Hooking up: college students and no-rules relationships

Journal of Sex Research, July-August, 2009 by Natalie M. Waits, Buzz Pruitt

Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus. By Kathleen Bogle. New York: New York University Press, 2008, 223 pages, Hardcover, $17.75.

Kathleen Bogle is an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice who conducts research on gender, sexual behavior, and intimate relationships. Her most recent work, Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus, is a report on an extensive qualitative analysis of the meaning of "hooking up."

Bogle contextualizes her work by first examining the early 1900s, a time when "calling" was the means of a relationship. She proceeds to examine the period where "dating" was the common practice, and finally arrives at today's expression of one-on-one relating--"hooking up." To suggest that behaviors have changed, according to Bogle, is an understatement. She is careful to point out, however, that some things never change.

Bogle supports her contentions with an extensive and solid qualitative research design centered on college students from two universities in the United States, one public and one private. Through analyses of interview transcripts and focus group recordings, Bogle conveys to the reader a clear point of view of today's hookup culture. She examines the meaning of hooking up, the social context in which hooking up takes place, and the rules (according to her population) governing hookups. She describes, through the perceptions of her subjects, the typical person involved or not involved in hookups, what occurs during a hookup, and what happens afterward. She also examines the conditions that make hooking up acceptable or unacceptable.

Hooking up, according to Bogle's population, has no dictionary definition. It "... depends on who you ask." Some of her subjects define it as just kissing; others say it entails everything, including sexual intercourse. Most contend that hooking up falls somewhere between these two "extremes," but definitely consists of a physical relationship.

According to the sample, hooking up appears to have no rules. Such absence, according to Bogle, sometimes causes problems, especially during a hookup when one partner is unsure how far to go. This scenario contrasts with previous generations, particularly with the "calling era," when rules were quite clear. During that period, a young woman and her mother decided when a boy was allowed to pursue, or "call." On the other hand, when compared to the "dating" generations, hooking up behavior has not changed as much. According to Bogle's sample, when hooking up, it is the men who decide how long a hookup lasts and, sometimes, how far it will go. Women, even in present-day society, report waiting on the sidelines for a partner to take the first step into an official hookup; and, as with previous generations, there remains a double standard when it comes to relationships. If a woman has too many partners she is labeled a "slut," yet if a man has too many partners he is labeled a "stud." The terms may have changed, but in many ways, things have remained the same.

The pace of relationship building in hookups, however, appears to be in marked contrast to previous practices. Today's college environment has made hooking up an almost effortless means of relationship initiation. This is facilitated by the "liquid courage" described by one of Bogle's subjects: Clearly, alcohol plays a central role in facilitating the hookup script. Apparently, however, not all students participate in this modern mode of relationship initiation. Some opt-out because they are already in a committed relationship and, therefore, are not interested in this type of activity. Some explain that they object to such behavior on moral or religious grounds. However, even despite such dissentions, there is little doubt that hooking up is common practice on the college campuses studied by Bogle.

As readers may have noticed, two of us are reviewing this book--one undergraduate student and one "old" university professor. The combination made for frequent and heated debates over the topic. At one time, the undergraduate (Natalie) wanted to jump up and down in celebration after reading a sentence that was "inexplicably true." She was thrilled by the way Bogle was able to convey a meaning that students all around her had experienced and thought no adult could understand. The old professor (Buzz), however, was more impressed with the research agenda and the author's thorough presentation. We both strongly agreed, however, that the release of this book could not have been more timely. Most students entering college are aware of the hookup idea, but they fail to comprehend the full impact of this form of behavior on their own life scripts. According to Bogle, "Students' confusion over what peers were doing sexually resulted in confusion over what they themselves should be doing" (p. 93).

Hooking Up was an ambitious undertaking. The sample, students from two U.S. colleges, however, gave only a glimpse of the meaning and nature of today's hookup culture. A weakness of the work, dictated by the population studied and admitted by the author, was the focus on heterosexual relationships. Virtually no analysis of homosexual hookups was provided.