Sunday, March 30, 2008
"....University, where they met."
From the media, one would imagine that college students of the past few years fall into two camps, the majority who hook up with a different person each weekend, and a minority who graduate pure as the first winter snow. So my question is, who are all these people getting married to significant others they met in college? This does happen quite a bit, and (to preempt the obvious comment) not just at the University of Chicago. And these marriages are often preceded by a period of cohabitation, so it's not that the "True Love Waits" minority is making true on its promise. Wouldn't it seem that many college students, perhaps a silent majority, have long-term monogamous relationships, some of which extend past graduation? I know this would be a huge disappointment to journalists who seek out 'virgins and whores,' but what if that's the reality?
From my observations of undergraduates who meet their significant others in college, it generally follows this pattern:
ReplyDeletePeople go crazy the first year. Meet somebody to whom the commit somewhere between sophomore year and graduation. Therefore, hook-ups go down, no pun intended, as the number of years in college go up.
To talk of undergraduates as some undifferentiated population is problematic.
Probably a vast overgeneralization, but does have some truth to it. Yes, I realize I talking about undergraduates as an undifferentiated population.
Your interpretation's probably right, which means, again, that the binary of aimless and life-ruining hook-ups as versus loudly-affirmed virginity is inaccurate.
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