Casual sex

Casual sex or hooking up refers to certain types of human sexual activity outside the context of a romantic relationship. The term is not always used consistently: some use it to refer to any extramarital sex, some use it to refer to sex in a casual relationship, whereas others reserve its use for one-time encounters, promiscuity, or to refer to sex in the absence of emotional attachment or love.^[1][2]

Other terms sometimes associated with casual sex include recreational sex, social sex, physical relationship, or No-Strings-Attached (NSA) sex.^[3] Recreational sex or social sex refers to sexual activity in which people engage which focuses on the sexual pleasure of the activity without an emotional aspect or commitment. Recreational sex can take place in a number of contexts. It may, for example, take place in an open marriage,^[4] such as among swingers where sex is viewed as a social occasion,^[5][6] or in an open relationship. It can also take place in a casual relationship.

Social norms and moral concerns

World-wide attitudes to casual sex range from conservative and religious views, the extreme of which is capital punishment for sexual relations outside heterosexual marriage, to liberal or libertarian views, the extreme of which is free love.^{[citation needed]} During the sexual revolution in the United States and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, social attitudes to sexual issues underwent considerable changes. The advent of the pill and other forms of birth control, the Women's Liberation movement, and the legalization of abortion in many countries is believed to have led to a wider practice of casual sex.^[7][8][9] Most religions disapprove of sex outside of marriage (see religion and sexuality).

Swingers in the lifestyle engage in casual sex with others for a variety of reasons. For many, an advantage is the increased quality, quantity and frequency of sex.^[10] Some swingers engage in casual sex to add variety into their otherwise conventional sex lives or for curiosity. Swingers who engage in casual sex maintain that sex among swingers is often more frank and deliberative and therefore more honest than infidelity. Some couples see swinging as a healthy outlet and means to strengthen their relationship. Others regard such activities as merely social and recreational interaction with others.

A study of hooking up at the University of Iowa found that waiting to have sex doesn't contribute to a stronger future relationship.^[11] Instead, they found that what mattered most was the goal individuals had going into a relationship. Individuals who started by hooking up tended to develop a full relationship later on if that was their goal going in.

Related terms

Hookup

A hookup (colloquial American English) is casual sex activity that could consist of manual stimulation, oral sex, or sexual intercourse.

An extended hookup typically refers to prolonged instances of casual sex interactions. This is a situation in which the involved parties occasionally meet for casual sex multiple times, always without a long-term commitment. This is a casual relationship specifically for sex and without any emotional aspect, for which another colloquial term is "fuck buddies".

It is quite often found the people arrange such sexual activities through the internet, on web sites such as Craigslist. A booty call means that such an arrangement is made over the phone.^[12]

A slight variation on the extended hookup is friends with benefits, where the involved parties have a degree of emotional attachment, and although they are happy to engage sexual interaction, do not want, for whatever reason, to have "strings attached" as a result.

One-night stand

A one-night stand is a single sexual encounter between individuals, where at least one of the parties has no immediate intention or expectation of establishing a longer-term sexual or romantic relationship.

Anonymous sex

Anonymous sex is a form of one-night stand or casual sex between people who have very little or no history with each other, often engaging in sexual activity on the same day of their meeting and usually never seeing each other again afterwards.^[13]

Commercial sites

There are many specialist online dating services or other internet websites, known as "adult personals" or "adult matching" sites, which cater to people looking for a purely physical relationship, without emotional attachments. These can provide a relatively anonymous forum where people who are geographically close but in totally separate work and social circles can make contact.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Casual relationship
• Sociosexual orientation
• Cottaging
• Dogging
• Group sex
• List of sexology topics
• Open marriage styles
• Sexual norm
• Swinging
• STIs
• Zipless fuck

Notes

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

References

• Ehrenreich, Barbara, Elizabeth Hess, and Gloria Jacobs. Re-Making Love: The Feminization of Sex. Doubleday, 1986 (ISBN 0-385-18498-0)