Sexual Life in campas - Essay Example

Sexual Life in Campus Unit Introduction. The past decade has seen a softening in the dispositions of people towards religion in society. This softening of outlook towards religion has been orchestrated by the myriad changes that have coursed through society weakening the religious fabric. This essay will examine how sexual life in colleges has played a crucial role in softening people’s religion. In order to delve into the softening of religion, the essay will investigate the following four areas of; how religion has diminished recently, sexual life in evangelical colleges, sexual life in non-religious institutions, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the various research methodologies employed by (Freitas, 2008) and (Smith and Snell, 2009). Softening of Religion The ever-changing dynamics of societal relations have incessantly worked to diminish people’s hold on religion. Most people, especially youths between the ages of 18 to 23, are continually moving away from religion by finding refuge in other forms of entertainment. These youths hold the notion that the church has become an annoying place. As such, they have lost the previous clingy stands that they had towards the church during their formative years (Smith and Snell, 2009). Not only has the appeal to embrace stern evangelical positions been pushed out of the window, but also the social cloth that defined the boundaries of right and wrong. To the female students in evangelical schools, the determinant for failing college was not grades, but, failure to get a fiancé or a husband. Emphasis on getting a man has got nothing to do with religion; this implies that religion has again been given a backseat. This further reflects how people’s stance, even the evangelical school students, towards religion and people’s belief in religion as a social marker has considerably softened. Sexual Life in Evangelical Colleges In the evangelical colleges, not many people are secure about their sexual orientations (Freitas, 2008). This kind of insecurity is precipitated by the desire to fulfill religious obligations while at the same time balancing with the real life. In addition, the people in religious schools consider “saving themselves until marriage a sacred thing” (Freitas, 2008). As such, students who have already been involved in sexual encounters before marriage exhibit feelings of guilt that lead them towards wanting to change their sexual orientations. Most of the students in evangelical colleges consider talking to their partners as very romantic, and they value talking so much. This emphasis on talking does show that communication is very pivotal to those in evangelical colleges as it is what constitutes romance to them (Freitas, 2008). To these students, romance hardly involves sexual intimacy. According to these students in evangelical colleges, romance ends once people get involved in sexual intimacy (Freitas, 2008). Additionally, in both the spiritual and evangelical colleges, love was often used to represent sexual intimacy synonymously among couples. Love talk was thus being gradually replaced with sex talk (Freitas, 2008). This kind of references would ultimately lead to the “death” of religiosity of persons, in the long run. Sexual Life in Non-Religious Colleges The sexual life in non-religious institutions is more or less non-conservative as compared to that in religious colleges. Students occupying non-religious institutions freely express their sexual inclinations without the fear of victimization of segregation from the rest of their peers bearing different orientations. Gay, lesbian, and heterosexual students are often open about their sexual orientations. Their families also accept and support them regardless of their sexual orientations. Students in the non-evangelical schools, frequently engage in sexual intimacy, which, apparently is not often romantic or loving (Freitas, 2008). In addition, there is no restraint or dalliance of sexual gratification among most of these students. Sex is commonplace, and most of them engage in sex to feel great about themselves or to try to experiment with new partners. Sex before marriage is not considered a form of desecration but rather an avenue for tests to see what “sticks” in terms of sexual intimacy. It is also notable that the dichotomy in non-religious colleges is that of hookups rather than the dating and marriage dichotomy that is predominant in evangelical colleges. Here, sex is a casual event that has no bearing towards marriage and family. The non-evangelical institutions exemplify a clear case of the enormous social decadence that currently defines modern society. Strength and Weaknesses of Research Methodologies Freitas (2008) uses the less-structured in-depth interview method to collect data on sexual life in campus. Her method of data collection encompasses a myriad of advantages which include; the ability of respondents to answer questions in as much detail as they would wish, the ability to collect more valid information as a result of how people contextualize issues, provision of an informal atmosphere that encourages openness as well as honesty in respondents, and the ability of the method to provide the researcher with the flexibility to revise the questions based on responses provided. In spite of these advantages, non-structured interviews also present with some drawbacks. These drawbacks are; the meetings are time-consuming making it only possible to conduct a few interviews, it is difficult to compare interview result as each interview is unique, the results of these interview may not provide an avenue for comparison to the whole population as the sample size is small, and finally, the interviews are time-consuming in terms of data collection and analysis. Smith and Snell (2009) use the survey method to collect data on sexual life in campus. The survey method present advantages that include; easy administration, cost effectiveness, ability to administer the surveys remotely, ability to collect data from a large number of recipients, it allows the researcher to collect extensive as well as exhaustive information, and when the survey is standardized, data free from errors can be collected. The weaknesses of the survey method are that; respondents may not get an opportunity to answer questions honestly; respondents may not feel comfortable providing information that depicts their weaknesses; and the tendency of data errors to exist when a respondent fails to respond to some questions. Conclusions It is clear from the essay that people’s religious stands have softened over the years. Most persons, especially youth, are now moving away from religion due to the ever-changing societal dynamics. In addition, the sexual life of students, both in evangelical institutions and non-evangelical students tend to defy religion. Students in evangelical colleges consider communication as the best form of romance. Students in non-evangelical colleges consider sexual intimacy a pastime aimed at exploring their sexual orientations. On the other hand, students in evangelical colleges consider sex a sacred thing and hence they only consider having sex after marriage. Additionally, it can be seen that students in non-evangelical colleges are more comfortable with their sexuality as compared to those in evangelical colleges. References Freitas, D. (2008). Sex and the soul: Juggling sexuality, spirituality, romance, and religion on Americas college campuses. Oxford University Press. Smith, C., & Snell, P. (2009). Souls in transition: The religious and spiritual lives of emerging adults (Vol. 2). New York: Oxford University Press. Read More