Hook-up culture is a growing trend for teens and young adults across the United States. Instead of entering an exclusive relationship, these individuals are choosing to pursue purely physical relationships, as opposed to ones with bonds of commitment.
In college students specifically, it’s believed that in order to fully achieve the “college experience,” you must take part in this trend. Although hook-up culture can give individuals the freedom to experiment sexually, the pleasure aspect of this societal trend is driven towards one goal: how good can men feel?
The phrase “hooking up” can have several different definitions depending on who you talk to. Ranging from a brief make-out session to sexual intercourse, because of the term’s broad definition, it’s easy to be confused about who’s done what when talking about your latest hook up. This confusion, however, can be more harmful to females than males. Sad but true, a double standard exists between men and women regarding how many sexual partners each gender can have. Men are encouraged to hook up with as many girls as they can and are lauded for the number of girls they are able to hook up with.
Women are also encouraged, mostly by their female friends, to hook up with whomever they please. For women, however, there is an invisible limit on how many sexual partners is too many. If a girl hooks up with too many guys (and how many “too many” is can vary from peer to peer), they are viewed as slutty or not relationship material. Yet, the number of sexual partners a man has does not increase or decrease his relationship material appeal. This double standard is shaming women for participating in a culture which both men and women could gain a better understanding of their sexual-selves by limiting women on just how many partners they can have sex with before being criticized for their sexual exploration.
While hook-up culture can be viewed positively due to the sexual freedom and exploration both men and women are able to take part in, there is a downside. Besides the obvious concerns regarding pregnancy and STDs, hook-up culture can lead to certain emotional and social issues. Due to the double standard between men and women regarding the appropriate amount of sexual partners, men often lack respect for the women they choose to hook up with.
Before a hook-up, some men know they are looking just for sex. When pursuing a girl, they may treat her differently than they would if they had intentions of dating her. Also, because both individuals usually know that their relationship won’t grow from a hook-up, emotional restrictions are placed on the people involved. Hook-up culture has made people feel the need to suppress their feelings due to fear of rejection, heartbreak, or appearing desperate. These concerns may not worry everybody, but for those who it will, the effects of casual hook-ups can be draining.
During the hook-up, it’s all about the guy. Women tend to prioritize their partner’s pleasure during sex, and men tend to prioritize themselves. This tendency created what’s now known as the orgasm gap. The orgasm gap is the drastic difference between the percentage of males that orgasm during sex, compared to the number of women that do. According to Professor Paula England, past president of the American Sociological Association, the likelihood that a woman will orgasm during sex increases the more times she has had sex with the partner in time. This is because, although men prioritize themselves in a hook-up, they start to care about their partner’s pleasure the more they engage in sexual activity.
In fact, according to professor England’s research, during their first hook up together, the man will orgasm 31% of the time, and the woman will 11% of the time. While if these two same individuals continue to hook-up and eventually enter a relationship, men will orgasm 85% of the time, while women will 68% of the time. Based on these results, you can see that even in a committed relationship, women still aren’t orgasming as much as their male partners, however, the percent of women orgasming in relationships is much higher than individuals during their first hook up.
Hook-up culture has taken over college campus across the nation. It encourages both men and women to take part in casual sex and conditions them not to desire an exclusive relationship. By creating an unspoken law in which men can hook-up with as many women as they please, yet women cannot have sex with as many men as they want, men are controlling these hook-up cultures.