The Sources of Hookup Culture
30th August 2015
Most explanations for the rise of hookup culture focus on, well, culture—the steady ascent of social liberalism since the 1960s, especially among the upper classes, and the decline of traditional norms surrounding courtship and dating.
Mixed in with this cultural story, however, is a more straightforward demographic one. According to the writer Jon Birger, one reason a certain slice of today’s young people—well-off college graduates in urban centers—is having so much casual sex is that there is shortage of men among their ranks. The female-heavy gender ratio among the yuppie elite makes it easier for men to find sexual partners, and thus less likely to take the time and effort to court them.
No need to respect the cow when milk is free; no need to even think about cows when milk is free.
In a world in which children are an expensive luxury or an unfortunate byproduct, the formation of a family is of no importance. Hence marriage is of no importance, despite the noise the issue generates; and women are on their own, the end for which ‘feminists’ have been striving for half a century. ‘Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.’
August 31st, 2015 at 13:23
The state’s primary interests in/for marriage are/were:
1) Regularizing the orderly transfer of property in the event of death;
2) Establishing who (male) is financially responsible for supporting any children that may result from sexual union.
The former is still in full effect, but the latter has become more attenuated in the age of birth control.
Of course, there are still the civil “benefits” to be derived from the marriage state, which have become an incentive all unto themselves for many, such as the gay crowd. But those are motivations for the participants, not for the state.