The Emergence of a Hookup Culture in Contemporary American Culture Essay

The Emergence of a Hookup Culture in Contemporary American Culture - Essay Example One of the factors that could have contributed to the growth of the women’s liberation movement is the loss of traditional gender roles in modern American society. While previously women were confined to their homes, they were now gaining recognition in their greater roles for the development of the society, and for the first time their functions were not limited to traditional homemaker and child-rearing roles. There were more women seen in public doing things that were expected to be done by men, such as getting a college degree, working in an office, or under public service. These women were able to achieve something, which also gave them the mindset that they can do anything that a man can do, aside from the traditional gender roles that were assigned to them. Having an advanced education opened up not just the avenues for other career opportunities, but this also changed how many women view relationships, including sex. This shift from being an at-home person to being see n in public did not only give additional career choices for women, but also additional freedom in relationships, whether sexual or romantic in nature. Starting from the 1960’s when the concept of dating was starting to lose its hold on college culture, the idea that having non-committal sex with others becomes a much more lucrative choice for most people, especially women since there is no hassle of having to choose between getting tied down to a relationship or having to bear children over expanding careers (Bogle 2007: 779). This way of thinking has made most women liberal in terms of their sexual freedom, and it is assumed that the engagement to such behaviors was not only rebellious in nature, but also helped in spreading the culture of casual sexual encounters since there were many people who were much more open-minded about it (Shukusky and Wade 2012: 495). Despite the fact that there has been an increase in the number of women engaging in casual sexual encounters, ther e has been an observed trend in the slow progress of moving from