Marist Hookup Culture

“Marist students want intimacy and feel the only way to get it is by hooking up.”

Throughout my three and a half years at Marist, I’ve heard plenty of rumors about our hookup culture. In one instance, a male Vassar student told me that Marist women don’t go home with Vassar students after the bar. When mentioning this to a female Marist student, she protested and explained the opposite.

I couldn't help but wonder: What does Marist hookup culture actually look like and how do Marist students feel about it? To find out what’s happening behind the scenes, Jenna Boccabella and I conducted a survey. We spread the survey through direct-messaging random Marist students on Instagram, posting on Facebook groups and asking professors to email it to their students. A total of 173 students completed the survey, in which 131 were women, 37 were men, and 5 were non-binary. A majority of the participants were straight women and seniors. 

Lisa Wade, the author of the book American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus, defines hookup culture as, “The idea that casual sexual encounters are the best or only way to engage sexually.” However, there seems to be a debate about what a hookup actually consists of. When participants were asked to express their opinions of hookup culture, many brought up the confusion of what a hook up means. Does it constitute making out at the bar or going back to the dorms to get freaky on your twin XL mattress? 

The majority of Marist students defined hooking up as kissing/making out (37.1 percent) and/or sex (34.7 percent) while skipping over oral sex (26.7 percent) as a part of the equation. This still leaves a lack of clarity as to what your friend is talking about when they mention they hooked-up with someone last weekend.

So how many hookups have students participated in since attending Marist? We found that 39.2 percent of participants have had a hookup 1-5 times, 20.5 percent have had 0 hookups and 9.4 percent have hooked up 20 or more times while attending Marist. We can assume from these percentages that the majority of the student body is not hooking up as often as we may think, but there are individuals who hook-up more often than others. 

The majority of Marist students are currently not in exclusive relationships (65.9 percent) and recognize our hookup-centric attitude on campus. However, many students commented that they would prefer to be in an exclusive relationship than participate in hookup culture. Despite not enjoying hookup culture, this does not stop them from participating. Marist students want intimacy and feel the only way to get it is by hooking up. The hookup culture seems to be stunting our ability to find a committed relationship. 

As we all know, Marist hookup culture would be nothing without the bar scene. The majority of students are either meeting their hookups at the bars (33.5 percent) or through social/friend groups (29.2 percent). They are also meeting their hookups through dating apps (16.9 percent), the classroom (12.3 percent) and work (4.4 percent). A few students commented that it feels like a requirement to hook up when going out to the bars as a benchmark for a good night out. 

For the students who want to hookup, many feel limited by the strictly white and heteronormative bar scene. Participants commented on the lack of opportunities for queer and POC connections and hookups. Some students mentioned feeling far away from hookup culture if they don’t participate in the bar scene. 

This can explain the opposing point of view on whether or not Marist hookup culture is prevalent. It’s easy to both avoid and be left out of it. 

Since Marist is a relatively small school, this highly affects our hookup culture. A large number of participants mentioned the significance of being a small school, saying that everyone knows when and who you hook up with, as well as the high chance that someone you know has also hooked up with the same person. 

As mentioned within the survey, there are students who have a rule against hooking up with fellow Marist students. Despite these few, most students are hooking up with other Marist students (55.6 percent), followed by students from other colleges (21.3 percent), and people outside of college (16.7 percent). The most common nature of Marist hookups is one night stands (36.9 percent) and friends with benefits (26.8 percent). Other hookups turn into exclusive relationships (12.8 percent) and booty-calls (11.4 percent). 

The term “hooking up” is inherently ambiguous. Our results are reliable but not to be taken too literally. With that, I challenge you to think about where you fall in the Marist hookup culture. If the majority of students feel negatively about our hookup culture, what can we do about it? 

Maybe it’s time we find somewhere on/close to campus where queer students can meet with hookups in mind. Maybe we should be more honest about what we want. Is there room for something new in the hookup scene or should we be more open to commitment? 

Email your questions and mattters of the heart to our Sex & Love columnist at ariana.giordano1@marist.edu.