Almost every college movie includes drinking, partying, frats and, most of all, sex. American media has set a stereotype for college students, but is it necessarily true?
At Penn State, we all see people who party and, seemingly, hookup. But do we really know what happens behind closed doors?
I decided to dig deeper into how prevalent hookup culture really is at Penn State.
Hookup culture is a hard thing to define because there are so many definitions for the word hookup. But generally, hookup culture is the idea that a society accepts and even encourages casual sexual encounters between different parties outside of a relationship.
To see how students felt about hookup culture on campus, I interviewed people to get a more cohesive definition of what hookups are. I polled random students to get a better view on what students actually do to feed into hookup culture.
The interview
First, I interviewed different people from different groups around campus. In order to protect the identity of the interviewees and create an environment of honesty, all parts of the interview and polls were anonymous.
Among the interviewed, students were of different ages, genders, sexualities, nationalities, religions and hometowns, getting a full range of opinions on hookup culture.
To keep each interviewee anonymous, they were each assigned a letter from A-J and a color.
Responses were edited for clarity.
What do you consider a hookup?
A- “Hookups are any form of intimacy outside of a relationship.”
B- “A hookup is sex between two people who have recently met and do not talk afterwards.”
C- “Hookups are when people have sex.”
D- “A hookup depends on the person, but it is when people do anything more than kissing.”
E- “A hookup is two people engaged in sexual intimacy or relationship without a romantic relationship or friendship.”
F- “A hookup is anything from kissing to sex. It is completely up to interpretation.”
G- “A hookup is any sexual act. But it must be more than just making out. It can include oral, anal or vaginal sex.”
H- “It is having sex with someone. It normally is not, but typically is, someone you have recently met. It cannot be one of your friends. It is still considered a hookup even if the two have hooked up multiple times.”
I- “A hookup is sex between two or more people.”
J-A hookup is anything past making out and groping. It is normally on a whim. It becomes a hookup when you are like ‘get a room’.”
What do you think about hooking up?
A- As a single person, he said it can be good or bad. For many people, it can create some guilt. But other times, it is harmless and fun.
B- While she supports others doing it, it is not for her.
C- She thinks it’s “swag” when other people do it. She fully supports people taking charge of their sexualities.
D- She thinks its normalized within society. She will not judge people for doing it, but she believes that people need to think about love and romance more. The value of a stable relationship in college has decreased.
E- He believes that people are entitled to do what they want to do. But he firmly believes that people should not do it. Hookup culture fosters unhealthy viewpoints on what it means to be connected to a person physically.
F- He could care less if people are hooking up with each other. People have different circumstances. If you want to go out, party and hookup, you can. If you do not want to, then you do not have to. Hookups are great for people who do not want to get into relationships.
G- If done safely, hookups can be an enlightening experience. They are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, so they said that it can be nerve-wracking and unsafe. Overall, they said it can be a positive thing because it can show you what and who you like. It just should be with someone you trust.
H- She does not care. It’s their life. Everyone should make their own choices.
I- If they’re happy, he’s happy.
J-He does not respect it, and he judges you. But, it is their own business, so they can do whatever they want. He is open to his opinion changing if he hooks up with someone.
What experiences/values/characteristics do you think have impacted your opinion on hookup culture?
A- He considers himself socially mature. This maturity has come from how he is, but he also has already been in a long-term relationship. His experience in a relationship puts him at a stance that he’s not “girl-crazy,” but he also is able to partake in hooking up.
B- When she was growing up, her family was a bit more conservative. So she was not exposed to hookup culture fully until college. It was a bit shocking when everyone in college was more prone to it. As an resident assistant (RA), she needs to be cautious about hooking up with people. Not only does she live in the hall with her residents, which can be awkward, but she also has to beware of dating apps.
C- She believes being raised Catholic has a huge part of her opinion on hookup culture. She was told to not partake in sex as a child. As she got older, she found that she became comfortable with having sex once her friends started having sex.
D- She believes that her opinions on hookup culture definitely came from how she was raised. Her family was not super religious, but she grew up going to church and she was homeschooled when she was younger. Once she transferred to public school, she found her ideas started to change.
E- He is a devoted Christian and was raised in a religious household. Being raised in the church, he was taught that there are things that are sacred and have a higher purpose. Sex falls into this category. Hookups transform a sacred thing, sex, into a selfish motivation. Sex should be about commitment to another person. He was raised with the viewpoint that it is not appropriate to engage in those types of relations.
F- His family, friends and general surroundings impacted him. A lot of people in his life have told him that he shouldn’t go to college with a relationship, so he made sure not to be in any long-term relationships going into college. Parents and past relationships prepared him for something bad to happen, so he decided not to go in with a relationship. Hookups, in a sense, seemed more safe to him, especially when frats and sororities prove that people want and enjoy hooking up.
G- He only had one hookup, and it was a bad experience. Because of that experience, it has made him more safe and precarious. Trust issues can really impact future hookups and relationships. For people in the LGBTQ+ community, it makes it a lot harder. The stereotypes of Grindr and gay dating apps make gay men feel more isolated. Flirting becomes harder because they need to check if the person could be interested in them and their gender. It creates an extra barrier. Also, he came in with a long-term relationship that fell apart. They wanted to rebound, but they realized that he needed time to work on himself.
H- She said that her ex-boyfriend and past relationships have affected her opinions on hookup culture.
I- His parents and family never talked about sex and hookups, but there was always an implication that he should not do it. Additionally, he is a very cautious person in general. So the idea of making an impulsive decision does not seem smart. He loves being happy, and he does not want to risk his happiness over a hookup.
J- His household did not talk about hookups when he was younger. But as he got older, his family was pretty open about the topic when it came up. This openness and knowledge allowed him to gain a better understanding and formulate his own opinion.
Do you personally hookup with people?
A- Yes.
B- No.
C- She does unless she is in a relationship.
D- She would like to, but she does not. She does not necessarily seek hookups out because she prefers to get to know people before doing anything intimate. She finds friends with benefits more appealing than one night stands.
E- No.
F- Yes. Frequently.
G- They want to, but it is very hard without using dating apps. But, he does not like apps. So, naturally, he is not hooking up with anyone at Penn State. And, their recent breakup does not help.
H- Not regularly.
I- Not yet.
J- No.
How do you think Penn State has affected your opinions on hookup culture?
A- He has found that Penn State has made hooking up with people a lot easier. He does not find this a good thing.
B- Penn State has made her more open to hookup culture. While she said that she does not partake in hookup culture, she has found that we should not judge others’ sex lives. There was a sense of judgement when she was in highschool, so here, hookup culture is not as big of a deal.
C- She believes that hookup culture is creating social pressure. Hookup culture at Penn State has made her feel like she should be hooking up more because it seems like everyone else is. It is definitely more normal here than in her hometown.
D- It is much more normalized at Penn State. At her high school, there was some hookup culture. But it seems like everyone does it here.
E- It is definitely all around at Penn State. And this constant surrounding of hookup culture has reinforced that it’s not healthy. While some relationships are understandable and fine, there seems to be a line that it crossed. Hookup culture is painfully apparent when walking downtown on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights. He feels bad that people wasted something special for some fun. And while the university itself does not play into hookup culture, they rely on it. Many students come to PSU for the hookup and party culture, so they benefit from people wanting that fun.
F- Penn State did not change his opinions on hookup culture. Hookup culture is everywhere. He was knew what he was getting into when going to college and picking Penn State.
G- Penn State has definitely opened his eyes to the entirety of hookup culture. College in general makes people more open to new experiences. Before college, hookups felt like something that should be closed off and not talked about, but they realized how normalized a lot of experiences here are.
H- As she came to Penn State from Italy, she realized that hookup culture is everywhere. Most people here party and hook up. She heard from her friends and peers that Penn State would be like this. It was still a little shocking to actually experience it.
I- He realized a lot of people hook up with other people here. People are really horny. Back home, people did not have the liberty to hook up because there were parents to stop them. People breed like rabbits.
J- It hasn’t changed.
The polls
After the interviews, I made a google form to poll students around Campus. If you want to see the form, it can be found here! I printed out a QR code and asked students if they would answer the questionaire.
I asked people in and around the Commons, HUB and classes.
Among these random people, there were about 140 people who responded.
How many times have you hooked up with someone?
42.5 percent of respondents have never hooked up with anyone. 17.2 percent have hooked up one to three times. 9.7 percent have hooked up four to seven times. 6.7 percent have hooked up eight to eleven times. And 23.9 percent have hooked up twelve or more times.
How many people have you hooked up with?
43.7 percent of respondents reported that they have not hooked up with anyone. 8.9 percent have hooked up with one person. 14.8 percent hooked up with two to three people. 14.7 percent have hooked up with four to seven people. 2.2 percent have hooked up with eight to eleven. And 15.6 percent have hooked up with twelve or more people.
How do hookups make you feel?
31.9 percent of respondents answered that they do not feel anything because they do not hook up with people. 12.2 percent said that they feel negative after a hookup. 28.9 percent responded that they felt neutral. 31.9 percent felt positive about hookups.
When you think hookup culture was/will be most prevalent in your life?
69 percent of students thought that their first year of college is or was when hookups were most prevalent, 17.8 percent said their second year of college, 7.8 percent said their third year, and 5.4 percent said fourth year.
Where have you or the people around you found the most hookups?
49.6 percent said the most hookups came from frat parties. 18.3 percent said most hookups come from mutual friends. 13.7 percent said most came from apartment parties and 5.3 percent said dorm parties.
Within the other section, 5.4 percent said Tinder or other dating apps produced the most hookups. 3.2 percent said they found people found hookups at bars and clubs like the Lion’s Den, Champs, Stage West, etc.
Conclusion
What I find incredibly interesting is students believe that the majority of people are hooking up with people. But the biggest group of people in the poll are the people who do not hook up with anyone.
As students, we often see the most extreme people. We see the people partying on frat row or downtown all week. We notice the people leaving a party with a stranger, making out against the walls of an apartment or exchanging snaps with sex in mind.
And, yes, there are people who do this more than the average person. In questions one and two, the second largest group were the people who have hooked up twelve or more times with twelve or more people.
But at the end of the day, most people are not doing this. And the ones who do are not doing it regularly.
In the interviews, multiple students shared they felt or noticed pressure to hookup with people. But the polls show how many do not hook up with people.
Everybody needs to do what they feel comfortable with. And if it is fun to make out and hookup with people, then there are a lot of people who participate in hookup culture.
But if you never want to hookup with anyone, you are not alone!
At Penn State, there are too many people to make one definitive statement for the entirety of the student body. There are thousands of people with different opinions, values and lifestyles.
But I think we we should be transparent with others in order to create a culture of participating in what you want without shame.