Let’s Talk About Sex: A Social Analysis of College Students’ Experiences with Hookup Culture

Previous research of college students and hookup culture has found the general characteristics of casual sex and those who participate in it. However, there is little literature that focuses on the extensive juxtaposition between the male and female experiences within a small, set population. This presentation explores the sexual culture among students who attend a small liberal arts institution in upstate New York and discern the variations between how both male and female students perceive hookup culture versus what they actually experience, as well as their peers. An online survey was distributed to the entire student body of Union College. Though some responses agreed with previous findings, there were also a significant amount of differences seen from previous literature. Most notably, regardless of gender identity, students were mostly accepting of sexual interaction and chose not to judge their peers for their choices and behaviors. Though many students believed their peers had certain perceptions of the opposite gender, the study shows that participants often did not experience hookups all that differently from one another.