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Sex on Campus: She Can Play That Game, Too

tr1age

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I find this kind of topic interesting. College to me was one of those "missed" opportunities to meet people. I was so interested in becoming an adult that I skipped the part where I wasn't in need of growing up too fast. I got my own place, skipped dorm life, and pretty much had a group of friends outside of college. After seeing so many people meet in college and their relationships WORKING, I was like hmmm that makes sense, commonalities, ambition, and college... yup perfect cocktail for a relationship.. well not so much anymore, as it seems(according to this article) women are trying to break away from the "social norm" and become their own person(respectable mind you as there is a lot of pressure on women in a work place scenario as opposed to men), but are they squandering their ability to actually open up to meet someone else at the same time, because they are "busy", otherwise referred to as finding themselves below. Here is the article:

14COVCAMPUS_SPAN-articleLarge-v2.jpg


At 11 on a weeknight earlier this year, her work finished, a slim, pretty junior at the University of Pennsylvania did what she often does when she has a little free time. She texted her regular hookup — the guy she is sleeping with but not dating. What was he up to? He texted back: Come over. So she did. They watched a little TV, had sex and went to sleep.

Their relationship, she noted, is not about the meeting of two souls.

“We don’t really like each other in person, sober,” she said, adding that “we literally can’t sit down and have coffee.”

Ask her why she hasn’t had a relationship at Penn, and she won’t complain about the death of courtship or men who won’t commit. Instead, she’ll talk about “cost-benefit” analyses and the “low risk and low investment costs” of hooking up.

“I positioned myself in college in such a way that I can’t have a meaningful romantic relationship, because I’m always busy and the people that I am interested in are always busy, too,” she said.

“And I know everyone says, ‘Make time, make time,’ ” said the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity but agreed to be identified by her middle initial, which is A. “But there are so many other things going on in my life that I find so important that I just, like, can’t make time, and I don’t want to make time.”

It is by now pretty well understood that traditional dating in college has mostly gone the way of the landline, replaced by “hooking up” — an ambiguous term that can signify anything from making out to oral sex to intercourse — without the emotional entanglement of a relationship.

Until recently, those who studied the rise of hookup culture had generally assumed that it was driven by men, and that women were reluctant participants, more interested in romance than in casual sexual encounters. But there is an increasing realization that young women are propelling it, too.

Hanna Rosin, in her recent book, “The End of Men,” argues that hooking up is a functional strategy for today’s hard-charging and ambitious young women, allowing them to have enjoyable sex lives while focusing most of their energy on academic and professional goals.

But others, like Susan Patton, the Princeton alumna and mother who in March wrote a letter to The Daily Princetonian urging female undergraduates not to squander the chance to hunt for a husband on campus, say that de-emphasizing relationships in college works against women.

“For most of you, the cornerstone of your future and happiness will be inextricably linked to the man you marry, and you will never again have this concentration of men who are worthy of you,” advised Ms. Patton, who has two sons, one a Princeton graduate and the other a current student. In many places, Ms. Patton was derided for wanting to return to the days of the “Mrs. degree,” though a few female writers, noting how hard it can be for women to find mates in their 30s, suggested that she might have a point. (Ms. Patton just landed a book deal with a division of Simon & Schuster.)

As lengthy interviews over the school year with more than 60 women at Penn indicated, the discussion is playing out in the lives of a generation of women facing both broader opportunities and greater pressures than perhaps any before, both of which helped shape their views on sex and relationships in college.

Typical of elite universities today, Penn is filled with driven young women, many of whom aspire to be doctors, lawyers, politicians, bankers or corporate executives like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg or Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer. Keenly attuned to what might give them a competitive edge, especially in a time of unsure job prospects and a shaky economy, many of them approach college as a race to acquire credentials: top grades, leadership positions in student organizations, sought-after internships. Their time out of class is filled with club meetings, sports practice and community-service projects. For some, the only time they truly feel off the clock is when they are drinking at a campus bar or at one of the fraternities that line Locust Walk, the main artery of campus.

Click here to read MORE: (don't want to copy all 5 pages)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/f...smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=ST_ALU_20130713&_r=0

What do you think?

Do you feel you miss college and the ability to meet like minded people? Did you meet someone in college? Is college just for fucking?
 
When I was in college, I was 100% focused on balancing academics and athletics... had zero relationships, wanted zero relationships, though had plenty of decent guy friends. There were also plenty of predatory douchebags that helped my decision to just stick with what I knew I enjoyed and not take the risk and waste precious time on someone who just wanted an object to fuck. I really do mean 'precious time', very precious. I could barely get all my school work done and have time for my horses, who were my #1 priority, my #1 source of happiness, often times the only thing that kept me going when I was on the edge of deep depression and apathy.

I'm sick of people trying to figure what women 'should' be doing.

they are squandering their ability to actually open up to meet someone else at the same time, because they are "busy", otherwise known as finding themselves.

And who are you (or anyone for that matter) to decide whether someone is squandering themselves or not? Because you feel the loss of their company. YOU. Not them. Maybe they are on track for obtaining their lifetime dreams, which happens to not involve a relationship. Does that make them less of a person? As someone who didn't give a fuck about relationships until very recently, I would not say any of my time spent alone was squandered. It's helped me figure out myself and what I really want from life, which in turn helps me to be a better partner now that someone has finally got my heart at their mercy.

Yes, I am 25 and I am in, in fact, my first relationship ever.

Both men and women grow up being told what they should and shouldn't do from both sides. My mother is to the extreme of independence, not giving a shit, just does what she wants, and that has shattered our family. I grew up being told that was the only way to be a strong woman, that to need someone is weak. Then there's the other end of the spectrum - girl friends of mine who are, in fact, utterly lost when not in a relationship, who constantly look outside themselves for love and approval... without which they can't bring themselves to believe they have any worth.

I don't want to be either of these things, but unfortunately a lot of society pushes one or the other. Makes one out to be the 'wrong' way to be a woman, and the other the 'right', depending on the perspective of whoever happens to be preaching at the time. No matter what you do, you are in the wrong to somebody, and they're happy to tell you what a bitch/slut/needy little girl you are for it.

You know what is refreshing? Instead of judging me for wanting/having a relationship or not, ask me what makes me happy. Ask me what matters to me, what do I want to do with my life. I think a lot of women (people, in general, but we're talking a lot about women here) would have to think pretty hard about that. It's the most important question, though. The only way to get rid of the pressure of the way we 'should' be is to know who were are and what we want.

Women are not wrong for wanting careers, success, or knowledge over a relationship. Neither are women wrong for wanting a relationship around which to build their lives. Women are CERTAINLY not wrong for being focused on themselves and their lives until someone special comes along, waiting until that someone makes themselves known. So long as it's done responsibly, women are not wrong for enjoying their sexual nature without commitment.

There's love to be found in all kinds of choices... believe me, even when I was without a man, I was not without love. That lesson was hugely important to me: learning that love comes from within ourselves. The more you give (yourself and others and your passions) the more you feel in return. Women who are not seeking a relationship are by no means devoid of fulfillment in their lives.
 
I suggest reading the article. It is obviously not about YOU. It is about women who do what they are explaining in the article. I also made a couple of edits i can see where what I wrote was taken out of context of the article.
 
I suggest reading the article. It is obviously not about YOU. It is about women who do what they are explaining in the article.


I was responding mainly to you, your questions, and your commentary at the beginning. :) No, it is not about me personally, but don't I count in this discussion? The article is only a small sample of women, and you asked for our opinions on college/relationships/etc.
 
I was responding mainly to you, your questions, and your commentary at the beginning. :)


Made an edit to the first post, what I wrote was too easily misinterpreted as is obvious from your response :) .

I don't think a woman needs to be in the kitchen, but I do think often times, women, because of the societies pressure on them to break out of the mold created for them to BE in the kitchen, often use work as an excuse to give themselves a credible voice. This unfortunately hurts society as a whole due to them not being able to focus on multiple aspects of it at a time. We often get so honed in on ONE aspect that we don't realize how changing the one is hurting the other, the extremes never help. Hence my dislike for our countries party system.

I do not blame women for this btw. I blame a very fucking weird system of social balances and checks.
 
We don’t really like each other in person, sober
-Hmm, having sex with people you don't like seems very sexually empowered and a healthy attitude.
“I don’t want to go through those changes with you. I want you to have changed and become enough of your own person so that when you meet me, we can have a stable life and be very happy.”
-Extraordinarily unrealistic view of relationships.
Women said universally that hookups could not exist without alcohol, because they were for the most part too uncomfortable to pair off with men they did not know well without being drunk.
-Again, I didn't know substance abuse combined with unsatisfying sex made you empowered.
didn’t want to be there anymore, and giving the guy oral sex was an easy way to wrap things up and leave.
-Guess someone should learn to be a big girl and stop compromising herself. If your blowing guys so you can walk away from a romantic liaison you no longer wish to participate in you've got a problem.



If you think that this behavior is healthy, or conducive to happiness you are flat out wrong. The girls interviewed explicitly say that they are having sex with people they don't like, while intoxicated, don't know how to say no, set boundaries, or know how to develop a healthy relationship. This is entirely different than having casual sex with various partner's whose company you enjoy.
 
Which is exactly why I think the shit going on today is different than when I went to college. For some reason the promiscuous attitude to cover up for inexperience or lack of self esteem is being taken as "empowerment".

College is an amazing opportunity to meet people, yet it is being tossed aside for "empowering" sex? WHAT?
 
Well, to me I think the issue is not really being promiscuous in and of itself. There are quite a few people who quite simply enjoy having sex with various people, but do so with clear boundaries, with people they like, don't always NEED to drunk to have casual sex, and WANT to be doing it. A lot of that article deals with people NOT having their own agency, succumbing to peer pressure, "settling", and on top of it all not having good sex! Not learning how to say NO isn't healthy, requiring alcohol for sex isn't healthy, doing things when you are drunk that you wouldn't do sober isn't healthy, these are NOT healthy people making informed decisions about their personal lives, they are being overly influenced by an unhealthy social environment and NOT DOING WHAT THEY WANT TO BE DOING. A bunch of them say they WANT boyfriends, but RATIONALIZE why they DON'T have them. If you aren't having the kind of relationship you want why would you compromise?
 
"empowering" means two things, Jack and shit. abstain form sex and relationships EMPOWERING! have sex with any one and every one EMPOWERING! get a degree and be a Judge/doctor/rocket sci EMPOWERING! be a stripper EMPOWERING! be a mother of 2 EMPOWERING! have no children EMPOWERING! everyone needs to stop listening to these arm chair social experts and just be people.
Want to hook up with 400 people? good for you do your thing. want to just be at school? good do that. Hate all social contact and want to work from home in some niche industry? Good follow your own path.
people need to stop doing what people tell them they should do and people need to stop doing the opposite of doing what people tell them they should. The moment people stop trying to be these ideals and simply start being people everyone will be better off. Just try to be happy and try to be nice to everyone.


Well said.
 
I met my wife at college, so I guess I can attest that it can be a great place to meet someone you end up inextricably in love with.

I have trouble labeling any kind of extramarital sex as "healthy," though it very well may be empowering for some people.
I think Evilcat had the best point- if you are using a chemical to induce yourself to do things that you would otherwise find uncomfortable, then you are not in a good situation. Alcohol should enhance your enjoyment, not cause or enable it. (Pardon if I got the paraphrase wrong, EC)
 
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