back to article Sorority girls gone wild: '1 to 3' casual sex 'hookups' every month

College girls in the States are indulging in "casual, no-strings-attached sexual encounters" at such a rate that one needs a little lie down just after thinking about it, according to bona-fide scientific research done for totally high-minded reasons. A smoking hot press release from the Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island has all …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    pfft Americans

    Too intent on protecting their children and not intent enough on helping them grow up.

    All of a sudden the bonds are loosed (ahem) and they go a bit bonkers.

    /gone

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Paris Hilton

      WTF? Re: pfft Americans

      I'm sorry, but maybe you're just jealous, or maybe you're not old enough to remember what was considered the 'sexual revolution' back in the 60's.

      That's when God invented the birth control pill and womankind rejoiced. :-P

      With modern medicine STDs are more under control and the fact that many college coeds are new to the open freedoms that they didn't have under the watchful eyes of their repressed parents. (Note: That if I had a daughter, I'd be the dad who was busy cleaning his guns on the kitchen table as I met her date. "You will have her home by 10:00 pm won't you son? " :-) [Note: Not that would actually stop them from doing something, but that it would make sure she would be home at a reasonable time and I wouldn't be up all night worried about her. I'll let her mother tell her about the 'birds and the bees' ... ]

      To your point, yes, today's students have parents who have very protestant and conservative views on sex. Remember two things... 1) Who founded America? (Puritans) 2) The parents of today were the young republicans of the '80s and also had their sexual freedom stymied by the scare of AIDS

      If only I were 25 years younger living in today's society!

      Paris, because while her sex tape was a tad lame, she still appears to be a role model for today's youth.

      1. Alpha Tony

        Re: WTF? pfft Americans

        'With modern medicine STDs are more under control'

        Um, no. No they aren't.

        http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/gallery/stds

        Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea and Syphilis are all on the rise and Aids has not gone away - We just became desensitised to stories about it, so the media stopped running them.

        1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
          Happy

          Re: WTF? pfft Americans

          "It don't go in without a raincoat on" is still the best sexual advice to *all* young people.

    2. Oninoshiko
      Childcatcher

      Re: pfft Americans

      yes! all that casual KISSING! won't someone think of the CHILDREN!!

      Seriously though, that is the loosest definition of "hooking up" I"ve ever seen. And if you think there is ANY merit to this "study" then you are more prudish then any american I've ever met.

      1. Old Handle
        Headmaster

        Re: pfft Americans

        That's what it means though, according to the definitive source for such things.

      2. Reg Blank
        Coat

        Re: pfft Americans

        @ Oninoshiko - The article states "Hooking up" covered all sexual contact from kissing all the way to sexual intercourse.

        OT though, I must have missed out on something, or my Australian university was different. My degree course would generally attract more female students than male (about 60/40, maybe even 65/35), and the university wasn't noticeably conservative, and yet I can't say that everyone were chasing each other around like horny bunnies. Some did, but on the whole we all acted like young adults. What was wrong with us?

        Now I think about it, I feel cheated. Where were MY nymphomaniac college girls? Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds made certain promises about what I could expect of university if I play nice and work hard in secondary school. I should be getting at least a partial refund on my fees, but I've paid off my debt already. And now I'm too old to go chasing college girls without looking like a Ron Jeremy-esque creep.

        *Sigh*

        Tip to the younger generation wondering what to do with their lives: If you want to know which cohort at my university fucked each other like the proverbial bunnies, it was the Physical Education students. There obviously was something about a group of young and fit adults studying the human body that sent a rush of blood to ALL THE EROGENOUS ZONES, because they couldn't keep their hands off each other. The nursing students were nuns compared to the PhysEd crowd. And it was incestuous too, they liked to keep the fluids within the group.

        Icon: I'm taking it off, not putting it on. **Bow Chicka Bow Wow**

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: pfft Americans

      I hate to tell you this but it's not just Americans that behave this way.

      God I miss university...

    4. asdf

      Re: pfft Americans

      An oldie but a goodie pertaining to young naive America girls. Very funny.

      http://www.theonion.com/articles/european-men-are-so-much-more-romantic-than-americ,11552/

  2. Martin 47

    Wow, amazing!

    Kids leave home and go out and have a bit of fun! Shock horror!

    FFS

    1. Marvin the Martian
      Facepalm

      I think it's mostly comforting news.

      At a recent debate at a prime UK university, more than half the students voted in favour of the thesis "casual sex is morally wrong". The percentage actually went up after the debate... The prof arguing the "not wrong" position was just horrified.

      The only hope is that the bunch of Oxbridge rejects just didn't understand what "morally wrong" means.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I think it's mostly comforting news.

        Durham? That may well be the influence of DICCU (the Christian Union). Never forget how scary and evangelical they are; they have 'targets' for how many people they can convert each "June Project" amongst other things.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I think it's mostly comforting news.

          Durham grad here. I just came to say GREY ARMY!

          1. Shane8
            Trollface

            Re: I think it's mostly comforting news.

            So this advert saying there are lots of hot single women in my area with no strings attached is actually true ?

            I'll remember to click it on next time i see it!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I think it's mostly comforting news.

          Not Durham, higher ranking.

      2. Annihilator

        Re: I think it's mostly comforting news.

        "At a recent debate at a prime UK university, more than half the students voted in favour of the thesis "casual sex is morally wrong""

        Except the research done in this case was "hook up" which apparently included "kissing", which makes it seem all the less remarkable. 3 snogs a months? I imagine most people are aiming for that on an average night out.

      3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Happy

        "casual sex is morally wrong".

        But quite a lot of fun.

        People need to understand one simple idea.

        Sex is *not* love or a relationship. It's hormonal lust.

        Trouble starts when people see them as the same.

  3. Robert E A Harvey

    Oh for glod's sake!

    Does anyone remember why 1968 was really called "the summer of love"?

    Or read the Kinsey report?

    Or know anything about what happened in WW2? "...in case he does not come back..."

    Or read 'Cider with Rosie'?

    1. Kool-Aid drinker
      Headmaster

      Re: Oh for glod's sake!

      Actually, the summer of love was 1967. I'm old enough to remember it.

    2. Elmer Phud
      Thumb Down

      Re: Oh for glod's sake!

      "Does anyone remember why 1968 was really called "the summer of love"?"

      Yeah, it was a con trick where males took the impression that any female was up for it and if any female refused then they were either 'frigid' or a lesbian. Even rape was considered to be 'just one of those things' where the woman was supposed to lie back and submit and enjoy it.

      1. Ted Treen
        Boffin

        Re: Oh for glod's sake!

        Utter gonads.

        There were sufficient young ladies who were happily accommodating, without one having to spend hours/days/weeks months on those who were unwilling.

        Rape was viewed much as it is viewed today - if not rather worse.

        Yes, I was there - I'm a 1950 model.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Oh for glod's sake!

      Believe it or not, sex is a natural part of life and dates back EVEN before the 60's.

      Ezekiel 23:19 & 23:20

      "(19) Yet she increased her whorings, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt (20)and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose emission was like that of stallions."

      There are only two reasons I can think of where sex is a bad thing, and that's unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. So, instead of moral do-gooders trying to spread the message that sex is a bad thing, they should be trying to spread the message of being responsible & cautious about it when they do, especially as we live in the days of freely available contraception everywhere.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Oh for glod's sake!

        Sex was restricted by religion as a control method for the masses. What STD are you going to get from masturbation? Yet it is not allowed by some.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Oh for glod's sake!

          "Sex was restricted by religion as a control method for the masses. What STD are you going to get from masturbation? Yet it is not allowed by some."

          You can give yourself a nasty chafing industry if careless and over-enthusiastic, though..

          (So I heard)

          1. Thorne
            Angel

            Re: Oh for glod's sake!

            "Sex was restricted by religion as a control method for the masses. What STD are you going to get from masturbation? Yet it is not allowed by some."

            No STD but there is always RSI

            (Not to mention going blind...)

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Oh for glod's sake!

              Onan was told off for pulling out, not for wanking.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Oh for glod's sake!

          Those religions that ban masturbation seem to be doing it from the 'don't waste it by yourself, get out there and make more of 'us'' standpoint.

          1. Sirius Lee

            Re: Oh for glod's sake!

            "Every little sperm is sacred" (c) Monty Pythons

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Oh for glod's sake!

        "There are only two reasons I can think of where sex is a bad thing, and that's unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease."

        Three reasons - infidelity. Call me an overly moral do-gooder if you want, but anyone - ANYONE - who engages in infidelity makes me sick, the self centred little cunts.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Oh for glod's sake!

          "Call me an overly moral do-gooder if you want, but anyone - ANYONE - who engages in infidelity makes me sick, the self centred little cunts."

          I take it you can't get any?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Oh for glod's sake!

            "I take it you can't get any?"

            But from the tone of his words, it sounds like someone he knows did!

        2. Andus McCoatover
          Windows

          Call me an overly moral do-gooder if you want

          Yeah, I want...but I agree with you 100%.

          I love my Girlie, I could never look her in the eye if I'd ever done that.

          I have done in the past, years ago* - but never, ever again. Chickens know where and when to roost - usually when you least expect it.

          *Cost me a house - £300,000 - Should've read "Dickens" rather than a bit of Dick-ins.

      3. This post has been deleted by its author

      4. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Khaptain Silver badge
    Coat

    Porn Capital Recruitement

    The United States is the largest producers of Porn in the world.

    American College girls have lots of sex.

    Can we conclude therefore that it is the colleges that are behind the Sex Industry......

    No wonder everyone wants to go to college.....

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Devil

      Re: Porn Capital Recruitement

      Yes, but if it wasn't for the hordes of repressed men from around the world... well it wouldn't be such a money making industry...

      Of course need I remind you of Page 3 ... ?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Porn Capital Recruitement

      I have several movies which would seem to backup your theory!

  5. poohbear

    Will someone please think of the poor boys who have to put up with all this sexual abuse?

    1. Captain DaFt
      Happy

      Well, I'll volunteer to stand in for one of the poor lads from time to time, if it'll help.

    2. Bush_rat
      Childcatcher

      Men, we must band together to protect these young boys, they need our help. It's for the greater good.

      P.S We need a Patriotic or Presidential icon

  6. fixit_f

    This is not news

    I was far worse than this at uni

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This is not news

      Fixit_f, I don't think kissing the mirror counts...

    2. BongoJoe
      Coat

      Re: This is not news

      So was I.

      But, worryingly I was at an agricultural college in mid-Wales.

      I'll get me coat...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: This is not news

        I'll get me coat...

        Sheepskin?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: This is not news

          A/C 09:55 Sheepskin?

          Sheepskith I hope.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        Re: This is not news

        It wasn't Lamb-peter by any chance?

        Yeah I know, booo, gerroff etc etc

      3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Coat

        Re: This is not news

        But sheep don't tell.

        Time to be gone.

  7. nichomach
    Joke

    Should that not have been

    "Totally boner-fide scientific research"?

    1. Thomas 4

      Re: Should that not have been

      Or possibly boning-fide research.

      1. Elmer Phud

        Re: Should that not have been

        and NOT boning fido?

        1. Steve Evans

          Re: Should that not have been

          Boner-finding

  8. Magnus_Pym
    Stop

    Hookup

    They say that to 'hookup' is somewhere between kissing and fucking like bunnies and that the frequency is between 1 and 3 times a month. They then go on to imply that all college girls have sex with perfect strangers every 10 days. It is more likely that the mode is to kiss and cuddle with someone they know quite well once in 30 days. So your daughter may in fact have kissed 12 people in her first year away. Not that shocking really.

    1. Thorne
      Devil

      Re: Hookup

      "So your daughter may in fact have kissed 12 people in her first year away. Not that shocking really."

      Or starred in 36 pornos...

      There's quite a bit of scope between the two

  9. cheveron

    Hope

    The university of Rhode Island is well known as a party university. This may have skewed the results somewhat, assuming the study was conducted there.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As Shakespeare said, "Young limbs and lechery cannot be separated."

    1. Thomas 4

      Actually...

      If this article is accurate young limbs can most definitely be separated.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Are surveys like this accurate - did they ask the same of the men - if they did it would probably be 3x higher.

    Could also be skewed by a few who are using one of the oldest careers to pay their way through college.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Maths

      I wonder how the men would be able to 'hook up' three times more than the women, overall? It doesn't add up...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Maths

        The definition given of hooking up did not specify that it had to be heterosexual, so if the men hook up with each other…

      2. Martin
        Happy

        Re: Maths

        Men exaggerate - women understate.

        'Twas ever thus.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      " oldest careers " Oh, I see, so one who "hooks up" must be a hoo......!

  12. Velv
    Coat

    Pictures?

    I was going to suggest the usual "pictures, or it didn't happen".

    But then I googled it and it turns out there are LOTS of pictures.

    1. pullenuk

      Re: Pictures on Google?

      Lots of videos as well! Didn't have to ask anyone to do this research just Google it!

    2. philbo
      Devil

      Re: Pictures?

      More than just pictures...

      ..there's whole fucking websites. So to speak.

  13. Danny 14
    Stop

    Well, sex is fun. Do it safely and whats the problem? The US seems to get all prudish when it comes to sex but guns, bad language and racism(*) is fine?

    (*) in some states. Your mileage may vary. Photos are for illustration purposes only.

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Childcatcher

      Oh bad language isn't liked in some places either. I remember during one visit to California I was watching a movie on TV. One guy got shot in the head. The broadcaster seemed happy to show the back of his head coming off but felt the need to bleep out what the victim's friend said as they watched.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      >Well, sex is fun

      but it's not as good as the real thing.

    3. Mike Flugennock

      "The US seems to get all prudish...

      ... when it comes to sex but guns, bad language and racism is fine?"

      Actually, we're not always prudish about sex. We really do dig sex -- if it can be used to sell stuff: beer, clothes, cars, guns, TV shows, movies, music, military recruiting...

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    We all know that research can be twisted and used for malign purposes

    You just have to read a Lewis Page article for proof.

  15. JaitcH
    WTF?

    Hooking Up -Chinese style

    It is quite common for Chinese students to 'hook up' with Foreigners to earn some cash on the side to buy electronic bling, school books, clothing, etc.

    The usual amounts are between USD$40-70 for a few hours of close encounter. They even use Bluetooth to attract strangers who might be seated in a restaurant and who have, unwisely, left their Bluetooth wide open.

    I have chatted with some of these young women and what I find surprising is that they don't find it anything like 'hooking'. t seems there is a difference between living off prostitution and occasionally dabbling in fund-raising.

    And in case you guys see it as a likely opportunity on a visit, bear in mind that STD and HIV is rampant!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hooking Up -Chinese style

      Depends if you were planning to do them anyway. Getting a bit of cash out of them too would be a bonus. The cash equivalent of having drinks bought for you.

  16. Corinne
    Holmes

    Surprise surprise, there were more random encounters at the start of the first year than at the end. That couldn't be anything to do with playing the field until they found the right match could it? It's rather like buying a car - kissing/cuddling = visiting the showroom & reading the specs, if you like what you see then one-off sex = taking a test drive. By the end of the year they've surveyed the market & decided on their choice - this is exactly the same process many of my friends went through in the late 70's/early 80's when they went to Uni in the UK.

    It's also the effect pointed out in the original A/C at 06:14, teens going wild as soon as the parental constraints can be avoided. Same reason why teens are more likely to drink to excess.

    1. Tim Worstal

      "Surprise surprise, there were more random encounters at the start of the first year than at the end. That couldn't be anything to do with playing the field until they found the right match could it?"

      My immediate thought too.

    2. Robin

      @Corinne : Swiss Tony, is that you??

      You see Paul, buying a car is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman. You have to wander around the showrooms, check out the 'specifications' and maybe take it for a test-drive after a few beers.

      1. Corinne

        Re: @Corinne : Swiss Tony, is that you??

        Female through & through - I don't see why women can't have the same attitude as men to buying cars or finding partners!

        1. Robin

          Re: @Corinne : Swiss Tony, is that you??

          Sorry Corinne, I wasn't being presumptuous. Search for "fast show swiss toni" on YouTube.

          p.s. Yep, I spelled Toni wrong originally

  17. fawlty
    Coffee/keyboard

    "quite frankly our glasses fogged up and we couldn't follow it"

    You sir owe me a new keyboard and a replacement coffee.

  18. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Coat

    I regret not having gone to college in the 21st, then

    “It’s important that we gain a better understanding of students’ sexual behavior, since it can potentially affect both their physical and mental health as well as their academic success.”

    Time for an additional financing round to go... uh ... undercover.

  19. Crisp

    Students are having sex?

    Is this like the slowest news day ever?

  20. This post has been deleted by its author

  21. Zmodem

    they are americans, they only have skrillex, brits have been having 1 night stands every night of the week since the late 80s. then came normal pron sex in the 90s with all the street n urban at 16

    1. Zmodem

      club culture slowly picked up in america in the past 5 years, with club land comes all the sleeze and sex

    2. 404

      Correction

      "Brits have been having 1 night stands every night of the week since before the Romans came (and came again lol)"

      There, fixed it for you.

      ;)

      1. Zmodem

        Re: Correction

        americans are all republicans, their clubs are a few people in a room and some 400 watt speakers in the ceiling, the brits come with a wall of 22" subs and 90.k db events every other week, the americans are catching on slowly on how to get wasted

    3. AndrueC Silver badge
      Joke

      ..and if American TV is anything to go by they always wear their underwear while doing it :)

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wonder how many female readers and / or hacks el Reg actually has.

  23. The last doughnut
    Happy

    I for one would welcome an encounter with one of their females

  24. aurizon

    Well used women are not often well married

    The women who act this way may find no long term mates. We are genetically programmed to want to control the father of the offspring, and thus may not want to marry a woman who is likely to mate outside the marriage and leave me to raise the child of another man - thus extinguishing my genetic code for that pregnancy

    1. dfgdfg

      Re: Well used women are not often well married

      True. Encouraging youth to act like this by claiming it is commonplace is sinister.

      1. Martin
        FAIL

        Re: Well used women are not often well married

        What sanctimonious garbage from both of you.

    2. Franklin
      FAIL

      Re: Well used women are not often well married

      "The women who act this way may find no long term mates." [citation needed]

      There's a pop-psych study conducted at the Mormon Brigham Young University that makes this claim, but its statistical methods have been challenged (for one thing, it recruited most of its samples from Mormon universities, where premarital sex (and coffee drinking!) can result in expulsion). Even with the author's data, the claims don't pass statistical analysis; see, for example, Dr. James Coyne's analysis, which found that after controlling for religion and education, among other factors, the correlation between pre-marital abstinence and relationship satisfaction later in life was very small--<2%--and would likely be even smaller if other confounding factors were included.

      "We are genetically programmed to want to control the father of the offspring, and thus may not want to marry a woman who is likely to mate outside the marriage and leave me to raise the child of another man - thus extinguishing my genetic code for that pregnancy" [citation needed]

      God save us from popular misconceptions of evolutionary psychology--itself a rather dubious "science" that seems more about validating social norms than about real understanding of human behavior.

  25. Andy Miller
    IT Angle

    Only an IT site would find this surprising.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    A worthy area for academic research.....

    One quibble though, the title of the paper "Sorority Sexpots of Sigma Sigma Psi" might detract from the gravitas of the scientific findings......

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Where's the application though?

    I can't find the college application that HAS TO BE attached to this article somewhere! Please update with the link where ever!

    Thanks in advanced,

    Future Professional Student

  28. JohnG

    How do they get funding?

    I want to do a new piece of research - can I have some funding?

    What's it about?

    Sorority Girl Sex.

    WTF?

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So what's this sex thing I keep hearing about?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Sects? We got THEM.them.

  30. Mike Flugennock

    I don't know about today...

    ...but back when I was in college (1975-79), sorority chicks were mostly a bunch of vapid, boring, standard-issue Barbie doll types who I wouldn't have fucked with somebody else's dick.

    And, now they're hooking up one to three times a month? Jeez, I guess frat boys are stupider than ever.

  31. Mike Flugennock

    Studies like these always bug me...

    ...because they remind me of when I was in high school in the early '70s, when our parents and "educators" were getting all bent out of shape by how sexually active "today's teens" were -- and all I could think was "jeezus, I sure wish I could find some of those 'sexually active' chicks in my school! I can't get any pussy to save my life!"

    1. DanceMan
      Facepalm

      Re: Studies like these always bug me...

      No 'sexually active chicks in my school either -- Catholic boys school. Set me back for years compared to the public (Canadian) school kids.

  32. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge
    Headmaster

    RE: I don't know about today...

    The primary mention of 'sorority' was the subject line. The body of the article is about first year female college students' behavior.

    Whether sorority girls get more, the same, or less action than the general population, so long as they confine themselves to the fraternity boys, the damage will be limited to greek row.

  33. MrZoolook
    Black Helicopters

    Slags...

    The Reg needs a pubic lice pic...

  34. Dire Criti¢
    Paris Hilton

    Is that all?

    I just knew that teenagers were getting boring these days!

  35. Dodgy Geezer Silver badge
    Boffin

    99 comments! How can I resist?

    These are averages. Out of ... 484, was it?

    Has anyone considered the possibility that what we have here is 464 virgins, and 20 swingers with an average of 2 'hookups' a day/night?

    (only commenting to make it up to 100. Really...)

  36. Chuckterzella

    "We did wonder, though, just why the keen interest in young sorority girls"...Are you mad? Or is this the famed British understated dry sense of humour?

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Where are all the men?

    And in 5-10 years time, they'll all be looking for a man to feed, clothe and house them and their bastard children.

This topic is closed for new posts.