"Today's first base is kissing ... plus fondling this and that. Second base is oral sex. Third base is going all the way. Home plate is learning each other's names."
So wrote Tom Wolfe in his "Hooking Up" (2000), and so argues Kathleen Bogle in her new book of the same name, "Hooking Up." Bogle, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at LaSalle University, seeks to "understand the new sexual culture on its own terms." Her basic argument is that the script for starting a relationship has been reversed.
"Hooking Up" takes an academic stand on the entire sexual culture of a college campus, covering everything from the definition of a "hook-up" (which apparently is anywhere between making out and having sex), to where the hook-up scene is, to who hooks up. There is even an entire chapter that spells out the subtle and shocking differences between hooking up, calling on someone, dating, going steady and having a one-night stand.
The book draws all its information from 76 interviews of college students and recent graduates. There are very few surprises -- alcohol is often prominently featured in liaison tales, and when it comes to sexuality, women are held to a harsh double-standard by their peers.
Once you get past the clumsiness of Bogle trying to analyze "hooking up" in academic terms, most of the people interviewed actually offered fairly accurate descriptions of the "hook-up scene" -- descriptions that certainly can be applied to Dartmouth.
For example, "Diane," a sophomore at a smaller, faith-based college, offered this little gem to define a booty call: "Friday or Saturday you get a call at two in the morning saying 'Come over.' Both of you are drunk."
And why does our friend Diane get this call?
"Because they come home, they're alone, they're drunk, they're horny, and they want ass. That's basically it."
Bogle seemingly had a gift for getting those that she interviewed to open up and reveal embarrassing details about their sexual lives, and she does an excellent job of reserving judgment, letting the college students tell their own stories. This leads to absolutely ridiculous exchanges and interviews that can be read quickly.
But, as a sociological study, "Hooking Up" lacks real explanatory power on account of what Bogle admits was a "limited sample" of people to study.
"Limited" is an understatement. Between 2001 and 2006, of the 34 men and 42 women that were interviewed, 95% were white and 96% were heterosexual. Further, everyone came from just two schools -- one a large state university on the east coast, the other a small Catholic college in the Northeast.
I'd be curious to see how Bogle's conclusions could be applied to the many schools across the nation that are not like Dartmouth -- schools where middle- to upper-class, straight, white people do not comprise the main demographic.
And what of the overarching question -- is the dinner date truly dead?
I say no. It's tough to argue against the fact that people do indeed "hook up" and engage in one-night stands far more often than people in our parents' generation. However, the "rise of the hook-up" and the "death of the dinner date" don't have to come hand in hand. Bogle's claim that there are few full-fledged boyfriends on college campuses is wrong, overlooking the many couples who do enjoy dinner dates (and aren't just "friends with benefits"). And then there's the most obvious truth of all: Many great relationships have begun with a "hook-up."
At the end of the day, Kathleen Bogle's "Hooking Up" is flawed as a serious academic study. It takes itself too seriously, and other than the largely unedited interviews, is clumsily written. But I did enjoy reading it. I would at least urge you to give it a quick skim the next time you're getting a coffee in the bookstore and have 20 minutes to kill, if only for the unintentional comedy of the interviews. I guarantee you'll catch yourself nodding along in agreement at the insights of the students.
