   Now my personal history feels even more foolish in light of
Hanna Rosin’s Atlantic article Boys on the Side about how the
practice of hooking up, rather than something to be derided,
actually empowers women.  As Rosin writes:   I’m not going to
argue with her assumptions (read Amy Julia Becker) or her use of
studies (even though my inner sociologist cringes).  Instead,
let’s talk about emotional and spiritual damage, not to mention
risk of pregnancy, disease and abuse.  Rosin seems to believe,
as does our larger culture, that sex is a purely biological act
with no emotional or spiritual overtones, a biological and
necessary need.  She justifies that hooking up doesn’t seem to
get in the way of intimacy, citing   one study of college
seniors where 75% of students hooked up an average of 7.9 times,
but 74% also reported having a relationship in college that
lasted at least six months.  Can I say that measuring capacity
for intimacy by how long a relationship lasts lacks nuance?  My
pastor Dave Schmelzer give