With the need for instant gratification, many college students around the country are turning to hook-ups as an alternative to dating.African-American Studies Professor Akil Houston facilitated a discussion workshop about college relationships in 2004. Houston found that many college students, both men and women, were not looking for a commitment at this stage in their lives.
Dating is not as important to today's college student. Schoolwork, friends and partying take up the balance of people's agenda where going out on a date and spending money and precious time does not normally find itself on the schedule of the typical student, he said.
A lot of men think women are looking for serious relationships
said senior journalism major Kelly Iverson. It's not true. Why can't we just have fun?
Misconceptions between men and women provide for awkward tension and miscommunication in terms of relationships and dating.
Men and women are not raised to talk to one another said anthropology professor Angela Jancius in a class lecture. Traditionally they are brought up in separate social groups and when they are put together in a relationship
communication is often misunderstood.
Jancius thinks men and women are raised with two entirely different forms of communication and have extremely different manners of expressing feelings. Many anthropologists feel a lot of the same communication barriers that exist between different cultures also exist between men and women, she said.
Houston, a proponent of equal rights, believes the meaning of dating has changed over time. In the past, women would come to college with the intention of finding a partner. However, as the role of women in society has changed, women are no longer as concerned with settling down in college, he said.
Junior English education major Matt Krella finds that while the distinction between being in a relationship and dating around remains clear, the modern college definition of a date has changed. As the dating model is modified, the concept of the one night stand is replaced with hooking up
he said.
This can possibly have emotional ramifications.
A lot of people end up getting emotionally attached to their hook-ups
and then it gets messy
said Iverson. She feels communication is needed at this point in the relationship
and believes people need to express feelings in a more open manner.
Hooking up isn't always a great way to start a relationship
she said.
According to an article found in the book Sex on Campus: The Naked Truth About the Real Sex Lives of College Students by Leland Elliott and Cynthia Brantley, out of approximately 2,000 college students surveyed around the country, 80 percent reported having sex while in college, with an average of 6.4 sexual partners.
It's almost like fast food dating
you go in
take a look at what's available
