Sorry, all. This is gonna be week #2 without an anecdote. I know you really look forward to those, or at least that’s what I tell myself. Instead, I’d like to introduce you to a really neat blog called “Hooking Up Smart.”
The blog is about coed relationships. Susan Walsh, the author, says she
blogs to help people figure out what she calls the “hostile terrain
of the contemporary SMP (sexual marketplace).” And she’s certainly popular. Many
of her posts have 200-300 comments EACH. Impressive, considering she’s written
over 800 posts since November 2008, with an average of 13-14 posts per month.
Walsh earned her MBA in 1983, and
has worked with companies and non-profit organizations as a strategy consultant
ever since. With her blog, she uses similar problem-solving approaches to help
young people struggling with contemporary relationships. She offers some unique
insight by virtue of the times she grew up in, which were the 1970s (hint: this
was just after the sexual revolution).
What initially got me clicking on
her page was this graph:
It’s from an article about gender
inequalities in the sexual market. Not unsurprisingly,
the female curve peaks much earlier in life compared to the male curve. Already
a riveting topic by itself, Walsh adds her own creative spin by adopting an
academic tone. Instead of bombarding her readers with a bunch of sexual market
value (SMV) stats, which could mostly be deduced with common sense, she makes a
case to dispute the fact that the male curve encompasses a greater area than
the female one, implying that males have an overall higher SMV.
She writes a formal prediction: “It is my hypothesis that the
distribution curves are indeed asymmetrical, with women peaking earlier and
higher, while male SMV is a lower, broader curve. However, the mean value of
SMV over time should be the same for both sexes.” She then goes on to cite
famous biologists like Charles Darwin and Donald Symons, which makes her analysis
a bit more respectable. But she’s not overly science-y, either.
I trust that by now you know how to read (or have some weird love for
staring at nonsensical characters on your computer screen), so here’s the link
if you care to know the outcome of her argument.
As an added bonus, her blog is extremely relevant to this one. Her frequent
tags include: “Hooking Up Realities,” “Relationship Strategies,” “Personal
Development,” “Politics and Feminism”….In fact, she links to an article
which I read while researching my recent paper about the long-term effects of
hooking up. Methinks I should’ve written about Susan Walsh as my blogger soul
mate instead of the eccentric Michelle Stevens but they say hindsight is 20/20
so….
Not only are Walsh’s posts entertaining, but they also have substance.
She clearly does her homework before publishing anything. For example, in her
post Slut,
Prude or Tease. Is There Another Option?, she draws heavily from posts written
by USC freshman Arianna Allen and an article
written by NYU student Sarah Jacobsson. By including direct quotes from young
people’s writing, she can appeal to a younger audience despite having grown up
in the 70s herself. Obviously, her target audience is young people since they
are in the thick of hooking up and dating, but she attracts some older readers
as well with posts such as How
to Meet Guys After College.
It’s Walsh’s versatility which makes her blog an excellent source for what I’m trying to do: discuss an awkward topic in a serious manner. Walsh’s articles are not dirty and embarrassing to read, unlike the kind which normally pop up when you Google search the words “hookup culture.” It’s kind of funny, but I didn’t notice before—I’ve actually already consulted her once before in my post, “Will You Still Love Me Without my Mascara?” Walsh authored Vulnerability: Love's Secret Ingredient.
My site will differ from Walsh’s, though, because my point of view is
different. For me, this lifestyle isn’t retrospective. I’m still in college, in
the very heart of the hookup culture. Walsh is married. Her posts are much more
researched than mine, too, whereas I like to draw from personal experience
instead. Which I will get back into the habit of doing, I promise!
Anyway, check it out. I think
it’ll be worth your time.
Hey! (Its Danielle)
ReplyDeleteThis post was interesting from start to finish! Good job! You are excellent in diction and word choice, as you paint a vivid picture that definitely grabs the reader's attention! I found myself very interested in both your opinion and reading Susan Walsh's blog. The power of your descriptions, and your personality that shines through it, stirs interest without one having to actually click on her blog and read her posts. This means you did a great job establishing what these posts mean (to a point where one doesn't have to click and read them all). I like how you've linked to a bunch of her posts without being boring about it. You integrated her thoughts into your own, giving the reader the opportunity to pick and choose what he or she might want to click on next. I also like how your voice comes through in your funny commentary/ colloquial phrasing. Overall, I think this post is a great balance of information and voice. It is charming, interesting, and informative.