Who won the sexual revolution? Not young women who live in the world of "hooking up," the modern campus alternative to dating. Young women complain to us that dating has become an anachronism. Instead of chivalry and courtship, college relationships are more often nothing more than awkward drunken make-out sessions.
A nationwide survey of college students commissioned by the Independent Women's Forum called "Hooking Up, Hanging out, and Hoping for Mr. Right." found that 75% respondents agreed that a "hook up" is "when a girl and a guy get together for a physical encounter and don't necessarily expect anything further." A "physical encounter" can mean anything from kissing to having sex. Forty percent of women said they had experienced a hook up, and one in ten reported having done so more than six times. But with all the hooking up, dating has disappeared. College women say it is rare for college men to ask them on dates, or to acknowledge when they have become a couple. Only 50 percent of college women seniors reported having been asked on six or more dates by men since coming to college, and a third of women surveyed said they had been asked on two dates or fewer.
IWF encourages students to "Take Back the Date" on their campus. Guys - take women out. Open doors. Buy them flowers. Women - let guys take you out. If you like a guy, ask him out yourself. Pass out IWF's Cupid flyer on your campus as a way to restore chivalry and personal responsibility among students.