Reflections – Hookup Culture
IAH231B.003 Class Dr. Denise Acevedo
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Reflections

When thinking about defining hookup culture and then applying it to real life situations, it can be tricky to put the right words in order. Hooking up is practiced around the world by a significant portion of the population, however, everyone has their own exact definition of what it means to them. To some, it has to include the innate act of sex to be considered hooking up. And to others, it can be just kissing! In our IAH231B class, I believe we selected a definition that can be applied to a wide range of people. Relating it to the topic at hand, music/film/TV, I think the fact that our definition says it’s an intimate interaction (that, of course, is consensual), that is sexual – sexual is up to the reader to define for themselves. In film, music, and television, I think hooking up is depicted in many different ways and I believe that it comes from the “Sex sells” phenomena.

Whether we realize it or not, an alarming majority of songs, shows, and movies display sexual acts or hint to sexual activities. Before I was actually studying hookup culture and was just existing in the culture, I never really paid much attention to how much it was glorified. It was only when I actually started looking for it to document it is when I realized how often it occurs. Even in songs on the radio that children hear, and shows such as Grey’s Anatomy even includes scenes of sexual activities.

A big portion of my team’s external sources for this week were based on our survey results, as well as last week’s hookup song discussion. We had an idea already that people used music in the background of hookups as a filler noise, but an exciting revelation that we could finally put words to is the ‘Netflix and Chill’ phenomena that is so prevalent in our society today. These days, at least in our college generation, hookups occur a lot while people are watching television, specifically on Netflix, and then a show becomes the background noise instead of a distinct playlist such as in our parent’s generation.

Upon personal experience, I do think that background noise in the back of hookups is nice, so I don’t mind a Netflix show in the back. I don’t enjoy a specific playlist, I think if a guy turns on a playlist just to hookup that I would be turned off…. Pretty cheesy if you ask me! However, also in my personal experience and reflection, I’ve realized how much sex is included in our daily lives, in ads, in film, in television, and music. It really is a profitable agent and I think that’s why it’s so included, even in children’s content!

Our class definition grasps the general idea of a hookup, leaving room for its details/ complications for our novel to develop. For this week, we had a focus on music/TV and how those play a role on hookup culture as a whole.

What I appreciated about this week’s category of music/TV/film is how universal it is. There are different variations for each country/culture around the world, but it can be enjoyed the same way everywhere. From the discussion we conducted with the different songs, it’s obvious that everyone has their own taste in music and there’s a tune for any mood, especially “hookups.” The article that we read from New York Times about the underground balls was actually the thing that resonated with me the most this week because it was such an empowering story and I would actually love to go to at least one before I die to see some people confidently express themselves in a safe/non-judgmental environment.

For this week, our team didn’t really have any outside resources since everyone has their own taste in music. We just discussed the music/entertainment we enjoy and if one of us had similar taste in music, we would talk about different albums or songs that we loved the most. We didn’t really talk about hookup culture through tv/film other than the memes that are associated with it, such as Netflix and chill.

I feel like the type of music someone listens to can definitely be used as a “weeder” I guess because I might be more interested in someone who listens to a similar genre of music as me, but I would also be attracted to people who introduce me to new music. Personally, I will always think of the person that introduced me to a new song/artist anytime I hear or watch something related to it. I guess people like to remember good times and music/film/TV is definitely an object that can harbor good vibes and positive feelings.

I think that our definition fits this week’s category the best out of any of our weeks. Most of rap and pop music talks about brief “hookups.” My personal definition aligns with our class definition.

I think the thing that I realized the most with this category is how desensitized that I have been to how prominent “hookup” culture is in our media. Music specifically. I hear these songs about sex and “thots” and sing along with no issue. When I really think about the lyrics, I do think that at times I disagree with what the song is singing about morally. When it degrades women I sing along but normally I’d struggle with these concepts. I wonder how much we ignore the moral issues that our movies, tv, and music represent.

My group did not find any external sources for this category as we were one of the groups who had done the assignment before our classes added music, TV, and film to the list. I think adding this category is important to our books relevance because without it there would be a large part of our culture left out.

I spoke briefly on it but I feel my biggest interaction with this category as it relates to “hookup” culture is music. When I hear popular music, I ignore the issues that it brings up when it comes to the objectification of woman.

Hookup culture can be defined many different ways. We have talked about the music, television, and film aspects of hookup culture for the past couple weeks of class. Music, television, and film all have a big importance on hookup culture and how it is seen by many.

Music nowadays talks a lot more about sex and hookups than it ever has. In a study published by Sexuality and Culture, they reported that in the 1960s 69% of pop music references dating, while in the 2000s 59% of pop music referenced dating. They also reported that in the 1960s 7% of pop music referenced sex, while in the 2000s 40% of pop music referenced sex. As you can see, the amount of sex that has talked about has increased, and the amount of dating and relationships have decreased.

Television and film shows that uncommitted sex, or hookups can be both physically and emotionally enjoyable and occur without strings. Due to this stigma and the way hookup culture and sex is portrayed to the public affects how people view it. For example, in recent years data has shown that between 60 and 80 percent of college students have been involved in hookup culture in the last year. This is a lot of people and this is majorly because what is seen and heard in music, television, and film.

Overall, music, film, and television has a lot of influence on hookup culture. People are very easily influenced by the world around them. This is why all these industries have such a big influence.

Growing up in a generation that is ruled by technology, it’s definitely easy for music and TV to influence hookup culture. As our minds were developing, we would watch TV to pass the time and we were always being exposed to TV shows like Jersey Shore. Our minds were very impressionable and that’s probably how our virgin minds formed the idea of “hookup culture” and I think that stemmed our class definition. When we’re young and exposed to TV shows and music about sex and partying it kind of set the tone for the script that we would follow for the remainder of our lives.

I think music is something that I definitely resonated with and took time to think about; There are some songs that play that just start cause you to act promiscuous. As soon as I hear any song by Tyga or Megan Thee Stallion at the bar, I immediately have to start shaking my ass and dancing like a stripper, it just feels natural. Sometimes I wonder why that is and it got me thinking if bars/clubs playing this type of music on loop have a direct correlation to hookup culture? I honestly think so, when a guy sees someone dancing like that, it usually prompts them to either dance with them, or initiate a conversation with them. Today, most “popular” music references sex or some sort of non-implied sexual interaction, unless the artist is like 16 but even then, it still sometimes happens. So, because of this, I do think that music is one of the biggest parts of hookup culture because it has so many layers and it’s so fluid in hookup culture

My team did find a few articles about music and its role in hookup culture. We even found a detailed list about what genres are the most prominent in hookup culture. The specific article we found talks about the evolution of music in hookup culture and the author included a chart showing how much sex songs have increased since the 60’s.

I would like to draw the attention to “Netflix and Chill.” That term in our generation has become synonymous to sex or “hooking” up. If a guy ever hits me up and talks about wanting a Netflix night in, I have to be prepared to put out, that’s just kind of how it is. Sometimes a guy actually does just want to watch tv with you and hang out but most of the time they want something more because that’s just how we initiate a hookup if you’re not in a club/party setting. I prefer to have some tv playing as background noise during a hookup because I’ve never really been a fan of “hookup” music because I personally think it ruins the mood if you’re in the middle of everything and one of you starts singing the lyrics, it’s just super cringy, from personal experience. Our generation, which are currently probably the biggest players in the game of hookup culture, tend to take something as harmless and pure as Netflix and turn it into something sexual.

The main thing about this current trend of “hookup” culture in television and music is very prominent. Many shows are nowadays have it take place a ton which then influences and passes the trend on to all of its viewers due to the unrealized power of television. Don’t even get me started on how much “hookups” are rapped/sang about in current day culture. A lot of the famous rappers write about how they don’t have one person in their life sexually and push the narrative that if you only have one significant other then you are not “cool.” Many of these people look up to rappers nowadays which then helps spread this idea of hooking up and makes it very prevalent in today’s culture.

My personal experience with television and hook up culture is mainly based around the whole “Netflix and chill” stigma that has arisen from social media. There have been a few times that a hookup was not intended and that I actually wanted to watch some Netflix but since it was implied that if Netflix is turned on then there must be a hookup wanted that it influenced the feeling of the room. Therefore, showing the crazy strong effect of television influence on the hookup culture scene.

My personal experience with hooking up and music is pretty common amongst the college student population. It mainly begins at the pregame and the music selection there. There are generally rules from different music selections on what the mood for the night will be. The first music selection is EDM and that generally leads to people drinking pretty aggressively and dancing which tends to lead to a more hook up vibe. Then there is hip hop genre and that does lead to hooking up, but not as much as EDM. Then there is country and that normally doesn’t lead to a ton of hook ups, but will definitely lead to a good night due to the laid back vibe of the music.

For the past two weeks, we have been discussing the “hookup” culture and how television, film and music plays its part when it comes to this interaction. To start off, our class definition stays the same. Our class definition of what “hooking up” is looks like this: “Hookup” culture is a consensual and intimate interaction that is sexual and is between two or more people without any prior or current commitment to each other.

In this week’s topic, what really resonated with me was my peer’s discussion posts. I really liked seeing other peoples’ thoughts when it came to this topic. Because we all are growing up in a time that has a ton of different music, films and television, this topic seems like it would be a huge part of “hookup” culture. And it really is. Looking back on when I used to participate in the “hookup” culture, I have now realized that all of these digital categories were used when “hookups” were in progress or about to be. Looking at my peer’s responses to our discussion posts a lot of us had the same thing in mind when talking about films, television shows and music. A lot of my peers said that it was more of a “Netflix and chill” type of deal when it came to “hooking up” and it wasn’t as common to have music playing. But, a lot of my peers, myself included know that there are many playlists on Spotify or music apps like apple music that have “hookup” playlists already made particularly for “hookups”. I know my friends and I would always joke that our “hookups” have the show The Office playing in the background because most people have seen this show so it doesn’t matter if you miss a little bit of an episode.

The other part of these past two weeks of talking about these categories that resonated with me was when we were given the scenario of being a film producer and being asked to include a “hookup” scene and if we would be comfortable doing so. Most of the responses that my peers wrote were that they were more than comfortable doing so. I also agreed when I wrote my response. I thought that it was interesting that we were all so comfortable doing this and it really made me think that maybe my generation of peers are more open and more comfortable when talking about “hookups”.

From weeks 12 to 13 of the course we discussed hookup culture in relation to TV, music and film. We identified the category elements of the influence of TV, music and film. In today’s culture it is common to see hookups in TV shows and films as well as hearing about hookups in song lyrics. I believe music during a hookup can enhance intimacy and furthermore TV and films commonly display hookups as consensual.

I was interested to learn about the 1980’s New York drag ball subculture is when LGBTQ and people of color perform fashion and dance competitions. Ballroom offers a space and a language, both verbal and physical, for people to explore fluid identities. The empowerment built up in the ballroom translates to the rest of life, creating confidence and self-love. I believe my day to day life, interactions with friends and social media would have a larger impact on moving towards reducing shame and increasing inclusivity. The article mentions a D.J. and electronic dance singer who helped spread the idea of ballroom beyond the underground released a music video “Be Honest” focused on free expression. I think music is a great way to share different topics and perspectives and to teach others about different cultures. Music is powerful and has the ability to reach many different people and start conversations to end stigmas and reduce shame by talking openly about it and bringing knowledge to people and encourage further understanding and research. Personally I listen to music every day and by listening to this music and sharing with others it has the potential to make a huge impact.

Our team discovered an article on the topic of music relating to “hookup” culture (McDermott “How the Evolution of Pop Music Explains Hookup Culture”). It describes how pop music has evolved to include more references to sex and less references to dating compared to pop music from the 1960’s. Learning this did not surprise me since most of the songs I listen to reference sex while only a few reference dating. McDermott also touches on the double standard of men vs women talking about sex as the number of female-performed pop songs with references to dating stayed relatively constant across five decades which I discovered to be interesting.

Personally I think playing music during a hookup helps to set a mood and eliminate awkward silence. I feel like slower rhythmic explicit songs in the R&B or hip hop genre are most common for hookup situations. Artists such as Tory Lanez, Chris Brown, Jacquees and Bryson Tiller are a few of many R&B/rap artists that come to mind. In addition to music I think background TV is very common too such as a “Netflix and chill” situation. I also believe having a TV show or movie in the background helps to make the hookup seem more casual.

Our class definition is one I personally don’t think fits perfectly with TV and film, but I do think fits perfectly with music. The mainstream music today definitely encourages brief and meaningless relationships. I think music is beautiful and is a great tool to express oneself but some of the lyrics in the songs for sure emphasize meaningless relationship and using sex as an escape. As far as music and film, I think most of the TV shows I watch where two characters start off hooking up, usually end up in a committed relationship because they realize they have feelings for each other. This script goes against our definition because there’s commitment in the TV relationships.

In my personal experience, I think watching so many of these TV shows set me up for failure. I’m not a fan of “hookup” culture and when I first started to engage in it, I thought my hookups would end in a relationship like the ones on TV. I wasn’t prepared for the emotional pain it caused me and shame I felt when I didn’t end up in a relationship like some of my favorite characters did. I wish TV shows were a bit more realistic in what exactly a “hookup” is and stop selling dreams.

I also think TV shows, music, and films need to show more representations in race and also sexual identity. Growing up it was rare to see someone on a TV screen who looked like me kissing or having sex, it almost felt like people who looked like me didn’t engage in those activities. This caused me to feel insecure, because although I had all the same parts as the girls on TV, I had different color parts for instance my nipples were a different shade and I used to think there was something wrong with me. I’m really happy that Hollywood is making an effort to be more diverse in its casting because representation matters.

Growing up in the digital age means that music, TV, and movies are just second nature to this generation. What we watch and listen to has a huge influence in what we like, how we act, and what we do. A large portion of music, TV, and movies include the topic of hook ups. For the most part, these displays tend to match our classes definition of a hookup. It doesn’t matter what genre of TV show or movie you pick, most of the time there will be some sort of hookup scene in it. As for music, there is a big chunk that deals with lusting after a partner, and what they do when finally engaging in a sexual act. If I were to pick one thing that music, TV, and movies don’t always do a great job in showing about a hookup is the topic of consent. Most of the time in these settings, consent is just assumed while the two people engage in their hookup, but by explicitly showing the exchange of consent, there will be more conversation about the topic, and can hopefully influence more people who partake in hookup culture to do the same.

Over the years, entertainment has drastically changed when it comes to the topic of hookups. When music, TV, and movies were first introduced to the public, it was scandalous to even show a husband and wife sleeping in the same bed on TV. Talking about sex was a very taboo thing to talk about, even in a heterosexual sense, and it was much more scrutinized when talking about it for any other gender identities. Throughout the decades, society has become much more accepting and understanding on the topic of sex and hookups in all types of relationships. Most movies and TV shows have some sort of hookup elements between the characters, and there is even a sub-genre of music that is known to be for and about sex. While we still have a long way to go, there is more acceptance of hookups in LGBTQ+ relationships, which is something that would have never been allowed back in the day. The media and entertainment industries are responsible for what is created and produced on the topics of sex and hookups, which means they have the power to display these normal parts of life in positive ways, as to eliminate the stigma that already surrounds the topics.

For an outside resource on the topic of music, my group found an article by John McDermott called “How the Evolution of Pop Music Explains Hookup Culture.” In the article, McDermott makes the connection in a chart of how there are significantly more songs about sex now than there were back in the 60s, for example. Because of this factor, the music industry (along with TV and movie industries) have a ton of power in shaping the public’s view about sex and hookups. This is why it is so important for entertainment companies to make accurate and consensual displays of sex and hookups because of the strong influence it has over our population.

Music has always been a way for me to express myself. When you find the perfect song that describes how you feel, there is something very satisfying about that. I know I’m probably not the only one, but I have playlist that is for “hookup songs”. All of the songs on this playlist are very relaxed, smooth, and melodic, with a lot of the music being created by artists like The Weeknd and H.E.R. and Daniel Caesar. Often times I just listen to this playlist when I relax just because I want something softer to listen to, but on the rare occasion that I do put it on during a hookup, it’s nice to have as background noise to drown out any awkwardness that might arise. The music is especially nice when for example you feel a certain type of way, but might be too shy to come right out and say the words, so you put on the song that sums it all up, and you let the song do the talking. While this might sound cheesy, it can be another creative avenue that allows for self-expression.

Over the course of the last weeks, with our focus on TV, film, and music, I was able to reflect and learn about lots of things. I really realized what a huge influence these things are when it comes to hooking up and hookup culture as a whole.

The first thing that comes to mind that I want to reflect on is music videos. A lot of music videos today, especially hip-hop music videos, revolve entirely around sexual appeal. Rap music videos such as “Rack City” by Tyga (as if the name of the song and the lyrics themselves don’t relate to hookup culture enough) are filled with half-naked women in strip clubs, being eyed by different men. Another music video by the same artist is “Taste” by Tyga. This music video is very sexually explicit and consists almost entirely of women twerking and walking around in revealing bikinis. There is nothing wrong with women choosing to do those things, but I hate the way that they seem to be exploited for male viewing pleasure in music videos like these. These videos definitely relate to hookup culture because they just cram the idea of sex into people’s heads. We all know that these rappers aren’t having real relationships with these women they they’re sexually displaying in their videos.

Another thing that comes to mind is a scene from one of my favorite TV shows, Grey’s Anatomy. The series starts out with one of the medical interns, Meredith, sleeping with a guy she meets at the bar. They wake up the next morning and it’s just really awkward and uncomfortable, as it usually is after a casual hookup, and they go their separate ways. When she gets to work at the hospital later that day, she sees that the guy she hooked up with is actually one of her attending physicians. She freaks out a little bit and its awkward for a bit, but later in the show, she actually ends up in a more serious, romantic relationship with him, and they eventually end up getting married and even having kids together. I think that this whole storyline just kind of contributes to the false image of hooking up that TV shows and movies sometimes portray. I feel like a lot of TV shows and movies romanticize the act of hooking up and casual sex, and they like to show the people falling in love in the end. The same thing happens in “Friends with Benefits”, a movie that we discussed earlier this semester in class. Usually, people don’t even talk to each other again after having casual sex, let alone fall in love with each other. This could cause some people who have never participated in hookup culture before to maybe view it falsely or have false expectations if they do begin to participate in it.

Lastly, I want to reflect on the concept of “Netflix and Chill.” The entire concept is just wild, and it kind of just lets people use watching a movie as an excuse to initiate sex. I’ve participated in “Netflix and Chill” activities before, and the movie we were “watching” just ends up playing in the background usually instead of “hookup music.” With that being said, it related to hookup culture in that way also.

I feel like our class definition is very close to what my personal definition of “hookup” is. I don’t really think any part of our definition connects to our music, television, and film category. But, I do think this category plays a big role in hookup culture. Looking at how hook ups are portrayed in media, it is evident that it matches our definition.

Music, TV, and movies are a big part of this generations’ lives. I feel like everyone can relate to this category and can see how hookup culture is connected. I have watched a lot of shows that portray hookup culture in one way or another. One example is The Bachelor. In the final weeks of that show, with the final women, after their dates they go into the fantasy suite for the night. The fantasy suites are basically known for the couple to have sex. To me, this is a big part of hookup culture for some of the girls. The bachelor may sleep with all the women, and then he decides to marry one. So the other women are left with nothing and no commitment, kind of like our definition. Also, with Bachelor in Paradise. A handful of girls and guys that are sleeping with each other and trying to form potential relationships.

One of my Team’s external sources for this category was a song by The Weeknd, Often. In this song, the artist describes one of his one night stands. The Weeknd tends to use very vulgar, sexually explicit language to describe the encounters he engages in. A lot of his music also mentions the use of drugs and alcohol that we had at one point in class talked a lot about. We had mentioned alcohol being “liquid courage” and some think it’s necessary for hookups to occur. Today, a lot of music is like this – many artists sing about sex, drugs, and alcohol. Some people can interpret these songs differently though, which can be a problem.

I think a big part of music in hookup culture is “setting the mood.” For some people, there are certain songs that may put them in the mood to have sex, and for others it may have no effect. I have a friend that, when she knows she wants to go home with a guy, she will listen to a certain song because she says it gives her confidence and gets her excited before going out. The music played in a bar is obviously different than the music someone might listen to while studying. The music played at a bar is usually upbeat, loud, gets people in the dancing mood. Gives people good energy and vibes and makes it a good scene for a hookup to begin – talking to someone and going home with them/taking them home. Outside of the bar, I also know a lot of people that play certain music during the actual physical hookup. It could make things less awkward and more natural.

For the last two weeks of material we began covering the category of music, TV, and film within the topic of hookup culture. Prior to this focus we, as a class, came up with a universal definition of hookup culture during of the semester. That definition was, “hookup” culture is a consensual, intimate interaction that is sexual between two or more people without commitment. I don’t think our definition particularly incorporates the role of TV, music, or film because when I think of that category I think of the small background aspects that might play a part in a hookup. My personal definition of hookup culture would include what we have already created but also include more about the approach people have to hookup cultures or tools people use to aid in that approach.

I think that through history the main thing that has changed is the presence of explicit hookups in music, movies, and television. I think that there are movies now such as 50 shades of grey that would be considered not favorable in previous generations. Also music is much more explicitly sexual now than it was previously, music did have sexual messages in previous time periods, but nothing as forward as it is today.

Our source for music, television, and film was a Spotify playlist. This playlist was explicitly labeled hookup music. This playlist mostly consisted of RnB or slower tempo rap music. This is the most popular music associated with hookup culture in my opinion. This music can set the mood that a person is going for without specifically saying it. People on apps like Spotify or apple music create playlists specifically for these situations and allow them to be available for public use. I could simple lookup a hookup playlist and select whichever one I felt fit the mood the best.

I have used music and TV in my participation in hookup culture. Asking among my friends, it is a common theme that people put The Office on in hookup situations. I think this is because it is a show that most people have watched and like so it is something easy to put on and isn’t distracting in the background. I have also used playlists with my personal experiences, I feel like music is an easy way to communicate what you want or what you are feeling. I also think that music, television and film are an important aspect of hookup culture that are widely used among different groups.

Over the past couple of weeks we have talked a lot about entertainment and music in relations to hookup culture. I believe entertainment is a strong force in the hookup culture. Who doesn’t like a strong and sexy lead in a movie or TV shows? I also believe music plays a huge part in the hookup culture. Some music has a general essence to it that initiates hookups.

Music is for sure a big fact that leads into sexual behavior for those trying or wanting to hook up. EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in my opinion is the most sexual type of music and during festivals the atmosphere is pure love. Though drugs may enhance the feeling of love, the music still plays a huge factor into the sexual vibes. From first-hand experience, the overall atmosphere of an EDM festival is incredible and so extremely positive. The music flows through the crowd and leads into hook up or sexual tension.

This week within our group chat we talked about the entertainment industry in relations to hookup culture. Clearly movies and TV shows portray a much more embraced sense of love than in real life, but to the audience you see two people in sexual love. This leads the audience to be that love is true and that is how the entertainment industry makes their money. Many romantic movies are usually overdone and not realistic, but if the audience buys in then they believe that love can happen like in the movie or TV show.

Personally, I can attest that music is definitely a huge factor into the hookup culture. Throughout my experiences in the hookup culture I have turned on music that fits the vibe when I am going to hook up with someone. My best way to put this is you move your body with the music and it in some ways adds more passion to the hookup. I mean the whole point of a hookup is to satisfy one another so, music helps me with that process.

Within the first couple days of class, we came up with our definition of “hooking up. For this last reflection essay, our category was music, television and film. Although our class definition doesn’t necessarily touch on the elements of hooking up in music, media or film, these things play a large factor in hookup culture in this day in age.

The first topic I want to focus on music. I wanted to talk about this first because in my eyes it is probably one of the most influential in hookup culture from this week’s category. As someone who listens to almost every kind of music, there are definitely differences between the genres. One of the biggest genres of music that plays a huge role in hookup culture today is definitely hip hop/rap. Over the last, say 15 years, rap has definitely changed in the way of lyrics and things that rappers talk about in their songs. As someone who is a fan of rap myself, I can say that a majority of rap songs could be linked to hooking up or casual sex. In fact, you can look up “sex playlists” that are mostly all composed of rap or R&B music. Another thing that really portrays hooking up in the music industry is the music videos. Although music videos aren’t extremely popular, so many of them contain a visualization of sex/hooking up. Even if they don’t have a hot girl/guy in them, the dancing that is done in almost music videos are very sexualized. One of the things that I think is bad about the music industry and what peoples’ music portrays is that it could influence a younger crowd to engage in hooking up before they feel comfortable with it because “that’s what famous people do.”

When touching on the topic of television, I think mostly about streaming platforms like Netflix/Hulu/or Amazon video. I can’t really think of many shows that air on television that really relate to our class definition or my personal definition of hooking up. One show that comes to mind from Netflix is a show called Californication. Californication stars “Hank Moody” who is played by David Duchovny. In the show, Hank is a good looking dude with a bad guy appearance who sleeps around with multiple women. Not only does he sleep around but he’s still “in love” with his ex-wife who he tries to win back but can’t stop sleeping around. There are definitely other shows out that definitely confirm the hookup culture, but I’m not a big TV person so I don’t really watch much.

On the topic of film, I am not a huge believer that hookup culture is portrayed very well in any movies. Sure, in a lot of movies there is sex/relationships/drinking and what not, but most of the time it never plays out how it really does in real life. You don’t see people in movies having a one-night stand and then the awkward morning or week after that seeing the person in class or at the bar. It might happen in movies, but most of the time the two people end up falling in love and then their happily ever after story to follow.

Our class definition of “hookup” culture does not necessarily connect or disconnect from this category of music, TV, and film. However, a song, TV show or music can have its own definition of “hookup” culture that could be very similar to our class definition. It has become very common in TV shows and movies to show a hookup scene, if not more than one. These hookups in TV shows and movies start off the same as how we have defined “hookup” culture, but as the show or movie progresses, the relationship turns into something more than just a hookup. Music, on the other hand, will define “hookup” culture like we have done. No commitment and meaningless.

I believe that “hookup” culture has always been present in music. In the past, it may have been a lot less noticeable than songs these days. However, with TV and film, “hookup” culture has only been showing up and relevant in more recent years. It is so common to see a hookup scene in a TV show or a movie. Kids in high school and college are so used to seeing hookup scenes in TV and in movies, it does not bother us, but it may bother the older generations.

For this category of music, TV, and film, my team found a song that we believe fits into “hookup” culture. The song is by Drake and it is called Take Care. This song gives a good description of what we believe “hookup” culture to be and all of the thoughts that go with “hookup” culture.

In my experience with “hookup” culture, I have found that there are hundreds of songs that talk about hooking up. Some of my friends will also have “hookup” playlists that they use. However, I never really listen to music while hooking up, I usually will put on a TV show or movie on in the background, just to have some background noise. Also, TV shows and movies will have a lot of different hookup scenes. But, I have noticed that in movies and TV shows the initial “hookup” situation will eventually evolve into something more or a real relationship.

I think that the category of Music/Television/Film is connected to hookup culture in many ways. While the definition of hookup culture itself doesn’t really tie into the media we discussed, media, television, and film are continuously exploring the idea of it. Whether it’s the song played during a hookup, the movie played during a “Netflix and Chill,” or the hookup between two characters on your favorite TV show, it is clear that the idea of hookup culture is heavily prevalent in today’s media.

Media, television, and film have undoubtedly changed over the years, becoming more and more open with ideas like sexuality, gender roles, and hookup culture itself. Decades ago you would hardly see a hookup on TV and film or a homosexual or biracial relationship; it was almost never heard of to see a hook up between a homosexual or biracial couple. Today, it is more common to see these sorts of interactions, yet it is still not as talked about as it should be. There is still not enough research and portrayal of this in media.

In class, we discussed different music, television, and films that portray “hookup” culture or could be played during a hookup. I think everyone had the same sort of idea, especially for the music. We agreed that RnB music is a really good hookup song, due to the slow, sensual pace. We all had the general idea that in the hypothetical situation of our boss telling us we have to put a hookup scene in our TV show, we wouldn’t have a problem including it.

While I’ve never had a hookup and don’t plan on having one, I do understand the idea of including various hookup portrayals in different forms of media. It shouldn’t just be a hookup between a white male and a white female. Although it is progress to even include a hookup, we still need to acknowledge the importance of including everyone in this movement.

I was excited to explore our final category on music, television, and film because media outlets are a primary way people can make meaning of hook-up culture even if they don’t participate. I never thought of including an aspect of this category in our class definition because I don’t believe that it’s a vital aspect to understanding hookup culture, especially due to overdramatic representations that can exist of the culture. From childhood, I can recall songs that have involved lyrics about hooking up, and though I didn’t understand what they were talking about, it really developed my imagination of what the act is, and who’s involved. Most of the songs that were out while I was a child were things I couldn’t listen to unless they came on the radio, so I recognized that such an act was something for adults only even though I couldn’t pinpoint why; lyrics back in the day had more covert messages that I couldn’t decode.

The earliest recollection I had of hooking up on TV was with ABC Family’s The Secret Life of an American Teenager and MTV’s Awkward. On both shows, female lead characters constantly dealt with public scrutiny because other people found out that they were hooking up with classmates, and this sort of representation made me further associate hooking-up as being something not normal and bad. Similar to what both Wade and Bogle mention, components of drinking or other substances to ease going into something unfamiliar would be major plot themes in these tv shows and this can be harmful if people consuming such media are inexperienced with understanding intimacy. When I reflect back on these shows, I think they accurately showcased the double standard that exists for teenage or adult women when it comes to them exploring their sexuality, but I think such narrative must evolve to how our current world reflects more modern takes on sexual freedoms. Today, there are documentaries dedicated to unraveling misconceptions of sex and how one can hook up with someone else; I think the film Catfish was a foundational representation of the relationship between social media and potentially meeting up with people based on their physical features. This example highlights how though there are disparities amongst people interested in hooking up, modern developments such as technology and apps give people more access to interact with people even if it’s only virtual.

As a college student, topics on sex are way more mainstream and explicit than when I was younger, and from my experience, it is predominantly seen through music, again. Music today holds numerous “hook-up” anthems and because I actually know what the lyrics are referring to, I can identify my sex life in them more. I have utilized songs in moments where I was about to hook-up with someone so the music could communicate my intentions, and to ease up any awkwardness between me and sex partner. The benefit of using music to speak for you is that you don’t have to be so self-conscious with someone you might be meeting for the first time, and you’re able to read how the other person is receiving the “mood” you’re setting up. When I was on Tinder, I had made a playlist on my Spotify specifically for hook-ups, and I intentionally set up the song order to go from slightly suggestive lyrics to explicit lyrics on hooking-up; one time I timed my “moves” with the person based on the song that was playing. I think that’s why music that have hyper-sexual themes are created sometimes because artists are aware that sex not only sells, but a majority of people are having sex or want to have sex with other people.

Throughout the past few weeks we have developed and discussed the entertainment aspect of what hookup culture is. I really related to the class definition of “hookup” because it personally followed my beliefs of hooking up. Not only this; I also believe that the definition of hooking up is fluid and that also relates to my definition. I think that the definition being fluid allows individuals to identify and find their place inside the culture. This allows for everyone to connect on some level within the community. This all leads back to the connection people want from others.

I really enjoyed talking about the entertainment part of hooking up because this part affects almost everyone in some way. If certain people come off in the wrong way the hookup probably won’t happen. This can be seen in some extent with guys usually having to setup the hook up. Without his initial interaction sometimes, nothing will happen. With entertainment this can usually be done by turning on a movie or music to induce the mood for a hook up. This could not happen from someone being too straight forward and scaring the potential person away. Another outcome could be that you don’t show your intentions at all leading to yourself entering a state of friend zone or potentially nothing at all. This can happen if sometimes if some girls want to have the guy make the first move. Another example is if someone thinks they’re just coming over to watch a movie. Without communicating everything sometimes even well know hook up tricks can even fail. Lastly this can change depending on what people want and what rules they have established for themselves. If someone doesn’t hook up on the first day knowing someone ever this could lead to a whole new situation that requires more work and effort to achieve whatever goal is intended.

This week the group discussion of hooking up led to many discoveries for our group. This later developed into many important discoveries about the entertainment aspect. The process of hooking up involves a place to start. Whatever this place is on an app on your phone, or a bar/party we have to communicate in these situations. If some people do not understand the idea of a hook up this can make them have a completely different idea or feeling during these situations. Some ways entertainment affects us is at the bars or parties when music is going. This gives people an avenue to connect without talking. While the use of entertainment can be useful to achieve a hook up it can also be an escape plan if the attempts are unwanted. Someone could easily discuss what is being said or being done in the entertainment breaking the mood. These issues are seen as important but largely don’t cause too many problems for the culture. With this in mind we even noticed that there is script used as well with entertainment. People have their own way of doing things and this even comes with the type of entertainment they like. Not only this but different groups and people are all affected differently by these situations making it difficult to understand the full impact of entertainment.

One thing that was really interesting to me is that people get upset by “hookup” culture. This was really interesting to me because it shows that not everyone understands the rules of hooking up. If someone has never hooked up before but wanted to experience it they would almost have no clue what to do leaving them in the dark. Even more so even when people communicate there wants from a situation some people can still get the wrong idea because not everyone has the same experience. This can happen when someone says they only want to hookup and one party ends up getting attached for some reason even though they know what is going on. This can send the wrong message and make one party change their mind on everything. This violates the rules of hook up culture which could lead to the ghosting or other negative outcomes. This is why I feel hookups become complicated because not everyone is on the same page. This makes me think that people need a certain level of maturity to participate in the culture without experiencing any of the negative effects.

I personally agree with our class definition, but not everyone does, so we have the quotation marks around “hookup.” There is no part of this definition that specifically relates to music/television and film.

In the past two weeks learning about music/ television and film I have grown more interested in this aspect of “hookup” culture. Through music/ television and film “hookup” culture has become a more comfortable topic to talk about. Media has brought the “hookup” culture out of the shadows and now it is a common thing to see and hear about which has changed society drastically. When looking at older music videos people were dancing around the idea of “hooking up” and not directly talking about it. Now there are songs about sex and in the music videos people are half naked and twerking. This would not have been acceptable in the late 1900’s but it is all you see now.

The external sources my team has for this section is two music videos Tyga – Taste and Nicki Minaj – Anaconda. Both of these songs have a sexual lyrics and videos that fit well with the “hookup” culture. The music videos both have women with minimal clothing twerking, which is very common to see in the media today.

In my personal experience, I have never listened to music while “hooking up.” It is something I am not opposed to but it just never came up. I have talked to people that like to listen to music and have told me their favorite songs. These songs either have a sexual base to them or have a good rhythm. In music today there are a lot of sexual songs that could be used during “hookup” and this is just how society is today. Our media these days are filled with sexual songs and television. I wonder how the media will change overtime and maybe someday the “hookup” culture won’t be as prominent as it is today.

Our class has defined the hookup culture as a consensual intimate interaction that is sexual between two or more people without commitment. The topic of this reflective narrative is music, television and films and therefore the definition that the class has created does not necessarily have anything to do about this media. However, when you look at how hookups are portrayed in music, films and television you will see that it generally matches up to our definition quite well. Most depictions of hookups are not love stories, but lust stories. I think this is especially true for music genres like rap and hip-hop. The media’s depictions of hooking up does not always match this definition, because in a lot of films there are true love stories. I do believe that media’s portrayal of hookups has a big effect on how people view the subject, and even how I personally believe that they match this definition.

Historically, this has not always been the case with media. When I was younger and living in my parent’s house, every St. Patrick’s Day we would watch The Quiet Man which is an older movie that essentially follows John Wayne’s character trying to court a young woman in Ireland. The reason this subject came to mind is that the focus of this movie was the courtship that John Wayne went through in order to prove that he loved the woman and ultimately married her. This movie was made in the 50’s, and if it were to be made now, I believe that the subject would not be marriage, but rather hooking up. I believe the same can be said with television, because shows made in today’s time feature graphic hookup scenes quite regularly and in the past this would not have been acceptable. However, now it is totally fine and almost expected of a show. I mean look at Game of Thrones; it is a great story (ignoring the last season), but it was also quite a graphic show in terms of showing sex scenes. If it did not have so much nudity and sex in the show, I do not think it would have had as many viewers personally. I do not think that this is necessarily a bad thing that the media is showing more sex and talking about sex more, but it is a stark difference compared to media made decades ago.

The team I am apart of along with myself has been conducting research over the past few weeks on this subject and has found a few sources. One source discusses “…how the media has become a source of sex education, often filled with inaccurate portrayals of sexuality” (Garcia). I personally found this to be quite true when considering today’s medias, however not all media is inaccurately portraying sexuality. An example would be Netflix’s show Big Mouth, which I think is a better sexual educator then most public-school sex-ed classes. Another source that I found discusses how pop culture has influenced our own perspectives of sex, stating “Modern society has popularized the concept of romantic love as being an ideal to pursue to the point where all our mainstream media is filled with it” (Ng 2017). I certainly agree with this statement that society has imbedded a desire to find “the right one” in all of us, and that is certainly a subject that many focus on rather than living life and finding love along the way. With apps such as Tinder and Bumble made popular as well, I personally think that it is a subject that is focused on by more people than ever before. Ultimately, media certainly has a very strong influence on how we perceive love and sex to look like and this is not always portrayed in an accurate way.

For my own personal experience with this media, I know that it has impacted my perspective of love and sex. I say this because I grew up watching movies with my father as a way to spend time together, and a lot of movies would have sex scenes that did not necessarily have a big impact on the plot as a whole. Growing up I also listened to lot of rap, so this certainly had an impact on me because I would glorify big celebrities that would boast about “getting” a lot of girls. This being said, I am aware of how these media shaped my perspective now and I do try to be conscious of that fact.

Media plays a critical role in perpetuating hookup culture. Whether that is through music/music videos, tv shows, or even regular social media like twitter or snapchat, young people are constantly inundated with sexual content. Music plays a key role, as some genres emphasize physical attraction and sex. As someone who listens to a lot of rap, I can certainly attest to how rap affects people. Although I am not necessarily impacted by rap lyrics to the point where I want to hookup as a result, I know many people are. If rap artists are telling you that life is about having fun and making money, why not follow their advice? Especially if that ‘fun’ is hookup up with as many people as possible. Music videos, especially hip hop ones, often have rap artists (male ones) surrounded by women in bikinis, dancing in a sexual way. This is certainly a lot to handle for easily impressionable people, especially young boys.

TV shows also perpetuate the hookup culture. With shows out such as Love Island, and Bachelor, these shows, generally (for some reason) watched mostly by women, emphasize hooking up in order to find a life partner. Although the goal of each show is to pair people off, it often involves a lot of sex and sleeping around to find the right person. It is impossible to avoid sexual content/hookup perpetuation unless one doesn’t watch TV or go on the internet.

Twitter is also full of people who are active in hookup culture, and tweet about it. These tweets are often shared, and go viral, resulting in many people seeing it. Again, it is impossible to avoid interacting with content like that on social media, unless one does not have any, which is rare.

The last two weeks, our class has been exploring how music, TV and film play a role in “hookup” culture. Although our definition doesn’t explicitly acknowledge these different forms of media, I think that the definition is broad enough to cover what goes on in the typical “hookup” scene commonly found in TV shows and films, and also what the lyrics in some songs describe. These different forms of media have a huge impact on what “hookup” culture currently is. Often, though, the “hookup” scenes portrayed in TV shows and films are too “perfect” or glamorous, setting the standards unrealistically high. This often leads to disappointment in people if their “hookup” isn’t as good as expected after seeing “hookup” scenes portrayed in the media. Since the media has a great influence on what people think, I think that they have the perfect opportunity to negate some of the stereotypes that exist surrounding “hookup” culture. If the media made “hookup” scenes more realistic and included some of the underrepresented groups in our society, people would learn to accept these things more in society.

Both Bogle and Wade touched on the idea of TV and film displaying and influencing “hookup” culture with some specific examples in their books (2008; 2017). Bogle discussed the MTV show, The Real World, which is about seven 18-24-year-olds who have been placed in a house with cameras that film everything they do in 4 months. These people did not know each other before living together, and they display expected behaviors such as getting drunk, making out, partying and having sex, among other things. Also, Bogle mentions the HBO TV series Sex & the City. This TV series is supposed to display the dating era after college, but it does not do so very accurately or realistically. For example, the characters often have sex on the first date, which does not seem to follow the dating script after college described by real students that Bogle interviews in her book (2008). Wade mentions the Spike network TV show Blue Mountain State, which suggests that the college scene is “filled with crazy parties, hot jocks, and sexy/slutty girls who always flash boys” (2017). Wade suggests that the reason that college students tend to overestimate how much sex their peers are having is because of the media, and how they portray the college “hookup” scene, even if it is unrealistic. Wade also mentions other films that have a great influence over the idea of “hookup” culture, such as American Pie, Old School, Superbad, and Animal House.

Although Bogle and Wade do not touch on music relating to “hookup” culture, my group discussed certain songs which have lyrics describing what goes on in “hookup” scenes. One song in particular that my group focused on is a song by The Weeknd called Often. In a discussion forum with the entire class, many people discussed how numerous songs by The Weeknd have a good beat and would give off a vibe that is appropriate during a “hookup.” In the song Often, the lyrics describe a “hookup” that is occurring between the song writer and their partner. It discusses how this “hookup” is happening once, or at least for the first time, but the writer explains that he does this “often,” meaning they engage in “hookups” often. Many lyrics of songs by The Weeknd describe the media’s (often unrealistic) idea of what “hookup” culture is.

Although I do not participate in “hookup” culture, I have heard from multiple friends and classmates that it is more common for people to turn on the TV in the background during a “hookup,” rather than turning on music. The term “Netflix and Chill” came up in this discussion, which further proves the point that TV shows and/or films are used more often during a “hookup,” although music, TV and film all influence people’s ideas and perceptions about “hookup” culture in society.

Over the past few weeks we’ve dived into new categories that pertain to hooking up. I’ve agreed with our class definition besides the part of being intimate with 2+ people. This definition has been great since it’s broad for people to connect on all different levels.

Over the past few weeks we’ve talked a-lot about media, which I’ve grown a huge interest in. Media has almost normalized hooking up whether it’s a dating app, a music video, or a scene on a TV show. Everyone has been presented in some way or form on a daily basis. I believe it’s important to see hookup culture on all different platforms so people can get educated in whatever way makes them comfortable.

My team has done our project on dating apps and stigmas surrounding it. I interviewed some of my friends from home who are new users to the dating app world and they love it. I wasn’t surprised that they were originally embarrassed, but didn’t care after they started getting matches. After they realized how many people are on (of all genders) they stopped caring and were doing it for the pleasure of themselves. I thought that was awesome and made me happy to see these stigmas slowly break down.

I don’t participate in dating apps but I do participate in hookup culture. I don’t enjoy hooking up with a new person every weekend, but I would consider myself a part of the culture scene. I use to look at dating apps a certain way, but I’ve turned the page. Do whatever makes you happy!

As technology continues to play a more influential role in our everyday lives the entertainment industry has continued to thrive. Television shows and movies are being produced at record speeds and music is found everywhere. As we watch and listen to these forms of entertainment in recent years a lot of the music involves topics of love, sex, and hooking up. Our definition of “hook up” culture only partially relates to the topics of music, television, and films. It is important to address that not every television show or not every song relates to “hook up” culture but a large number do. As we have discussed throughout the past 15 weeks “hook up” culture is complex and involves many different aspects and I believe the topic of music, television, and film do not play as crucial of a part as other aspects.

When we look through a “hookup” culture lens on how the music, television, and film industry have changed over time we are able to see the topic of hooking up change immensely. The topic of hooking up is discussed more graphically now than it ever has been. For example, when we look at the television or film industry characters on these shows would rarely be seen kissing back in the 1950s where now sex scenes are fully on display. I personally believe that this shows we are more accepting as a society of sexual interactions, but I still do not believe that music, television, or films are influencing what people are doing in their hook ups.

As our team further discussed this topic and reviewed other people’s discussion posts we focused on the idea of music, television, and film as more of an influencer or a projection of “hook up” culture. For example, many movies involving “hook up” culture is showing what is involved in hooking up in today’s society. We can see this in the movie Friends With Benefits and how it for the most part shows the audience that hooking up is not supposed to involve feelings and it is primarily sexual, which in turn lines up with our classes definition of “hook up” culture. Our group also discussed how music can also talk about “hook up” culture but often times involves one party of the hook up forming feelings. An example of this can be seen in the song Hotel Key by Old Dominion. In this song we hear about a sexual interaction and it later implies that she kept the hotel key to remember the night they had but it also states later in the song, “We both know we can’t open the door no more,” referring to hooking up again and the hotel room (1).

When I look at this category of music, television, and film in relation to my own hook up experiences and people close to me I see it as more a side aspect and not a crucial part of “hookup” culture. One of my reasons for this is through the music playlist we are creating that would be used during a hook up. This is not a necessity for a hook up to occur and it is usually only played to create a more comfortable and less awkward experience for the two or more parties involved in the hook up. The same can be said for people who “Netflix and Chill” it is not necessary for the hook up to occur it is just a comfort added. I also do not believe that any films or television shows have influenced what I do when participating in hooking up and I believe they just portray to viewers what is occurring in an average person’s hook up life. Overall, this is a very interesting aspect of “hook up” culture, but I personally do not believe it is a necessity for hook ups to take place.

Our class definition of “hookup” culture only partially relates to my music/television/film view of hookup culture. In our class definition, “hookups” are considered consensual, which I agree with in my personal definition. However, when it comes to different forms of media, like listed above, I don’t find this to be necessarily true. “Hookups” are often showed in various ways through these media sources, with some of them being nonconsensual. This is often shown in television and film with party scenes. At lot of these “hookups” that occur, at least in perspective, are between individuals who have been drinking, usually one more than the other. Consent is also not always apparent in “hookup” culture music either. There are some songs where the singer is lusting after someone else and talking about all the things they want from them, but when you really break down the lyrics, it’s actually kind of creepy. There’s no record of consent and it seems as though they’re stalking the person.

I think one of the big differences in “hookup culture” is how people express themselves with different forms of music, television, and film. For our class and the majority of our generation, you either “hookup” to two things: R&B music or some show or movie thrown on in the background that you have no intent in actually watching. This is different than past generations due to the limitations in genre. Past generations have used other genres as their “hookup” music, such as rock, and may even have expanded it past that one genre whereas we have kept ours focused on R&B, and to be even more particular, a lot of popular “hookup” music can be accredited to the artist The Weeknd. This is also different than other cultures, such as that of ballroom culture. The traditionally LBGTQ+, black members of ballroom culture use music not as a form of “hooking up”, but instead as a form of expressing themselves. It gives them a presence in “hookup” culture that has been missing for so long, that we in the majority don’t even realize we take advantage of.

Our group picked out the song Marvin’s Room by Drake for this week’s category. We believe it relates to “hookup” culture because of its multiple lines that regard different aspects of “hookup” culture. This song ties into the social/communicative category multiple times by connecting to the party scene of “hookup” culture. For example, Drake spends his time in the club, throwing parties, drinking, etc. within this song and then talks about having sex with multiple girls, demonstrating how these different aspects are involved in “hookup” culture. He also states within the song, that “after a while, girl, they all seem the same” referring to the different girls he’s hooked up with. There’s so many of them that they all just blend into one for him. This song also relates to our psychological category through the concept of shame. There’s a line after he talks about hooking up with all these girls, where he apologizes. I take this as he’s apologizing for hooking up with all these women because he feels like he’s doing something wrong and is ashamed of himself for lusting after so many different people all the time.

When it comes to hooking up for me, I don’t think I have ever hooked up to any sort of music. I will listen to music and think, “hey, this sounds like a good song to hookup to”, but I don’t think I have ever actually hooked up to any of those songs. I have however, hooked up to a multitude of different TV shows, sometimes some movies. I generally choose what I hook up to based on how well I know it. If it’s something I’ve seen countless times, such as The Office, New Girl, or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, then there’s a better chance I’ll put it on in the background because I know I’m not missing anything I haven’t already seen. I’m hesitant to hookup to anything, I haven’t seen or have only seen a few times, because I don’t want to miss parts of the show/movie. I don’t know if that’s just because I really like TV/movies or if that’s a commonality among others as well.

The past two weeks have been focusing on hookup culture in music, TV, and film. I’ve stated before that there are parts to this definition that I don’t personally agree with. Intimacy is something that belongs in a relationship. I feel like a hookup is just a hookup, nothing more. When relating our definition to this week’s topic, it may not specifically reference TV/music, but there are aspects of this definition that can definitely relate to this week’s topic.

Music and film have been around for decades, and so has hookup culture. I remember one week in class researching pictures representing hookup culture in each decade since the 1950s. We see similarities in how minorities are always left out of this research. In music, I feel like it’s more about expression and each artist can make their own story. In film/TV, I feel like it’s drastically different from how music is. There’s an industry that needs to make money and it’s typically shown white heterosexual couples in most instances. Have you ever seen a Nicholas Sparks story with a same-sex couple? Or even an African American couple falling in love? I guess I feel like, in music, a lot of lyrics can be up for interpretation, whereas film/TV can only tell one story.

When we first made the book’s chapters, we had music as its own topic without including TV and films. What I thought was interesting in today’s hookup culture is that most of the hookup songs of my generation are R & B songs. I’m actually not sure why that is, but when my group discussed TV and film, we thought that it was extremely important to mention ‘Netflix and Chill.’ This is the idea that something on Netflix plays in the background of 2+ people hooking up. This is definitely something that hasn’t happened in the past decades. I feel like it was centered on music instead of online streaming services.

When I think about how my own experiences with hookup culture, I think that both the TV and film industry inaccurately portrays it. Most plots end with someone ‘catching feelings.’ I believe that there are many hookups that don’t end with the two people beginning a relationship. Sure, it can happen, but when I participated in hookup culture I didn’t want a relationship with any of the people that I hooked up with. Yes, I’d see them more than just one time, but I never felt like I was going to develop feelings. When I think about a lot of TV shows I watch, there are characters like Fiona from Shameless that participate in hookup culture, but ends up forming relationships with the people she has sex with. But when I think about it, is it necessarily bad that they aren’t portraying some of the realities in hookup culture? Truly, I don’t know.

I think our class definition works perfectly for music, TV, movies, and the media. Most movies and TV shows include hookup scenes and many popular songs are about hooking up. We made our class definition very broad and I think that worked in our favor. We are able to apply it to so many different things and it still has room for people to interpret it their own way to fit how they see hookup culture.

Over the past two weeks I have found that this week relates to me the most. Music, TV, and movies is a huge part of my life as well as this generation. Everything we do is all under influence and control of the media. When the media makes hooking up a norm and a standard it begins to normalize it in everybody’s real life. There is a reason it is more talked about and accepted today than it has been in the past and I think the media plays a big role in that. Bogle does mention sex and the city, and this movie is a perfect example of what hookup culture is along with countless other movies like friends with benefits and reality TV shows. These movies and shows are how I learned most of my knowledge about dating and hookups and I know a lot of people my age learned the same way. It obviously is not the same as the movie, but it gave me a sense of what hooking up was like and it was the first time I had ever seen anything like it.

During my research and looking for “hook up” songs a lot of artist came to mind. The Weeknd, Chris Brown, and Miguel were the first three that came to mind. These artists all make R&B music. I think R&B music has the type of lyrics and rhythm that gives off the hookup vibe feelings. The songs have soothing voices and smooth tunes which is why most people agree with the same artists and genre.

I do not personally take part in hookup culture because I have been in a relationship. When it comes to “hooking up” sometimes music is on and sometimes it is not. I do not think it is a necessity for myself and neither does my boyfriend. I know some people who always turn on music and I know others who hate having music. I think it has become more and more popular to have a TV show or movie playing in the background during a hookup. I think people just like having something playing in the background while they are hooking up with someone. It might help calm nerves and take pressure off that some feel.

I believe that our definition applies to music, TV, and film well, even though it wasn’t explicitly said. There are many different types of relationships portrayed in all these media which makes a broad definition good for fitting in.

Times constantly change along with media sources making it difficult to pinpoint one example. Music has evolved from love songs into rap songs about sex and have a lot of degrading content. Both have to deal with hookup culture, just in very opposite ways. Old TV and movies may have only show straight married couples being intimate but today almost every combination. Whether you are straight, a part of the LGBTQ+ community, participate in hookup culture or not, there is a lot of media portraying this. While straight couples are still the typically pictured, I believe showing everyone’s interests is most ideal.

When we were still in class, my team talked about hookup songs. There are many different categories of them, including genres, artists, and topics. There are love songs and slow breakup songs. There are also many rap songs that are all about sex, drugs, and money. My favorite category is RnB, these can be love or just about a hookup, but they have a style I really like. Many of my friends also agree that they like this type of music rather than the demeaning rap songs or sad love songs. It is almost a happy medium.

As someone who rarely participates in “hookup” culture, I feel that I can relate to this category. I listen to all the types of music about hooking up and watch the TV shows to. It is prevalent in almost every Netflix movie and show so it is hard to avoid if you did not want to see it. I think it is good to show it so people who may be curious about hookup culture or want to learn more, can see it without having to do things they don’t want to.

The class definition does not necessarily reflect the influence that media has on “hooking up.” I’m not exactly sure how this would be included in a formal definition of “hookup” culture, but the way media portrays the “hookup,” I believe, has an influence on how we think about “hooking up” and how we actually go about “hooking up.” I think one of the biggest influences that media has on “hookup” culture is the way “hooking” up is glamourized. Several of the authors we’ve read in class, as well as the documentary we watched a couple of weeks ago, have talked about the difference between “hooking up” in movies and TV shows and “hooking up” in reality. Movies often give us an unrealistic expectation for what the “hookup” is supposed to be like. In movies, “hooking up” is often this super passionate, exciting, and euphoric kind of thing, that’s very smooth and easy, and seldom involves any kind of awkwardness or confusion. Typically, this will start with a man and a woman eying each other from opposite ends of the bar and eventually one walks up to the other and introduces themselves. The conversation that ensues is typically small talk, but has sexual undertones. I notice that the “this isn’t my scene” type of mindset is very popular in movies and TV shows of today. Particularly with female characters, but increasingly with male characters, there’s this obsession with awkward characters that “aren’t into” the “hookup” scene, but are also likely above-average looking and comfortable being flirty with the objects of their affection.

What happens after these scenes is, I think, another place where representations in media deviate from the reality of things. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking, “Ok, and then the two characters go home and have sex.” However, I think this isn’t how things typically go, at least if the two characters “hooking up” stay main characters for the entirety of the film or TV show. I’ve seen movies open with “hook up” scenes that are closer to reality than most, but typically one of the characters involved is there solely for the “hookup” scene and is not featured in the rest of the movie. That leaves us with the “hook up” scenes that involve characters who are front-and-center. I think one of two things usually happens in these movies: the characters do not have sex after meeting and build a connection, which leads to sex, or, they have sex, but the relationship eventually becomes something more than “hooking up.” I think that this is probably the biggest difference between “hooking up” in movies and “hooking up” in reality. From the authors we’ve read, as well as class discussions, the answer to the question of whether “hooking up” is a path to a committed relationship is a resounding “no.” I then wonder, why is this not reflected in media? Well, I think there are a couple of reasons. For one, the reality of things doesn’t exactly make for a good story. I struggle to think of what would happen after two characters in a movie had casual sex, other than entering into a committed relationship, but that would still make for a good story. I think a movie could be made about the realities of “hook up” culture, but it would have to be more of an informational thing, and would probably not have the wide appeal that movies like “no strings attached have.” I feel it would more so be an art film type of movie than one purely made to entertain. I would actually be really interested in watching something like that. I actually talked about something like that in one of my discussion forum posts. I think it would be really cool to make a movie that had all of the elements of glamour and passion that a typical “hook up” movie does, but that also shows the discrepancy between these expectations and reality.

Admittedly, I’m a little bit divided on whether the way “hooking’ up is portrayed in movies is effectively problematic or unhealthy. I think the way female characters are portrayed in the “hookup” culture is what sticks out to me the most. I think the kind of awkward, “not about it” attitude that a lot of female characters have about the “hookup” culture is another way of reinforcing the idea that women should not be interested in “hooking” up, which, to me, is a way of shaming women.

At the beginning of this semester our class defined hookup as “a consensual, intimate interaction that is sexual between 2+ people without commitment.” Our class has focused on the media (music, TV, and film) in relation to hookup culture. I believe that the media enhances hookup culture. Movies and TV shows are glorify hooking up and view it as a norm, leaving viewers desiring it. Songs are centered on hooking up and sex, resulting in listeners thinking about the person they have been wanted to hook up with or already hooking up with. I believe how the media discusses hookups is similar to our definition.

Media (music, television and film) has played an essential aspect in my generation. I found that the media relates greatly with myself and personal life experiences. Hookup culture is normalized on media in my generation today. With the influence of the media, hooking up has become a more normalized and acceptable. Hooking up is now talked about more freely and without much judgement. For example, songs and movies showcase hooking up, highlighting the good and bad from it. This has allowed me to feel comfortable when discussing this topic and also understanding that others experience similar situations as me when it comes to hooking up.

Personally, I believe that the media encourages and enhances hookup culture. Most people my age have a ‘sex’ or ‘hookup’ playlist. Music helps lighten the ‘mood’ and encourage listeners to want to hook up. Although, I have never played music while hooking up, usually a TV like The Office or a movie on Netflix is playing for background noise. Part of hook up culture that we have discussed is ‘Netflix and chill.’ I feel like that is why people are more likely to have TV playing in the background over music. I also feel that playing music is more romantic, so it wouldn’t really make sense during a hookup as our definition states there is no commitment. I have read that my classmates have similar aspects of the media as well.

Throughout the past two weeks, we have been learning about how Music, Television and Film affect the “hookup” culture. Our class definition is exactly what I believe “hookup” means. I also believe “hookup” is a generalized term and can mean many different things depending on who is using the term. I like how the definition we use covers a lot; by doing so it opens the term to include anything from just kissing to having sex. It is easy to relate our definition to all of these topics; for instance, in almost every television show I watch there is some sort of kissing or groping. Most films nowadays use “hookup” scenes to entice viewers; an extremely popular one in the recent past was Fifty Shades. A lot of people enjoy watching this type of television/movie. As for music, if you listen closely basically every song talks about love, or someone falling for someone else in some way or another. The idea of “hookup” has become extremely prominent within our current society.

History can teach an individual so much. Over the last three years in college I have learned so much through taking history-related courses. The article “Paris is Burning Goes Global” is the perfect example of teaching you about history. This article resonated with me, because before reading it I had no idea events like this occurred. Oftentimes events similar to this get forgotten about until someone decides to shine light on it. As it applies to “hookup” culture minorities and other under-represented groups aren’t portrayed as much in movies or television shows. This idea relates back to what has been going on all throughout history. It is so important to make sure these individuals are getting the light they deserve, because that is only how people learn. Also, I found a lot of interest in music and how it relates to “hookup” culture. Most of the songs I listen to mention at least one aspect of “hookup” culture, and that is so interesting to me.

The external resources we used included one scholarly journal, and a song that my team all came to agree really resembled “hookup” culture. The scholarly journal summarizes the key findings about songs between a specified amount of years and how they apply to sex, men, and women. The journal found that men sing more about romantic love and sex than women do, which didn’t surprise me at all. Within the article I did learn that “71% of all songs referenced a dating relationship…” and that validates my point about how it seems like every song I listen to have some aspect of “hookup” culture.

My own experiences with “hookup” culture are limited. Although it is easy to notice that there is a big connection between “hookup” culture and Television/Music/Films. The Fifty Shades movie came out right around Valentine’s Day, and obviously it happened for a reason. Many of my friends when I asked them what song they thought of when they heard the work “hookup” easily came up with one. People choose to watch movies that include “hookup” scenes, because they enjoy watching that. There is a reason film and songwriters continue to include “hookup” scenes; it is what makes them money. I know that I really do enjoy quite a few shows that include this type of behavior, for example: Jane The Virgin, Sex Education, You, etc. The more I think about “hookup” culture in Television/Music/Films the more I realize how much is actually in what we watch and hear nowadays.

As we discussed the topic of “media and music” throughout these week, I was brought back to first couple week’s class periods where we had to define “hookup” together. One of the key aspects in our definition was that a hookup is a “brief, intimate interaction.” While at first I had thought I’ve never heard someone describe a hookup as being “intimate,” my classmates brought up the point that while that word may be hardly used, it is the overall “mood” that is important. I completely agree with this, there is definitely a mood present in the hookup and often times it is set by the most, simple things- music or media.

The biggest thing that had resonated with me throughout our online discussions and viewing other people’s thoughts, is that media in itself has always been influential of our actions. Even thinking back to when I was a kid, all sorts of media were censored from me by my parents, elders, or teachers. We were to listen to “clean versions” of songs and were told to close our eyes during the “mature” portions of movies and TV shows. Now, as I have been exposed to those mature things of life, it is easy for me to see how watching and hearing certain things has been extremely influential in what I consider to be “the norm.”

The past two weeks, I have found myself reflecting personally how sometimes I wish it was all censored from me still. I wish that listening to certain songs didn’t make me desire another person nor that watching a movie would make me think that I need to do more to make another feel loved. I have found it interesting how many have brought up the concept of a “hookup playlist,” and I would be lying if I said I didn’t have one. In fact, mine is named “mood.” In addition, most of the songs mentioned by my peers were very similar, if not the same kind of music that can be found within it.

As I’ve already touched on my personal experience of the intertwining of hookup culture with media and music I have found among all these “narratives,” that we are all more alike than we think. In discussing this topic with my team, we all found ourselves reelecting on moments when a Disney channel movie suddenly made us feel like “we want a boyfriend like Troy Bolton” or how when we found out the real meaning of the sound “Right Round” we were slightly mortified for singing it in front of our parents. Whether it is just a “norm” because of our age or phase in life, I have enjoyed finding out that I am not “the only one,” in a way.

I personally have a very similar definition to our class definition. I believe hooking up is having a sexual relationship. Although kissing is a form of hooking up, personally I don’t believe that that ‘counts’ as hooking up. I think our class definition relates very closely to this week’s topic of music, television and film. For the sake of this reflection, I am going to refer to those three categories as media in general. I think that media wraps up every single category we have done so far.

It is important first and foremost to recognize just how influential media is on our lives. Most of our thoughts, experiences, opinions and definitely society’s perspectives and opinions all stem from different media forms. We often see something on TV and assume that is true, or how things should be, and thus an opinion is made, whether it is true or not, or right. In terms of media in hookup culture, I believe from what we have looked at this week and just my knowledge in general, I think it is misrepresented. I think many movies want that happy ending so if hookup culture is implemented into the movie it is often shaped so that the couple end up catching feelings, falling in love and happy ever after, all starting with hooking up. However, in class we discussed a lot about how hookups don’t have to end in relationships but people are able to just hookup and fall in love. In terms of music, I think hookup songs either talk about love, going back to that happy ever after concept, or they either talk about straight sex, stripped away from the hookup culture.

I do not think it is an artist’s responsibility to represent hookup culture through music because that is something from their voice, and they should only write about things that they have experienced. I personally am a romantic and although I can recognize that those hookup movies that end up with happy endings are not realistic and do not accurately portray the hookup culture we discuss in class, I love those happy romantic movies. Although I participate in hookup culture, because of those movies, I get attached very quickly and can start liking someone even though I know it’s just a hookup. So I try to avoid hookups with random people because I know I will make up situations that didn’t actually happen to try to romanticize the hookup.

During this two-week period, our course has focused its research, discourse, and studies on media (music, television and film) in relation to hookup culture. Our class collectively defined hookup as “a consensual, intimate interaction that is sexual between two or more people without commitment.” After reflecting on my personal definition of hookup culture I realized that I also didn’t mention any of these elements. With these two definitions, there is lack of connection to this two-week period’s elements. Although these definitions do not include any of the previously mentioned elements, they have all greatly contributed to how we view and understand hookup culture.

I found that the elements of this two-week period resonated greatly with myself and personal life experiences. Media (music, television and film) has played an essential aspect in my generation. With hookup culture being allowed in media aspects in modern day, it is evident why hooking up has become a more normalized and accepted act. This act of hooking up is now discussed more freely and without much judgement. For example, Michigan State University has a hookup culture course (IAH231B.003 Spring Semester 2020. Additionally, there are songs and movies which showcase hooking up, highlighting the good and bad from it. This has allowed me to feel comfortable when discussing this topic and also understanding that others experience similar situations as me when it comes to hooking up.

After reviewing my team’s external sources, the documentary, Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age, relates the most to this two-week period’s elements of media (music, television and film). We are now at point in society where “hookup” culture is being showcased and explored through documentaries. “Hookup” culture has gained enough momentum in which producers are willing to invest this topic. This shows how normalized hooking up is becoming and also how people are interested in learning more about this topic that has been previously discussed in discreet manners.

From my personal experiences within “hookup” culture I’ve found that music functions as an essential aspect whenever I engage in hookups. In a discussion post from last week, a student brought up a point about individuals viewing and engaging in a hookup with hopes of essentially living out a fantasy. They furthered their point in highlighting how writers utilize music to intensify a scene which essentially portray a false image of what a hookup really is and can develop into. I’ve become so accustomed to seeing hookups in cinema with music being played in the background which makes the interaction seem more intense than it actually is. Now that I’m older and engage in hookup culture, I play music in attempt to live out this constructed fantasy since it’s been instilled in me through entertainment.

Pertaining to the category, we have been focusing on for the past two weeks, music, TV, and film, I would say that our definition is spot on. The reasoning behind why I say this is because I feel that what we defined a hookup as was left broad enough to be able to fit into what we hear in music and see on TV, and in movies.

History does teach people lessons, so long as you learn about history in general. I personally feel that it was right to cover more LGBTQ related articles such as “Paris is Burning” and the article on Modern Family. These opened my eyes to how poorly those apart of LGBTQ have been acclimated into the community. Personally, I do not resonate with the history of the LGBTQ because of my background and lack of “links” or people who do know the history. I believe that before people make a stance against others, they should try to understand their angle, this is why I think the media such as TV and film is a good connection to inform the uninformed.

My team’s source related to this category was a “hookup playlist” on Spotify. The interesting thing was that most hookup playlists on Spotify consist of solely R&B songs. Also, in our group discussion on favorite hookup songs many people chose the same genre. As a music junkie I personally love this. It makes sense that R&B be chosen as the favorited hookup station because of its sensuality, rhythm and beat. I also think it’s funny that my team chose this source long before any ideas on what anyone else from the class liked and listens to.

As someone who rarely participates in “hookup” culture, I feel that I can relate to this category much more so than the others as I see people hooking up or singing about hooking up literally all the time. I find it interesting how focused our nation is on promoting promiscuity and using it in the media. The movie Liberated really touched on this I believe; sex has been very objectified and used for monetary incentive. I truly believe that this will continue to be so until I am old and gray.

Our definition does not really relate to this topic very much but it is an important topic within the definition of hookup culture. We spent these last two weeks focusing on music, television, and film related to hooking up. It connects because we use these tools to literally hookup sometimes. Either we hookup while these things are on TV or it can help us get in the mood, I would assume. Either way, it correlates to hookup culture because people can use this media to hookup and use it during hookups.

I think this week’s category is very relatable. Hooking up is an often-discussed topic in our society and this is shown through media of all forms, not only music, film, and TV. However, I do feel like this has changed over the years. These days, hooking up is a very outright discussed thing and it is more openly discussed than it used to be. More people are less shy about discussing their sexual encounters with others because thankfully our society has grown in acceptance for being openly sexual and openly open. The fact that a lot of people in our class had the same songs for hooking up as I did makes me relate to people and our society in a different light. Although it is a highly discussed topic, it is not very highly discussed with people in your class, usually. If I am discussing what I hook up to, it is going to be with my close friends or partner.

For our sources relating to this category, we found literal songs. We found songs that remind us of hooking up and songs that other people have discussed as hookup songs. We even chose songs that artists would self-proclaim their songs are about hooking up. We also found a source that is an article discussing how men talk about dating and sex more than women talk about dating and sex. However, this article is just one point of view and maybe not the best source but thankfully we changed the categories since then and can include the movies and TV shows that were discussed in the homework assignment we did last week.

As I said before, we heavily discussed hookup songs and then proceeded to write an assignment about it. Each discussion post by someone helped me relate to these people and their experiences because we had similar types of songs. Although I do not have very many experiences in hookup culture, I do relate to the songs people chose which helped me feel part of a community in our class.

During the first two weeks of class, we created our definition of “hookup” culture. This week’s category is music, television, and film. To me, the definition doesn’t necessarily relate to music, TV and film. I’m sure that artists, directors, and writers use this definition if they wanted to depict a hookup scene to their listeners/viewers. Since I do not engage in hookup culture, I only use this definition as a projection of what hookup culture is for other people. It seems that in recent years, hookup culture portrayal has been more encouraged in teen-targeted songs, shows, and movies. Personally, I don’t think that people are going about this properly. I’m all for showing people their options, but I feel as though younger teenagers can feel forced to fit in with others by engaging in hookup culture. This can be traumatic for someone who doesn’t feel comfortable addressing their sexuality to society. For example, it would be extremely hard for an asexual being to not feel pressured to face their sexuality early on due to all the exposure to the hookup culture norms. This person could get caught up in feeling like they need to participate in sexual encounters to figure out what they are feeling and why it isn’t portrayed in Hollywood.

It frankly makes me disappointed in content creators to see that people my age base a lot of their everyday actions and words on sexuality. Because I was the only girl in my all girl-friend group in a committed relationship, I always felt uncomfortable drinking around my friends due to the fact that they never stopped talking about who they find hot and other sexual things. I never said anything because I figured it’s just how they are. However, when I hang around my family friends they don’t do the same. They make the scene fun and not all about sexual topics. I realize it may look like they act differently because they are family friends and not the same as my college friends, but that isn’t it. This group is mostly out of college. When I consider the fact that my college friends used to be my high school friends, I ask myself why i wasn’t uncomfortable hanging with them in high school. I feel as though when they came to college and decided to engage in hookup culture, they were consumed by the lifestyle of talking about sexual topics often. I believe that this is from how songs, shows, and movies depict how hookup culture in college is. I feel that people will read this thinking that I am either jealous of people engaging in hookup culture or that I am trying to act like I’m more mature than other college students. That’s not true. I am more than happy in my committed relationship. I am just unhappy with how the media has made it seem necessary for my friends to talk about sexual topics all the time. I think that people should realize that there is more to consider than just hookup culture, and that not necessarily everyone agrees with that way of life (and there are tons of other things to talk about). Life has many more aspects than sex.

My team’s external sources for this category were two articles. One of the articles contains a graphic that shows how pop music is increasing the talk of “sex” and decreasing the talk of “dating” (Connelly). Our other article similarly addressed how music is made to bring people together, and that songs about hookups encourage the one and done approach of hookup culture (McDermott). This to me shows embracing of the sexual revolution but again, I feel as though it can cause damage to people who truly want to create meaningful relationships or do not want to engage in purely sexual relationships. Before I gained my specific taste in music, I was listening to the radio just like everyone else at my age. Th