Hooking-up: an ominous threat

In his opinion piece "Hook-Up Culture" written for the Tufts Daily, student Jack Grimes argues for the restoration of what he defines as dating in an attempt to erase the "cold soulless, heartless, loveless business" of one night stands and commitmentless sex. His article is founded on the idea that our youth's culture is so entralled with "hooking-up" for its basic physical pleasures that college students are at risk of becoming dead to the ache within for intimacy.

Additionally, he believes that one night stands and the like are "inextricably tied up with the emotional." I would argue that Grimes weakens his claim by arguing that everyone wants to be loved through an act of deepest intimacy. He believes that everyone wants seeks such a level of gratification that "the porno fiend fabricates it and the rapist steals it." This is, in my opinion, a gross overgeneralization. First, not everyone looks for intimacy at this level. Many people are pleased with being deeply intimate on a non-physical level. How is it that Grimes only finds "intimacy" through sexual experiences? We must look outside the box. Secondly, I would also argue that there are those who are seeking to escape intimacy through careless sexual encounters. In all, the writer greatly limits his argument with such an overgeneralization.

Additionally, I find a post hoc fallacy in Grimes' belief that one night stands and casual sex are causes that would effectually be the death of true intimacy within our culture. He argues "if this" then "that" and again greatly limits his argument. But where do Grimes' ideas stem from anyway? I believe that his article is so weaak in its claims and is written without any factual reasoning because it comes from a single point of view that does not include opposing ideas. I was turned off from "Hook-Up Culture" so to speak, because it was written from a college student, who may not be completely educated on the topic. The frat boy, heterosexual paradigm that calls women "unpaid prostitutes" uses an ad hominem to attack women's characters as mindless tools to be at men's leisure.

In all, Grimes's article is filled with fallacies that weaken his argument while demeaning women on his quest to break down "hook-up culture" and build up traditional intimacy.