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Summary
Summary
The hookup is now part of college life. Yet the drunken encounter we always hear about tells only a fraction of the story. Rising above misinformation and moralizing, Lisa Wade offers the definitive account of this new sexual culture and demonstrates that the truth is both more heartening and more harrowing than we thought.
Offering invaluable insights for parents, educators, and students, Wade situates hookup culture within the history of sexuality, the evolution of higher education, and the unfinished feminist revolution. Using new research, she maps out a punishing emotional landscape marked by unequal pleasures, competition for status, and sexual violence. She discovers that the most privileged students tend to like hookup culture the most, and she considers its effects on racial and sexual minorities, students who "opt out," and those who participate ambivalently.
Accessible and open-minded, compassionate and brutally honest, American Hookup explains where we are and how we got here, asking not "How do we go back?" but "Where do we go from here?"
Author Notes
Lisa Wade is a professor at Tulane University with appointments in Sociology, the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, and the Newcomb Institute. An accomplished scholar, award-winning teacher, and public sociologist, she is well known for delivering conversational yet compelling translations of sociological theory and research. She's the author of Terrible Magnificent Sociology and American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Wade, a professor of sociology at Occidental College, reframes the conversation about casual sex on college campuses today with a sharp, canny report on how hookup culture has become a new norm of American campus life ("It's more than just a behavior; it's the climate"), and why its sexual dynamics should be cause for concern. Wade includes firsthand accounts from her research subjects (her students from the two American liberal arts colleges where she's taught), who report in fresh and candid language on their experiences. She groups them into "abstainers," "dabblers," "strivers," and "enthusiasts." Both the media and the students themselves overestimate how much sex is happening on campus, and this leaves those who aren't having sex (intentionally or not) feeling left out. The price of the perception, Wade notes, is high: the entrenchment of gender stereotypes, insistent heterocentrism, punishing competition among women for male approval, and the prevalence of sexual violence. Wade writes engagingly, and the research is historically grounded (though the history is sketched swiftly and with broad strokes); her conclusions won't surprise anyone, but the numerous student voices she includes set her book apart from others on the topic. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Wade, a professor at Occidental College, approaches hookup culture at American universities with a new set of questions in order to provide an engaging, thought-provoking, and accessible examination of current social behaviors. She asks how this new culture, defined by no-commitment sexual relationships, affects young adults: Who participates, and why? Who is excluded? Her work follows students of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and sexual orientations as they navigate hookup culture. As Wade gives a researched account of the historical evolution of dating and college social scenes, their unspoken rules, and the different expectations they create for men and women, she allows students to speak for themselves through journal entries and interviews. Many students desire better connections with their peers, yet hookup culture enforces an affected lack of caring that leaves many of them unhappy. The emphasis on an ideal college experience of parties, drinking, and sex produces complex expectations for students. Wade also addresses sexual assault and violence and the ways that hookup culture normalizes aggressive sexual behavior. Throughout the book, student interviews provide important context and nuance to Wade's excellent analysis of the benefits, challenges, influences, and impact of hookup culture, as well as the author's emphasis of its importance beyond the borders of college campuses.--Chanoux, Laura Copyright 2016 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
The transition from high school senior to college freshman signifies far more than academic accomplishment. Moving from the constraints of the teen years to the seemingly unbounded freedom of de facto adulthood can be a precipitous adjustment. This shift is perhaps most evident in the increased opportunities for sex or, more specifically, within the casual sexual encounter known as the hookup. As Wade describes, hookup culture permeates recreational activities at campuses across the country. Citing examples from doctoral dissertations, popular magazine articles, and the journals of her students, the author explores the rules and rituals of hookups as well as the emotional impact these encounters may carry for participants. For example, young people often attempt to hook up with someone considered "hot," or risk ridicule from friends, and pretend that the hookup never happened when seeing their sex partner the next time. Wade notes that participants are mostly white, heterosexual, and from money, although the predominance of hookup culture affects nearly all students. Teens will probably be less shocked than adults by the accounts of emotionless sex, since these activities frequently begin in high school. But the deeper, hidden aspects of the experience-the way it deliberately avoids committed relationships and focuses narrowly on sexual desirability-are important insights for adolescents as they embark on their own college adventures. VERDICT College-bound young adults will be better prepared to navigate hookup culture on their own terms after reading this informative, empathetic account.-Diane Colson, City College, Gainesville, FL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
How and why American college students are engaging in nonintimate one-night stands.Although students on college campuses profess to be having a lot of sex, according to Wades (Sociology/Occidental Coll.; co-author: Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions, 2014, etc.) research, todays students boast no more sexual partners than their parents did at their age. The difference is the culture surrounding the intimacy, a topic the author thoroughly and perceptively explores. Using in-depth research and multiple surveys from hetero, bi, trans, and queer students of all ethnic and economic levels from colleges across the country, Wade delves into the new hookup culture, which allows students access to sex but can leave them feeling anxious, depressed, and overwhelmed. It comes as no surprise that drunkenness and sex often go hand in hand, that many students feel they would not be able to have sex with just anybody without the alcohol, and that the hookup often starts on the fraternity party dance floor. What is surprising is the intentional lack of emotions allowed after the sexual encounter has taken place, with students deliberately acting cold toward each other after sex. Since no one wants to be tied down or viewed as clingy, needy, or desperate, all partners act as if the other person doesnt exist, which leads to doubts about why the hookup happened in the first place. Wade does a solid job explaining the pros and cons of this new culture and includes historical data that shows how it evolved from the shift in family dynamics following the Industrial Revolution. The most interesting perspectives come from the journal entries written by students, in which they admit to wanting an emotionally charged relationship with someone but dont want the stigma of being uncool or of losing the opportunity to live their sexual lives freely. An eye-opening, conversation-starting examination of sex on the American college campus. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
While sexual promiscuity by college students remains controversial on religious campuses, hookups have become a cultural commonplace, making the topic ripe for an analytical, nonmoralistic approach, such as that taken here by Wade. She enlivens her research with student journaling, all of which is related with a straightforward delivery by veteran narrator Callie Beaulieu, whose characterizations of the students' voices sometimes lacks nuance. VERDICT Wade deftly engages with how gender, orientation, class, and racial inequalities impact the ways students experience this sexual landscape. Recommended. ["Fascinating and heavy study into the social lives of college students. Recommended for anyone interested in college life or sexuality studies": LJ 10/15/16 review of the Norton hc.]-Kelly Sinclair, Temple P.L., TX © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Author's Note | p. 9 |
| Introduction: The New Culture of Sex | p. 13 |
| 1 Hooking Up, a How-To | p. 27 |
| 2 How Sex Became Fun | p. 50 |
| 3 Sex in Drunkworld | p. 71 |
| 4 Opting Out | p. 92 |
| 5 Opting In | p. 113 |
| 6 Careless and Carefree | p. 134 |
| 7 Unequal Pleasures | p. 158 |
| 8 Wanting to Be Wanted | p. 180 |
| 9 Flirting with Danger | p. 202 |
| 10 Moving On | p. 224 |
| Conclusion: Changing the Culture | p. 241 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 249 |
| Notes | p. 253 |
| Sources | p. 265 |
| Index | p. 285 |