Casual Sex in Context: Organizational Sagas and Hookup Culture on Two American College Campuses

• In Event: 1480 - Section on Sociology of Sexualities Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01. Doing Sexuality

Abstract

Drawing upon interviews with fifty-four women at two four-year universities in the United States – Ivy U and State U – this study examines how the organizational saga, or the development of a school’s campus culture and its reputation over time, influences how hookup cultures manifest on a given campus and inform women’s sexual decisions. Women at both schools invoke their institution’s organizational saga to explain the popularity of hooking up. For women at Ivy, pre-professionalism and an emphasis on achievement leaves little time for relationships, while women at State view hookups as a derivative of the campus’ party school reputation and emphasis on “fun.” However, these women also describe disrespectful or disappointing hookup encounters with men. Reconciling the utility of hooking up with its limitations in practice, these women re-invoke the organizational saga, embedding their tolerance for hookup culture in the understanding that their status as members of the organization is temporary. This study challenges the notion of a monolithic campus hookup culture, attributing the importance of campus place character to the development and experience of hookup culture at a given institution.

Author

• Janelle Marissa Pham, University of California-Santa Barbara