The words flow freely, with the formality of doing laundry or eating a Snickers bar: "We hooked up. The word "hookup" has settled into the slang lexicon next to "McDreamy" and "snarky.
It's a fling with a stranger, acquaintance or friend. No-strings-attached pleasure. Kissing, full sex and everything in between, with no expectations for the morning after - or the next week, month or year.
The Institute for American Values found that 40 percent of surveyed college women have hooked up. One in 10 hooked up more than six times.
While some women can handle loveless sex, she says, others are left "exhausted physically, emotionally and spiritually" by hookup culture. Casual sex is not a new phenomenon. But Sessions Stepp points to a "cultural shift": As young women focus increasingly on education and careers, many put committed relationships on the back burner in favor of quick sexual encounters.
The St. Petersburg Times sat down with four young women at a Tampa Starbucks to get perspective on "hooking up. Meredith and Teneille are good friends. The others did not know each other before the discussion, but they had things in common - they've been through college, they're single and they're navigating the modern dating scene.
