Hooking Up : Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus by Kathleen A. Bogle

to provide an introduction.12 Lisa, a sophomore at State University, was one of the many students who agreed that hooking up could happen under any of the above circumstances and no one scenario loomed larger than the others.
    KB : Would you say, typically with hooking up, that the people usually know each other or would you say that hooking up usually is someone you just met at a party?
    Lisa : Umm, I guess it could go either way really. But, that’s hard.
    I guess it would probably usually be someone they know. I mean, it does happen with someone you just met, but I think usually . . . it would be someone you’re friends with or you met a few times in your class, you know what I mean, someone who you . . .
    KB : Have some idea who they are?
    Lisa : Yeah, yeah.
    KB : Do students generally hook up with the same person repeatedly or would it be more one and done, once you’ve hooked up with someone that’s it?
    Lisa : I think it just depends on who the person is.
    KB : Well, among your friends, which is more likely?
    Lisa : Sometimes people have a crush on a guy so they’ll just keep doing whatever [sexually] with that guy, but you know they won’t ever end up with anything [relationship-wise]. The girl who just wants to randomly have sex, she just hooks up with whoever, whenever she feels like it [laughs]. But, it’s not necessarily all one and done situations, you know what I mean? If they have feelings for that person or some sort of something, it will happen again. I guess if they hook up and then they’re like: “Uh, I don’t really like him at all,” then that will be it [they won’t hook up again].
    Regardless of how the two parties know each other, there has to be some way to get from having never been sexual with someone to becoming sexually intimate. Two issues must be considered here. One is: How does someone select a potential hookup partner? The other is: Once a potential partner is identified, what needs to occur to facilitate the first sexually intimate encounter? With regard to the first issue, attraction is the central issue. Students across the board seemed to favor 32
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    the idea that initial attraction is the trigger to a potential hookup that evening.13
    On the college campus, a number of qualities make someone attractive to potential hookup partners. First are one’s looks. A striking physical appearance seemed to be the most valued quality a woman could possess. Jack, a sophomore at Faith University, discussed how physical appearance affects how women interact with men in potential hookup situations.
    Jack : It all depends on who the girl is. Those girls that think they’re so much better looking than everyone else, they’re going to wait for the guy to come up to them, they’re not going out of their way. I don’t know, I guess they see it as a disgrace to themselves. And girls who know that they’re good looking, but also know what they want, . . . they’re going to go up and talk to you and they’re going to be the ones who are worthwhile to talk to.
    KB : So, looks are a big factor for girls in who has status and who doesn’t and it affects how they interact it seems?
    Jack : Well, talking amongst my friends, we decided that girls travel in three’s: there’s the hot one, there’s the fat one, and there’s the one that’s just there. It’s always true, without fail.
    College women, such as Lee, a freshman at Faith University, also recognized the importance of men’s physical appearance in choosing potential hookup partners.
    Lee : Looks have a lot to do with it in the whole hooking up thing.
    You see someone that is really good looking, you are going to hook up with [him] regardless of if [he has] anything nice to say, especially if you are drinking. I think that is the primary concern, even if [he is] an asshole . . . if [he is] good looking, a girl will still hook up with [him].
    Another valued quality among men, at both campuses, was fraternity or