“Hookup culture” is a myth.
Spend a few days on Duke’s campus, and you’ll soon be convinced that our so-called hookup culture is the root of all evil. The phrase is almost a cliché. Indeed, it’s nearly impossible to have a discussion about the social life at Duke without “hookup culture” sneaking its way in. Can’t find a girlfriend? Must be the hookup culture. Frustrated with your social life? Blame hookup culture. Hate the food at Marketplace? You guessed it—hookup culture (I hyperbolize).
The only problem? Hookup culture isn’t real.
Hookup culture has frequently been the topic of shock pieces reliant on anecdotal evidence and fear mongering. For example, in a 2013 New York Times article, Kate Taylor used stories and interviews with students at University of Pennsylvania to paint college women as selfish, calculating and sex-crazed. It’s no wonder that this garnered negative attention. A woman making her own decisions about her body? Having sex with multiple partners? Waiting longer to get married? For some, there’s nothing more terrifying.
This moral panic has spurred critics of this behavior, such as the now-notorious “Princeton Mom” Susan Patton, to conclude that dating is dead and we’re all screwed (literally). This is visible on our campus, where advertisements for the “Blue Rose Society” adorn our bus stops and newspaper pages, attempting to revive chivalry and eradicate wanton sexuality.
Of course, panics about the immorality of “the youth” are nothing new.
What’s noteworthy about this panic, however, is that it is generally unfounded. While many more articles have focused on hookup culture in recent years, the actual rates of casual sex are no different today from those of the 1980s. We may be talking about it more, but we’re not actually doing it more. Sure, studies about “hooking up” often report shockingly high numbers of hookups, but these studies are reliant on the intentional ambiguity of the word ”hookup,” which can mean anything from kissing to intercourse. When questions are worded more specifically, we find that a significant majority of students are having sex only with romantic partners.
These patterns hold true at Duke, where a report from Duke Inquiries in Social Relations found that 76 percent of respondents wanted a romantic relationship, and 75 percent hook up less than once a month. So, while Duke may be widely recognized for our various sex scandals and looser sexual culture, these perceptions simply don’t reflect the attitudes and behaviors of most students.
You may be wondering, if hookup culture doesn’t exist, why is she writing about it?
To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t care less what my peers are doing in the bedroom (or the stacks, random fraternity house, bathroom at Shooters, etc). Even so, I think that it’s critical that we talk about this notion of hookup culture, because complaints about “hookup culture” are part of a larger pattern of policing sexuality, particularly female sexuality. Don’t be fooled—critics of hookup culture don’t really care about your health and safety. No, they’re scared you might become autonomous, empowered or, God forbid, aggressive. We live in a rapidly changing society where it is hard for some to accept that a woman’s worth is not in her sexual behavior. Thus, condemnation of an imaginary hookup culture is a mechanism through which people can critique others’ sexual choices.
Furthermore, we must not allow our obsession with talking about “hookup culture” to obscure real concerns about social behavior and sexual violence. Hookup culture may not be real, but rape culture certainly is. We must be wary of allowing violence against women to go unchecked under the guise of hookup culture.
The “hookup culture” discussion simply isn’t productive. If we’re that concerned about sex outside relationships, let’s stop perpetuating the “everyone is hooking up” idea and start pursuing relationships. Otherwise, hookup culture may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Conversely, if we aren’t averse to the normalization of casual sex, let’s stop complaining and judging others for it.
Either way, let’s retire the term “hookup culture.” The sooner the better.
Katie Becker is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Thursday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.