Hook Up Culture Analysis

A phrase we have all heard more than once is, “sex sells”. We see this concept almost daily in our lives when we look at any form of advertisement – think of the half-dressed woman on the back of a magazine selling alcohol, underwear, or even food. This conceptualization of the phrase is something we can easily point to in the media, but what we don’t realize is the extent to which this phrase has managed to jump off the back of magazines and works its was into how we see other humans. In Donna Frieta’s book “Sex and the Soul” an exploration into “hook-up” culture, a phenomenon occurring across US colleges, and “purity culture” is explored with a look into the affects, or lack of affect, that religion/spirituality has on these cultures. …show more content…
Themed parties in this culture objectify women by placing them into roles that are submissive to the male counterpart, and according to Frieta this will lead college girls into believing that “by allowing college guys to objectify them in various ways they can earn enough social capital to become popular, desirable, and potentially win the ultimate college jackpot (a boyfriend)” (Frieta, 148). Women’s willingness to portray themselves as the submissive counterpart to the male turns them into items being sold to the highest bidder, or items whose value is determined by the sexual behavior or appearance they give off. Males, however not nearly as much, are also objectified at these parties in that they must also exert enough social capital to be able to “afford” the women, especially those seen as most “beautiful” and “sexually appealing”. This same concept applies to reputations. Women must sell themselves to just the right extent, to the exact right amount of consumers, so as to be not labeled as “sluts”. A person’s value is thus only equated to their sexual