Catholic hook up culture

The reality is that Catholic colleges are like secular colleges. Everywhere I've been, students say the same thing about hook-up culture.
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Nearly 3 in 10 said that they had never had a hookup in college. Meanwhile, 20 percent of women and a quarter of men said they had hooked up with 10 or more people. It is no wonder Donna Freitas called it a culture of pretend. Minorities tend not to participate in hook-up culture. The typical narrative of hook up culture implies everyone is doing it. Not only is this not true statistically, it is not true racially. Taylor makes this point in her story of Mercedes, a Latina from California, who opted out of hooking-up, finding it immature and risking her education.

Kathleen Bogle also noted in her Hooking Up that minorities tend not to participate in hook-up culture. Again the typical narrative is a not the story. Hook-up culture is often violent. The opening story that captures the stereotypes about hook-up culture makes it seem as though people have sex without consequences, neither positive ones, like a relationship, nor negative ones, like rape or assault.

Yet, the more accurate story of hook-up culture is that it is fraught with abuse.

How Does Catholic Identity Affect Hookup Culture? | Jason King | First Things

Women said universally that hookups could not exist without alcohol, because they were for the most part too uncomfortable to pair off with men they did not know well without being drunk. Hook-up culture results from people inoculating themselves through alcohol against clear decision making, enabling them, at least momentarily, to disregard their broader interests. Thus, the statistics should not surprise us that lots of people do not participate and lots of people participate once or rarely.

Thus, the story of hook-up culture is a lot more disturbing. The story that hooking-up is frequent, desirable, pleasant, and without consequences masks its true ugliness. They pretend it is fun yet numb themselves to any enjoyment through alcohol. It often results in coercion if not rape.


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The truthful story is that it is not so much about sex but about a culture that fosters behavior that is damaging to people. Surely, this culture can change. The first step, I think, is getter the truer story of hook-up culture heard. I asked every Catholic what the church teaches about sex. Generally people laughed in my face.

I got sarcastic remarks: I asked Catholics what they learned about dating in church or CCD, and they looked at me like I had three heads. That says that they feel very alone in terms of being able to talk about religion in a personal way. But in journals students wrote thousands of words. They feel alienated and ignored. They have no idea how to bridge the disconnect between their lives and what the Catholic Church teaches.

The teachings seem just totally irrelevant to them. I received more responses than I could handle in this study.

Many students participated not because they knew what spirituality had to do with their dating or sex lives, but because they wanted to know. But you have to let them be in that place.

Different types of Catholic cultures

How would college students make these teachings successful? How would they frame the conversation? Students in my class at St. If you want to study sex and religion within Christianity, the real place to do it is among evangelicals. The Catholic conversation is almost nonexistent. There are orthodox young Catholics who toe the party line, but they are the exception to the rule. They are the ones who fit in with church teaching. To be young and evangelical is really to be immersed and participating in or creating a youth culture.

They are young theologians of a sort. They are interpreting scripture, writing books on dating, overseeing their own faith lives, and holding their peers accountable. When students look at his picture on the back cover, they think he looks like a cute, cool guy. The intensity of the disempowerment to speak about faith—this is really the difference between Catholics and Protestants.

Different types of hookup culture

We talk about how the Catholic Church is the people and not just the hierarchy. But when it comes down to it, most Catholics believe the opposite, and it silences them. If young people felt they could write their own books on dating, they actually might be able to change hook-up culture. They do find each other credible, however. What does it mean to be made in the image of God? What does that mean for how you treat others? What they learn in their social justice classes is really relevant to addressing hook-up culture. They need to see that this is a framework in which they can live, move, and discern.

Hook-Up Culture – A Truer Story

Are you saying we should set sexual ethics aside to address this issue? The most helpful thing the church has to say about sex is about human dignity and respect and mercy. Do you have dignity at a party on Friday night? I would add a first-year seminar program on community. You do community service off campus. But reflecting on your own community and its values is much scarier. Such a program would address topics like hook-up culture and human dignity and look at the mission statement.

What are my values? Students are hungry to talk about these things. The vast majority of you think that everybody loves hook-up culture, but the reality is that the vast majority of you hate it. And you would rather just ask each other out and have lovely dinners and walks on the beach.

Faith with Benefits Hookup Culture on Catholic Campuses pdf download

I do think that there is a simple shift to be made, but in order to make it, colleges have to be willing to admit that hook-up culture exists. This article appeared in the November issue of U. Not quite as low as the 30 percent on very Catholic campuses, but 10 percent lower than on mostly Catholic campuses. In certain cliques, in certain social circles, it does. Overall, fewer students hooked up on Catholic campuses than on campuses in general. It was just that a Catholic culture had an impact on the ways in which students thought about hooking up. Dealers, collectors and curators: Standing up for minorities in Egypt — York, York.

Geniuses, Heroes and Saints: Conserving the Herringham Collection — Egham, Surrey.

Available editions United Kingdom. What is different about hookup culture on Catholic campuses? Boy girl image via www. Jason King , Saint Vincent College.