get discouraged. Whether disappointed or embarrassed, some students just want a different kind of human interaction.
Then there are people who were never big fans of the Shooters/hookup culture in the first place, and have always preferred spending the night with a movie and a cuddle buddy to making a regrettable drunken decision and a doing a morning walk of shame. Regardless, if you’re like me and spend some (read: all) of your study breaks, procrastination sessions, and bus rides scrolling through Yik Yak, you’ve probably noticed that the new “thing” is to proclaim one’s preference for a cuddle sesh and Netflix instead of the typical frat party, Shooters, and subsequent drunken hookup. These Yaks usually get a lot of upvotes and a few irritated replies (something along the lines of “Why would you post this on an anonymous app”), and then nothing comes of it.
One problem lies in the fact that there just is no snuggle equivalent of Shooters, i.e. a place where it’s implied that everyone there wants to cuddle platonically. More importantly, if you think about it, cuddling is only pleasant because it relies on a preexisting familiarity. So unless you already have a good friend you can cuddle with, there’s no real way to go about asking to spoon with a rando that isn’t just as, if not more, uncomfortable as hooking up with a rando.
This brings me to Cuddlr, a new app that’s supposed to be like Tinder, but for cuddling, like the name suggests. Seems like a good idea, but unfortunately, we live in a society where meeting up to hook up with a stranger is more socially acceptable than sitting down next to him or her on an empty bus. Touching of any kind is basically limited to (1) your good friends, (2) family, and (3) people you get intimate with, whether he or she is a stranger from Tinder or someone in your dorm.
So there you have it. Cuddle culture sounds like a great idea in theory (Free snuggles! Yay!), but hookup culture, however much people may look down on it, is here to stay. There’s a reason, after all, why we usually end up at Shooters, whether we plan to or not. I’ll see you all there next weekend.