Is Hooking Up Bad for Young Women?

Abstract

“Girls can't be guys in matters of the heart, even though they think they can,” says Laura Sessions Stepp, author of Unhooked: HowYoung Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both, published in 2007. In her view, “hooking up”—casual sexual activity ranging from kissing to intercourse—places women at risk of “low self-esteem, depression, alcoholism, and eating disorders.” Stepp is only one of half a dozen journalists currently engaged in the business of detailing the dangers of casual sex.