Monday, May 9, 2011

Unhooked Discussion Leader Clare Koopmans

1.       Stepp classifies the phrase “hookup” as a broad term that can be applied to many different types of physical contact.  Some responses from college students on what the definition can mean are “a physical encounter of affection,” “third base and beyond,” and “immediate gratification” (21). As a college student, do you feel that this term is being represented properly in this article?

Yes, the term is being represented properly in this article because when a friend asks you what you did last night with the person who you took home from Higher Ground, the go-to answer is always “we hooked up.” It is a very broad term that encompasses many different sexual possibilities and lets a person know that you did more than just hold hands without giving dirty details.  It allows the questioning friend to let his or her mind wander to whatever scenario they want to envision, and it’s a way of avoiding details.

2.       “The girls made all the effort.  The guys didn’t have to do anything”(26).  Jamie, a senior at Duke University, said this about hooking up.  Do you agree with this statement that implies that boys don’t have to put forward any effort to hookup with a girl?
Yes and No.  In college from our experiences and what we have seen, a guy usually shows his interest in a girl by offering to dance with her, so he usually has to make the first move, which proves that guys do have to do some work.  A girl must then accept his offer to dance by dancing with him in return, and if the night goes well, it’s ultimately the girl’s decision on what happens at the end of the night.  After asking my friends in the dorm about this question, they agree that boys always go out looking for hookups and are usually always willing to be with a girl, it’s the girl’s decision to let that happen or not.

3.       “Students rarely go on formal dates but instead attend parties in large groups, followed by hook-ups—unplanned sexual encounters fueled by alcohol” (33). Is it true that all college students participate in these encounters and that all students rarely go on formal dates?  Do you think that Stepp does a good job of representing those people who choose not to participate in these sexual acts?
We know many people who are dating and find time to go on formal dates instead of going to bars and hooking up.  This article makes all college students look like they are sex-driven animals who don’t care about the feelings of others at all.  Although the purpose of the article is to show how the trends of sex have changed throughout the past decades, it would be appropriate to include how some students have preserved the formalities of courtship.

4.       “In essence, they [college girls] have analyzed the benefits and costs of relationships and come up with what they think is a bargain” (42).  What does this quote about college girls mean, and do you think that it’s an accurate conclusion?
This quote means that girls are ignoring romantic courtships and dating because they think that dating will take too much of their time away from schooling and careers.  They compromise this lack of a partner by hooking-up with random men in order to fill their sexual desires.  They skip the romance because they think that they won’t have time for a real relationship, and they have been told most of their lives that they don’t need to man to feel valuable.  A mistake from their parents, as pointed out in the article, is that they were never told as girls that it’s okay to feel valuable while in a relationship too.  Hooking up is a way for young women to fill their sexual desires, while staying independent.  This is an accurate conclusion, but we think that a lot of this activity stems from peer pressure and college culture exploited in the media.

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