Sex & Mental Health on Campus
Sex on Campus: She Can Play That Game, Too
Taylor, K. (2013, July 12). Sex on campus: She can play that game, too. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/fashion/sex-on-campus-she-can-play-that-game-too.html
Key Points: An article from 2013 about "hookups" (making out, oral sex, intercourse) on college campuses. The article asks whether women are leading the charge, if women prefer hookups, or if women are part of the hookup culture because it's what the college men prefer. It also questions if there are women still desiring relationships. There is also discussion of the role alcohol and drugs play in the hookup culture and how sexual assault is also evident in this scene.
It is by now pretty well understood that traditional dating in college has mostly gone the way of the landline, replaced by “hooking up”—an ambiguous term that can signify anything from making out to oral sex to intercourse—without the emotional entanglement of a relationship. (Taylor, 2013, para. 7)
• "Until recently, those who studied the rise of hookup culture had generally assumed that it was driven by men, and that women were reluctant participants, more interested in romance than in casual sexual encounters. But there is an increasing realization that young women are propelling it, too." (Taylor, 2013, para 8)
"These women said they saw building their résumés, not finding boyfriends (never mind husbands), as their main job at Penn. They envisioned their 20s as a period of unencumbered striving, when they might work at a bank in Hong Kong one year, then go to business school, then move to a corporate job in New York. The idea of lugging a relationship through all those transitions was hard for many to imagine. Almost universally, the women said they did not plan to marry until their late 20s or early 30s.
In this context, some women, like A., seized the opportunity to have sex without relationships, preferring “hookup buddies” (regular sexual partners with little emotional commitment) to boyfriends." (Taylor, 2013, para 14)
• "Others longed for boyfriends and deeper attachment" (Taylor, 2013, para 14).
"Some women went to college wanting a relationship, but when that seemed unlikely, they embraced hooking up as the best alternative" (Taylor, 2013, Adapt, Have Fun, para 1).
• "Some women described a dangerous edge to the hookup culture, of sexual assaults and degrading encounters enabled by drinking and distinguished by a lack of emotional connection" (Taylor, 2013, para 14).
"Women said universally that hookups could not exist without alcohol, because they were for the most part too uncomfortable to pair off with men they did not know well without being drunk" (Taylor, 2013, The Default Is Yes, para 3).
Initial Thoughts: I thought it was interesting that the women they focused on who were okay with hookups were also so driven. "Elizabeth A. Armstrong, a sociologist at the University of Michigan who studies young women’s sexuality, said that women at elite universities were choosing hookups because they saw relationships as too demanding and potentially too distracting from their goals" (Taylor, 2013, An Economic Calculation, para 7). Though it made sense, I worried about the lack of fun envisioned for their future goals. Could they not find women who were pro-hookups but didn't envision themselves constantly working? “If I’m sober, I’m working” (Taylor, 2013, An Economic Calculation, para 1). I'm not entirely sure where my thoughts are going with this. It's not a thought for or against hookups, just feeling a bit sad for the vast amounts of pressure these women must feel to get ahead. If that's what brings them joy, then, by all means, keep at that pace. But at least from the quotes extracted for the article, these women seemed stressed by the pressures they were facing in college and their thoughts of the future. I think that was my takeaway more than the culture of hookups.
Student Mental Health Issues On Today's Campuses
Schwitzer, A. M., & Van Brunt, B. (2015). Student mental health issues on today's campuses. In P. A. Sasso & J. L. DeVitis (Eds.), Today’s college students: A reader (new ed., pp. 331-345). Peter Lang Inc.
Key Points: An overview of the various mental health disorders students seek campus counseling services for help. The chapter gives an overview of predisposed conditions (biological, pre-college trauma; stressful circumstances (inter and intrapersonal stressors, college traumas, onset developmental issues, academics, homesickness, social situations, sexual identity, race, and ethnicity, etc). The remaining subsections cover substance abuse, sexual violence, eating disorders, learning disabilities, ADHD, non-suicidal self-injury, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. In addition, this chapter mentions the impacts students dealing with mental health issues have on the higher education support staff (Schwitzer & Van Brunt, 2015).
Initial Thoughts:
"Higher education professional in every corner of the campus confront students in need—from individuals in acute crisis to those struggling with the common adjustment and developmental issues that affect college academic and social success" (Schwitzer & Van Brunt, 2015, p. 331).
I like that it's stated multiple times how helping a student's mental distress will help them succeed academically and socially. As someone who both works with first-year students who often mention the anxiety they are experiencing as well as someone who experiences anxiety on a daily basis, I find this chapter relevant. As I struggle with my own mental health in my last semester of grad school, I've witnessed firsthand how higher ed professionals often reach outside of their given title to help students succeed. For me, this has included my professor, my GA supervisor, disability services, counseling services and the health center's psychiatrist. It's humbling to ask for help. It's damn hard to ask for help when socially in public places you put your game face on to hide the fact internally you're a hot mess struggling to keep your shit together. Weren't you just fine in class? Didn't you just post on social media all the awesome things? Yes and yes. And no and no. Those are blips in time and hopefully, you caught me at a good blip.
The physical sensations of the anxiety (brain spinning, tight chest, jittery, anxious, random bouts of crying) are longer blips in time but still won't last forever. They just make it really hard to realize that truth when it's happening. They also make it really difficult to stay focused and get work done. You know what though? Whenever I've asked for help, I've been lucky enough to encounter someone who desires to see me succeed. Who trusts (more than I do) I can make it to graduation in December, and they're willing to work with me to help me get there. I'm experiencing this chapter in real-time, and I hope because of my experience I can pass along the kindness I've experienced to those first-year students who are struggling too.
Notable Quotes
"The counseling center's purpose is to support the institution's mission by 'helping students work through psychological and emotional issues that may affect their academic success and personal development'" (Dungy, 2003, p. 345 as cited in Schwitzer & Van Brunt, 2015, p. 332).
"Students with psychological issues visit these centers to facilitate their ability to become successful learners and ultimately to graduate by addressing the mental health needs that ... disrupt their functioning, cause them distress, or disable their academic or social functioning" (Boyd et al., 2003; Schwitzer, 1997, 2002 as cited in Schwitzer & Van Brunt, 2015, p. 332).
"The key to better managing the stress and difficulty that can impact administrators, staff, and faculty who encounter students struggling with mental health disorders is a better understanding of the nature of the various disorders and consulting with counseling services and mental health experts in order to choose the correct intervention. Self-care is also essential for student affairs staff. Understanding what to do when responding to mental health problems is trumped only by understanding the importance of establishing boundaries and limits, and the ability to refer students for the specialized additional support and help the college mental health experts can provide." (Schwitzer & Van Brunt, 2015, p. 342)
Title IX Investigation Tracker
Title IX investigation tracker. (2021Ti). The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://projects.chronicle.com/titleix/
Key Points: "This project tracks federal investigations of colleges for possible violations of the gender-equity law Title IX involving alleged sexual violence. It includes all investigations in this wave of enforcement: those either open now or resolved since April 4, 2011, when the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued a 'Dear Colleague' letter exhorting colleges to resolve students’ reports of sexual assault — and to protect them throughout the process." (Title IX, 2021, About section)
Initial Thoughts: The search function wasn't working when I examined the website, but I did learn a lot about why sexual assault falls under Title IX for colleges to be responsible for. Head over to the About section and subsection Why do colleges judge rape? for more information. I'm interested to learn more about the pros and cons of colleges handling sexual assault investigations (often simultaneous with a police investigation). One possible pro the About section mention was students might feel less intimated talking to a campus official rather than talking to the police.
Reading about sexual assault on college campuses today comes at a time when headlines about sexual assault cases and the slow or mishandling by universities are in the news. See Eastern Michigan and the University of Nebraska's two cases within a week of each other.
I chose not to read in its entirety, A Rape On Campus, because as a journalism major I had a hard time getting past the shoddy investigation. However, I do believe the point of the story (sexual assault is very real and prevalent on college campuses—especially within Greek life—and universities handling of the assaults are part of the problem). I just wondered if they set the clock back and gave others a seemingly "valid" excuse to believe rape victims. I felt like this article, Five years on, the lessons from the Rolling Stone rape story followed my thoughts but then also gave some hope in the end. I also began reading a year-long investigation piece by Caitlin Flanagan, The Dark Power of Fraternities which I've been told does live up to journalism investigative integrity. Thoughts to be continued on that read.
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