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Hookup Culture on College Campuses

College is arguably the most formative years of growth for a young adult-- to explore

themselves in a dynamic environment filled with unparalleled diversity, rich forms of culture,

intellectual rigor, and a new sense of freedom. For many students, being in college is the first

time in life they are prompted to be truthfully aware of themselves, discover their capabilities

and needs, develop their understanding of their self-worth, and attempt to answer the big “life

questions”. College not only plays a vital role in cultivating inward reflections of college

students’ self-identity, but other fundamental aspects of college like college culture reinforce

socialized perceptions of life norms and moral principles. Thus, this alludes to the importance of

campus culture and how it plays a fundamental role in consciously shaping our lifelong personal

identities, development, and values.

One of the most controversial aspects of college culture is the hookup culture and how it

affects the greater campus culture. Moreover, how does the phenomenon influence the personal

identities of those students who participate and do not participate in it? It is common to attribute

objectification, the perpetuation of gendered norms, sexual violence, the inhibition of free

consent as reasons why the hookup culture is intrinsically flawed. Essentially, the hookup culture

can undermine the ability of young adults to reflect on meaningful college experiences which

shape their formative development. If the hookup culture distorts the consciousness of self-

awareness and exploration, then there needs to be an emphasis on what college students should

get out of the hookup culture. Therefore, I will focus on the central topic of how a college

student should navigate the hookup culture. I will apply the sexual ethics of Margaret Farley and

Marvin Ellison to develop the framework of how college students should navigate the hookup
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culture in which enhances the formative development of their identities and values. Ultimately,

college students deserve to be in a campus culture environment in which they have the potential

to experience self-agency and develop an empowering form of sexual identity.

But this form of empowering and sexually-liberating hookup culture is missing on

college campuses. Take for instance, Santa Clara University; the university is no stranger to the

typical and prevalently-flawed hookup culture. As a college student who has navigated the

defining aspects of the hookup culture on campus, I believe three overarching aspects define the

hookup culture: objectification, the ambivalent shrug, and the script.

At Santa Clara University, I found the manifestation that most college students

participating in the hookup culture are blindly following the hookup script. This script defines

how partners should behave while hooking up based on obligations that need to be met without

thinking or resistance (Freitas 80). Because the script obligates students to value the question

“What am I supposed to do?”, we just blindly go along with hookup norms to prove we can

“perform” the play of hookup. As a result, the script neglects college students of conscious

decision-making. It is important to distinguish the fundamental question of “What do I want?”

does not exist in the script, thus college students are deprived of developing the essential values

of free choice and self-agency. The script then also fortifies the idea of the ambivalent shrug

between two partners: a competition to see who can be more ambivalent about the sex and care

less about the other partner (Freitas 82). The idea of the ambivalent shrug has detrimental

consequences as it socializes college students to believe that sex shouldn’t impact them

emotionally. But internally, students struggle to justify this ambivalence because, in reality, most

expect the hookup to turn into a more intimate and stable relationship. In the hookup culture, it

is understood that the basic end goal is sex. When sex becomes the defining aspect of the hookup
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experience between two partners, it perpetuates a culture of objectification since the partners are

considered as a means to satisfy oneself’s end goal. Not only is the partner’s self-worth

diminished, but it also diminishes the individual's self-worth as emotions and the importance of

connection are neglected. Students are taught to suppress caring about the hookup experience in

favor of emotional detachment. Thus, there is a huge gray area in understanding their sexual

desires and needs.

The impact of these defining aspects of the hookup culture negatively impacts students’

sexuality and their views on the value of sex and how relationships should be. They are

socialized to conform to the script rather than utilizing self-awareness and other forms of senses

to develop their sexual identities. The hookup culture renders individuals powerless, by

eliminating communication between partners, personal choice to favor obligations, and emotions

to develop meaningful connections. Overall, the hookup culture denies the ability for college

students to experience the full potential of sexual fulfillment and develop a clear sense of their

own sexuality. At the end of the day, college students are just actors and actresses performing the

play and following a script of expectations. But college students are much more than just actors

and actresses, and the hookup culture should reflect and enhance some of the most formative

years in a young adult’s life.

How do students then navigate the hookup culture in being more than just actors and

actresses, by utilizing sexual agency and developing an empowering kind of sexual identity?

First, it is important to discuss what justifies the need for all college students to all have sexual

agency and an empowering kind of sexual identity. According to Ellison, sexuality “is a mode of

communication….we depend upon sensuality to grasp and value the world” (Ellison 247).

Accordingly, he alludes to the idea that sexuality is an intrinsic part of humanhood, making
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sexual desires and experiences morally justified and necessary in life. By exploring our

sensuality and pursuing “the actions [that] fit the value of what is the deepest and strong and

richest within each of us” (Ellison 249), we have a greater understanding of ourselves and make

moral decisions that lead us to fulfillment. Furthermore, Ellison’s argument implies that when

we explore our sexuality, it allows us to reflect on our feelings, learn about our own bodies, and

express our sexual needs and pleasures. By pursuing the actions that are most necessary for

ourselves, we avoid oppressive and unjust experiences such as sexual abuse and shame. We can

distinguish the difference between the sexual needs we want to pursue and ones we do not want

to pursue. In other words, sexual freedom and liberation can be seen as moral guidance in

guiding us towards actions that empower and enhance our self-worth. Furthermore, sexual

liberation is a valuable resource to live a meaningful life, as it allows humans to not be

constrained by any impediments.

The importance to feel empowered through our sexual identity also intertwines with the

fundamental component of sexual agency. The essence of sexual agency derives from the what

Farley upholds as a basic feature of humanhood: autonomy. Farley contends that humans are

autonomous in the sense that “they have a capacity for free choice...to determine the meaning of

their own lives and their ends, and within limits, our destiny” (Farley 212). In other words, one

can comprehend Farley’s idea of human autonomy as that an individual can set his or her own

agenda, one that is not violated by others using the individual as a mere means. This

understanding of autonomous becomes the basis of what sexual agency should be; sexual agency

in its simplest understanding is the freedom and autonomy to pursue our own agenda and make

morally-just, sexual decisions about its use. It invites the opportunity for us to see who we want

to become in life.
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For college students, pursuing their sexual agency encompasses principles that help them

navigate the ramifications of the hookup culture. Sexual agency includes the ability to define

their sexual needs and desires based on their own terms, especially in regards to free consent and

communication. It is also students possessing the self-awareness and utilizing conscious

decision-making to deliberately choose not to follow the hookup script. On a further note, this

new kind of self-awareness requires students to explore what they need and demand themselves

of what they deserve in love.

Lastly, sexual agency instills the idea for college students that they have the full

autonomy to set their own agenda and terms of what brings them sexual satisfaction and

fulfillment. Thus, instead of asking “What must I do?”, performing obligations to fulfill the

partner’s needs, or letting the partner control their needs-- sexual agency empowers students to

take responsibility for setting an agenda to fulfill their own happiness and gain a sense of what

brings them sexual satisfaction. Sexual agency, moreover, liberates students from being

socialized into a restrictive ethical sexual code (such as the hookup culture) because it values

ways to meet the needs of the complex human nature. Overall, sexual agency can cultivate an

empowering kind of sexual identity for college students that is not inhibited by the depriving

nature of the hookup culture.

Sexual agency relates to and is accompanied by other values that all college students

should uphold in developing an empowering form of sexual identity. The values include doing

no unjust harm, free consent, mutuality, equality, self-care, and fruitfulness. These values, which

I believe are necessary for navigating the hookup culture, are developed on the basis of Farley’s

and Ellison’s sexual ethic norms. The first one of doing no unjust harm relates to the

fundamental humanhood feature of autonomy, in not violating individuals as who they are as
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ends. When students explore their sexuality and open themselves up for greater intimacy, it also

invites the prospect of vulnerability. Due to the script and the end goal in the hookup culture,

students are socialized in believing sex is meaningless and to use their partners as a means to the

end goal. Thus, it is highly critical for college students to not only recognize themselves as ends

but respect their partners as ends, rather than disposable objects, to avoid the likelihood and

prevalence of objectification found in the hookup culture.

The next value is free consent, which Farley recognizes as a safeguard for the “autonomy

of persons embodied and inspirited, as transcendent and free” and “respect for the intimacy of

the sexual self” (Farley 219). Ellison also defines free consent as the freedom to choose what to

do in relation to one’s body (Ellison 251). In other words, free consent relates to the overarching

value of sexual agency in having direct control and a self-agenda of how to use one’s own body,

rather be manipulated by others’ personal choices. Free consent enhances students’ abilities to

make conscious decision-making, in recognizing that the questions asked in sexual engagements

are never “What should I do?” or “I have to do this”. Instead, free consent cultivates the central

mindset of pursuing their own personal agendas and answering the question of “What do I

want?”. Free consent is also a safeguard against the hookup culture’s damaging repercussions in

suppressing communication, personal choices, and emotions. Equally, free consent safeguards

the negative aspects of the hookup culture, such as coercive sexual situations which devalues a

student’s self-worth and confidence. Overall, students are then able to develop a personal kind of

empowering sexual identity which fosters important lifelong qualities such as confidence,

compassion, integrity, and courage.

The value of mutuality, as Ellison defines, is “the dynamic, open-ended process in which

each person is powered to give to and receive from the relationship in a fair, respected, and non-
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exploitative manner” (Ellison 251). The dynamic give and receive relationship is fostered on the

foundation that the partners have mutuality in desires and decisions. This is a critical value to

uphold since in not fostering mutuality, it could limit the other partner’s autonomy and curb

his/her’s self-agency. In displaying and fully disclosing mutuality through sexual desire and

needs, it prevents hooking up from being the only option. In addition, it prevents the coercion of

actors and actresses to play the hookup performance that they may not want to perform. Because

mutuality fosters an open dialogue of desires and needs, it creates greater intimacy and a

fulfilling sexual experience between two partners, contradictory to the self-emptying nature of

the scripted hookup experience. Instead of the stifling nature of the ambivalent shrug type of

hookup, mutuality can usher in a meaningful and lasting relationship for college students to

experience. Thus, intimacy and sexual fulfillment play an underlying role in shaping and

empowering a college student’s sexual identity.

There is no doubt that there are inequalities in campus relationships, due to the concept of

the hierarchy of bodies on campus. Certain bodies are valued and on a higher pedestal (Freitas

111), and thus students are socialized to interpret and treat each other differently on the basis of

what value and respect a body can command. The hierarchy of bodies is intertwined with

unequal relationships, both of which contribute to the pervasive issue of sexual violence on

campus. College students should then recognize that they shouldn’t have a mindset that certain

bodies are worth more attention and that others are more disposable-- because it limits the judged

student’s ability to cultivate self-agency. This is because inequality factors such as vulnerability

and shame are manifested. Subsequently, these inequality factors deny students to fully explore

their sexuality in depth because they are seen as inferior, therefore treated as means rather than

ends.
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Another value that college students should engage in is bringing fruitfulness to their

relationships within the hookup culture. Fruitfulness brings a new level of meaning and life to

the relationship, in which the positive benefits of the relationship spills over externally in other

relationships (Farley 226). It allows students to develop into better people and can enhance their

moral, intellectual, and emotional development. Because the script eliminates the existence of

feelings and emotions in having a checklist of meaningless obligations, the value of fruitfulness

can never be fostered. In recognizing that sexual agency invites the opportunity for people to

discover who they can become and their potential to foster personal growth, fruitfulness can

bring an unparalleled dimension of enhanced growth that wouldn’t be experienced otherwise in

the hookup culture.

The last and commonly overlooked value that students should honor is self-care of the

body. Ellison maintains that in honoring the goodness of the body, the self-care value champions

students to have sexual experiences that emphasize love and care for each other (Ellison 251).

On a further note, self-care and looking internally into our bodies and minds allow us to resolve

vulnerability issues that are often perpetuated in the hookup culture. In finding ways to empower

ourselves, self-care is a powerful opportunity for college students to learn, appreciate, and

acknowledge characteristics of themselves-- especially for those engaging in sexual experiences

for the first time. Self-care may help students to discover suppressed areas that need to be

resolved internally and thus allows them to find ways to develop in sexually maturity. In

addition, self care provides a dynamic aspect to one’s sexual agenda as a college student can

pursue empowerment in fixing internal issues of their sexual identity.

The four years of higher education is an unparalleled period for college students to

discover themselves, shape their identities, and cultivate lifelong values and skill sets. For such a
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critical chapter of a young adult’s life, the campus culture plays an underlying role in allowing

students to immerse themselves in college experiences which enhance their personal

development, empower their self-identities, and allow them to discover a sense of self-

awareness. However, one aspect of campus culture which undermines the fostering environment

of campus culture is the hookup culture. The hookup culture unconsciously restrains the sexual

freedom and potential of college students. To navigate the hookup culture, students should utilize

sexual agency as a moral guidance and apply sexual ethic values which allow them to develop an

empowering form of identity. Those values include doing no unjust harm, free consent,

mutuality, equality, self-care, and fruitfulness. Sexual agency and the sexual ethic values

champion college students to explore their sexuality, develop meaningful experiences in which

fosters sexual empowerment, pursue new depths of their sexual agenda, and add to their overall

formative college experience. Sexual agency and the sexual ethic values should be fostered

among college students, and eventually socialized into a revolutionary type of hookup culture

that strives to embrace sexual liberation and empowerment for all students. This is critical,

considering young adults do not enter college with a formal educational background of how to

explore and navigate their sexual identities. Because sexuality can be a formative moral guidance

for college students, it is critical that universities address ways to enhance their potential to

utilize sexual agency and apply sexual ethic values in navigating the college hookup culture. As

universities are responsible for helping to shape some of the most formative years in a young

adult’s life, the overall college culture (including the hookup culture) should strive to create an

environment that educates, liberates, and cultivates the full potential of the world’s future leaders

of the 21st century.

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Bibliography

Ellison, Marvin Mahan. Erotic Justice: a Liberating Ethic of Sexuality. Westminster John Knox

Press, 1996.

Farley, Margaret A. Just Love: a Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics. Continuum, 2012.

Freitas, Donna. Consent on Campus: a Manifesto. Oxford University Press, 2018.