By KC Hagedorn/reporter

Myths and realities about the hookup culture during college were addressed during a presentation Feb. 7 on SE Campus.

Lisa Wade, associate professor of sociology at Occidental College and author of the book, American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus, talked to students about the meaning of the hookup culture.  

“It’s expected you hook up when you get to college,” she said. “Not everyone is having sex. One in three students can’t handle casual sex.”

In the study that Wade conducted for her book, 110 college students were asked to keep a diary of their daily life throughout the semester.

Only 10 percent of those who hooked up in four years did it more than 10 times, the study found.

Only 25 percent of those who hook up frequently love it, Wade said.

Wade talked about what she calls the emotional landscape of the hookup culture, sexual competitiveness or the social factor and sexual assault.

Most students who were hooking up didn’t care about the other’s experience, she said.

Students who engage in the hookup culture risk being victims of sexual assault or victimizing others.

The sexual assault culture on college campuses and in the workplace is never acceptable, but the hookup culture can make boundaries murky, Wade said.

“It all comes down to a change,” she said. “We need sex that is not competitive but cooperative. To fix what is wrong on college campuses, we need to fix us.”

The SE behavioral and social sciences department invited Wade to talk about her book.

“Each year, we try to bring in an engaging speaker that can discuss interesting topics related to one of the disciplines in our department,” chair Des Robinson said. “We feel it essential for TCC students to have the typical college experience of hearing some well-established academics from across the world.”