Radio hosts blast hookup culture as ‘low-effort dating that benefits men’

An Aussie radio host has called out hookup culture in Australia, claiming it is only benefiting men.

Hannah Ferguson, who co-hosts Triple J’s The Hook-Up, got stuck into the subject alongside Dee Salmin after she was given 60 seconds to rant on the topic.

“I think hookup culture is a way we’ve reframed casual sex and low-effort dating that benefits men,” she said.

“Women are taught that it is sex positivity but it only benefits men.”

Ferguson argued that ultimately hookup culture doesn’t leave women feeling empowered but rather makes them feel like “sh*t” most of the time.

The radio host said the culture allows for men to focus on their own pleasure while women are stuck “pretending” to like it around 80 per cent of the time.

She added women are often treated “poorly” as a result.

Ferguson admitted there are exceptions to this rule and said women in her life enjoy hookup culture, but that wasn’t the majority.

“In my experience, it has empowered men to treat women poorly and ensure that we don’t ask for more,” She said.

She also said that the problematic modern dating trope of ending up in a “situationship” instead of a relationship is born from hookup culture.

A situationship is when you aren’t quite a romantic couple, but you aren’t just friends either. Instead, you have a relationship with someone who exists in a weird grey area.

Typically, one person wants things to get more serious, the other wants to keep things casual, and the relationship falls apart.

When you stop seeing each other, you can’t call it a break-up because you weren’t technically together but also you’ve parted ways with someone you had regular sexual interactions with …. So it is a ‘thing.’

Ferguson claimed that hookup culture just disempowered women and didn’t make them feel confident enough to ask for what they wanted in “the bedroom”.

Nor can women communicate what they need to have their emotional needs met.

“All men get is the sort of vulnerability and intimacy they want without commitment,” she said.

Ferguson pointed out that in Australia, the “low effort” dating culture is really “really bad” adding, ultimately, hookup culture isn’t something she can support.

It is rare for a comment section to be filled with people agreeing, but the response from women was unanimous.

“110 per cent agree,” one wrote.

“So true,” another agreed.

One wrote: “Ate and left no crumbs,” while another added: “Exactly! I hate hookup culture!”