College Hookup Culture and Christian Ethics: The Lives and Longings of Emerging Adults by Jennifer Beste

Abstract

Reviewed by: College Hookup Culture and Christian Ethics: The Lives and Longings of Emerging Adults by Jennifer Beste Jason King College Hookup Culture and Christian Ethics: The Lives and Longings of Emerging Adults. By Jennifer Beste. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. 376 pp. $35.00. Jennifer Beste's College Hookup Culture and Christian Ethics makes an extremely valuable addition to our understanding of hookup culture. Using two years of ethnographic data collected among students at two Catholic colleges, Beste provides an explanation of hookup culture and its consequences from the mindset of students. [End Page 81] Beste's book is divided into three parts. In Part One, "Through Their Own Eyes," she uses student observations to describe hookup culture. Far from being an environment of carefree pleasure, students find hookup culture to be a highly stratified arena where those with more social status take advantage of those with less. Men tend to prey upon women, especially those whose judgment is impaired by drugs or alcohol. Heterosexual men bully any man who does not conform to masculine stereotypes and thus pose threats to homosexual men who do not hide their sexuality. Athletes dominate the social hierarchy, readily exerting their will over everyone else. This leaves most students feeling anxious, embarrassed, regretful, used, empty, and alone. However, this dislike for hookup culture is masked by "pluralistic ignorance" where everyone believes that they are alone in their unhappiness (121). In Part Two, "Becoming Fully Human," Beste analyzes the ethnographic student data to understand how hooking up fits in with students' larger worldview. It is a world where everything turns on one's social status and people's self-worth is determined by their peers. Neediness, vulnerability, and failure are all detrimental to one's social life. Religious faith is so far off the radar that it is not even mentioned as important to students. Being in control, not caring, and achievement, these are the factors that raise one's social value. Hooking up fits perfectly within this perspective. It requires no personal investment, often entails dominance over another person, and is a way to raise one's social standing. In part three, "Sexual Justice," Beste makes her most important contribution by articulating students' perceptions of sexual violence and assault. The drunkenness, the disregard of others the lack of vulnerability, and the sexism of hookup culture, all contribute to a situation where sexual violence is so rampant that it is difficult to name much less stop. Perpetrators—who are by and large men—utilize verbal and physical aggression to force women to hook up with them, and, when this does not work, they prey upon incapacitated women. In addition to the emotional trauma, victims of sexual assault struggle to [End Page 82] accurately recognize the incident for the violence it is. Friends usually encourage them to laugh it off and forget about it. If the victim considers pursuing charges, they will likely be accused of bringing it on themselves for the way they dressed or behaved, face being socially ostracized, and fear retaliation by the perpetrator. Institutions tend to fear bad publicity more than protecting victims, so they rarely investigate, much less expel, perpetrators. Beste's dive into the minds of students through the ethnographic data is what makes College Hookup Culture and Christian Ethics such a valuable resource. She uses students' own words to identify the power dynamics of hookup culture and so the reasons why the vast majority of students are unhappy with hooking up. Thus, Beste's book should be read by college students to undo their "pluralistic ignorance" that masks the problem and hinders their ability to change the situation. Beste's book should also be read by college administrators so that they understand that addressing hookup culture is more about justice than sex. Hopefully, it would encourage a faster implementation of the policies Beste recommends for a more just sexual culture: affirmative consent policies, zero-tolerance policies, opposition to gender stereotypes, and encouragement of bystander intervention. In doing so, administrators would greatly help students change the problematic dynamics of hookup culture. Jason King Saint Vincent College Copyright © 2018 American Catholic Historical Society