Hookup Culture in the Online Dating Age: Are We More Sexually Free?

Hookup culture gets a bad name (from those who don’t engage in it). Ask people who play an active role in hookup culture, however, and they’ll list off numerous benefits of this carefree lifestyle. Sex is something that both parties can enjoy without the restraints of domestic drudgery. Sex isn’t only for married couples; it’s something any consenting adult can engage in.

While modern dating relies heavily upon online dating apps to create connections and organize dates, this doesn’t mean it’s a given that everybody with an online dating profile is sexually free.

What Hookup Culture Means to You

The only thing that matters is how you engage in and enjoy hookup culture. If you love engaging in casual sex, then hookup culture is a positive that makes it easier to achieve this lifestyle. Dating sites have made it easier than ever to find local pussy with the click of a button. Some users claim online dating has helped them score more sex than ever before, whereas others bemoan the lack of dates they’ve found online.

Just as in the real world, your view of dating will be shaped by your personal experiences of online dating. If you’ve had a string of successful dates leading to satisfying casual sex, you’ll likely consider online dating an excellent tool for your sex life.

How Online Dating and Hookup Culture Collide

There have always been places where people seeking casual sex could go to find a willing partner. It may previously have been a particular bar in your local town, and your choice was limited to whoever walked in the door that night. These days, thanks to online dating, you can have your pick of an entire city of people looking for strings-free sex.

Online dating allows you to set your profile so that any visitors can immediately see that all you’re interested in is casual fun. When browsing profiles, you can look for people with similar desires, allowing you to sidestep anyone looking for commitment. If you’re not sure what you want, you can state this clearly, so people can decide whether to take a gamble on you.

Are Online Daters More Sexually Free?

Sexual behaviour researchers have long pondered the question of what it means to be sexually free and the impact this has on wider society. When considering whether people online are more sexually free, you have to consider whether online dating has created or merely facilitated the change. Just as sexual freedom was turbo-charged with the introduction of birth control in the 1960s, online dating has made it easier for people to connect with like-minded people online, thus allowing a community of casual sex partners to evolve.

It’s undeniable that many people use online dating sites to organise casual hookups, but does that mean everybody on a dating app is more sexually free? It’s likely that sexually free people will use online dating as a way to engage with potential suitors easily, but it doesn’t mean everybody is doing that. Many people use online dating to find love and commitment.

What the Numbers Say

While newspapers and politicians may claim that hookup culture is out of control and dating apps are to blame for this rise in no-strings-attached sex, that doesn’t seem to be the case. A 2020 study found that sexual inactivity in men increased between 2000 and 2018, calling into question the idea that modern dating is all about casual hookups.

People use online dating for lots of different reasons. The idea that everyone who is online dating is looking for sex has been widely disputed. Some people are looking for lasting love, others simply want a physical connection, and some swipe as a way to pass the time. All reasons are valid, and online dating has a lot to offer, no matter what your reason for signing up. Online dating can be your portal into your world of casual sex and electrifying sexual encounters, if that’s what you want it to be.

Conclusion

If you’re wondering whether the dawn of online dating was the big bang moment for sexual freedom, that’s a tricky one to answer. Sexual freedom is difficult to define for an entire society. If you assume it means promiscuous, you may point to online dating as the catalyst for promiscuity. However, sexual freedom is a positive thing that allows consenting adults to enjoy having sex without long-term commitment.

Online dating allows like-minded individuals to find each other and arrange hookups, allowing for a more sexually free, better-connected society in which casual sex is easier to access than it may previously have been. If you’re looking for casual sex, online dating is likely one of your favourite hangouts in search of successful hookups.