Prudish NYT Columnist Condemns 'Hooking-Up'

Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet at 4:06 PM on December 15, 2008.

Divining the sexual habits of teenagers -- and then overreacting to them -- has always been a favorite pastime for older people  (or at least since moral opprobrium and teenagers were invented).

It certainly hasn't been any different the past few years, especially given our prurient and sensationalist media's tendency to amplify alarmist 'trends' about young peoples' sexuality (teenage girls trade blow jobs for pats on the head! Teens text each other sexy pictures! Hook-up culture has supplanted church square-dances!)

Recently, NYT columnist Charles M. Blow discovered "the demise of dating", and he is not happy about it:

The paradigm has shifted. Dating is dated. Hooking up is here to stay.

(For those over 30 years old: hooking up is a casual sexual encounter with no expectation of future emotional commitment. Think of it as a one-night stand with someone you know.)

...

It turns out that everything is the opposite of what I remember. Under the old model, you dated a few times and, if you really liked the person, you might consider having sex. Under the new model, you hook up a few times and, if you really like the person, you might consider going on a date.

Blow goes on to list the problems with 'hook-up culture', and he does make the important point that "Hooking-up" often involves alcohol, which can lead to sexual assaults (of course, this seems like more of a problem with teen alcohol consumption than teen sexual habits).

But Blow also has to throw in the usual paternalist crap about how an active sex life will leave young women empty, dried up husks with no hope of finding a husband: "Girls get tired of hooking up because they want it to lead to a relationship (the guys don’t), and, as they get older, they start to realize that it’s not a good way to find a spouse."

Yes, because a)Everything women do revolves around snagging a husband b)Teen girls, especially, are extremely concerned about their marriage prospects c)Men never want relationships and d)No one wants to marry a 'slut.'

Alarming (not so new) trend! Respected news outlets parrot right-wing frames about gender!

Tagged as: sex, gender, women, teens, new york times, dating, relationships, hook up culture