Not Just Black and White: Orientation Toward Hooking Up Across Racial/Ethnic Groups and Gender

• In Event: 306 - Section on Sociology of Sexualities Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 17. Youth Sexualities

Abstract

The increasing interest in research on hookups (non-committal unions focused on sexual acts ranging from kissing to intercourse) often highlights individual-level predictors (e.g., number of drinks) or gender/class differences. Racial/ethnic comparisons are underplayed as hookups are portrayed as a White dominated culture, despite literature on different experiences due to institutional-level differences (e.g., gender ratios) and sexualization. In this paper I explore orientation toward hooking up by race and gender using the Online College Social Life Survey dataset (n = 18,347) and interviews with undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania (n = 55). I find, first, Asian males report fewer hookups on average than other males, while White females report more hookups on average than other females. Second, there are no differences across race in whether the hookup is reoccurring after controlling for characteristics of the hookup. Finally, only Black females are more likely to report vaginal intercourse in their most recent hookups compared to White females. This research suggest a White/non-White dichotomy ignores gender differences and calls for additional research which incorporates the study of intersectionality.

Author

• Sarah Spell, University of Pennsylvania