Armstrong, Caroline: Hook Up Culture

            "Hooking up" on college campuses - It is as prevalent as it once was? Is it, perhaps, becoming an even more accepted practice among today's youth? The Chronicle of Higher Education's article, Study Casts Skeptical Light on Campus 'Hookup Culture', introduces a study conducted by University of Portland psychology professor, Mr. Martin Monto. His study contradicted the assumption that today's youth have more sex, or are "hooking up" more than their predecessors. In fact, today's students are less likely to have sex once or more a week ("Study").

            According to Monto, although students today have no more sex in college than the previous generation, but there are changes between the generations. This article first explains that not only has hookup culture become more of a hot topic, the term "hookup" also tends to be used as a generalization to cover anything from kissing to actual intercourse. Another difference between today and yesterday's hookup culture  Monto was able to uncover in his study is that today's college students seem to report "hooking up" with friends or perhaps with casual dates. Similarly, today's young people are less likely to enter into a marriage or have a consistent sexual partner.

            This article goes on to show the viewpoint of Kathleen A. Bogle, author of the book Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus. Bogle explains that Monto's evidence of no change between generations is not surprising, seeing how the term "hookup" has been used for generations across college campuses.

            The article closes with a statistic - "Fifty-nine percent say they have sex weekly or more often, and 32 percent say they’ve had sex with more than one person over the past year" ("Study"). It is evident to me through reading this article and also through observing my own peers that "hooking up" is a common occurrence. Nonetheless, I personally do not believe that makes it acceptable. Having been in the same relationship for the past three years, "hooking up" is not something that I have taken part in, nor would it be if I were single. To me, monogamy and abstinence are not principles that should be tossed be the wayside simply because times are changing.