Hook-Up Culture.
Hook-Up Culture and Consent Culture – the two should always go hand in hand.
Hook-Up Culture is prevalent in young people’s lives. There seems to be a fixation around the number of people you have kissed or slept with. Society has changed where it is now shameful to be considered a ‘virgin’ but if you’ve slept with ‘too many’ people you’re a ‘slut’. It’s a very fine line for young people to walk and they may experience pressure from themselves, their peers or society to engage in hook-up culture and there can be times where an individual does not want to but feels coerced to.
Hook-Up culture can and should be consensual every time however this is not always the case specifically when coercion is involved. So, what is sexual coercion? Sexual Coercion is defined as “unwanted sexual activity that happens when you are pressured, tricked, threatened, or forced in a nonphysical way” ("Sexual coercion", 2022). Sexual coercion can happen anytime; however, it is very prevalent in hook-up culture due to terms such as ‘you’re giving me blue balls’, ‘you’re a tease’ or ‘don’t be a prude’.
Sex is owed to no one. Sex is not assumed. Sex is not deserved. Sex is a free choice and individuals should feel free to make the decision to engage in sexual activity. When engaging in hook-up culture it is essential to ensure consent is freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic and specific. Regular check-ins with your sexual partner ensure consent is active during the sexual encounter.
Hook-up culture is not inherently bad, however it’s so important to ensure it is freely consented to and desired. Sex education is lacking and there can be an assumption because someone went to ‘first base’, they have to go to second and then third.
To engage in hook-up culture safely it’s essential to have ongoing sexual consent; ensure that the other person is not intoxicated and that they feel free to end the engagement at any point.
*Sexual coercion. Womens Health. (2022). Retrieved 31 May 2022, from https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/other-types/sexual-coercion.
