Media Meltdown: Is The Text Message The New Booty Call?

Technological advancements in recent decades have changed the way we do almost everything.  From Facebook to text messaging to AIM to Skype to smartphones that let you do it all at once, even human interactions and relationships have become largely electronic.  So what about sexual relationships?  Has the evolution of technology spread so far that it has even affected sex?  I argue yes.

It is no secret that texting has become an increasingly present cultural and technological phenomenon.  Individuals of every age, race, sex and social class are texting everyday.  Try to walk through any city, supermarket or school without seeing people with their phones out carrying on text message conversations.  Half the time, when I call someone, they don’t call back but rather text back.  Even my grandmother texts!  I think you get the picture.  Overall, it is clear that texting has taken over as a major form of communication, marginalizing email, instant messaging and telephone calls.

In its original context, the booty call refers to a late-night telephone call to a presumably usual hook-up.  But let’s face it – who calls anyone anymore?  These days, you’d be more likely to get a Facebook message about hooking up than an actual call on the phone.  However, it is the “text message booty call” that has become the norm in late-night hook-ups.  Most of us have gotten the occasional midnight text from an old flame asking if we want to “hang out” or, for those more open about their status as a booty call, “hook up.”

These ideas are reflected in the discussions I have had with other college students about the rising ubiquity of the text message booty call.  One interviewee affirmed that she has never been called for a booty call but is texted for a booty call multiple times every weekend.  She further said, “Texting has revolutionized the booty call because one of the fundamental aspects of the booty call is that it’s impersonal and just for the sex.  Texting has made it even more impersonal and quicker, thus making the entire process easier.”

Take a look at this scene from season four of How I Met Your Mother, in which Barney details how the booty call works –

“On a booty call, you barely even have to talk.  Around 9PM, you say, ‘Hey baby, it’s Barney.  You busy tonight?…Sweet, see you in half an hour?  Can’t wait.’  But the later it gets, the fewer words you need.  ‘Barney.  Busy?  Sweet.’  And by 3 in the morning –“ (Barney texts “?” and receives a “!” in response.)

Perhaps Barney’s monologue reveals more about the current state of the booty call.  According to him, the later the booty call is made, the less effort it takes (presumably on the part of the male) to persuade your hook-up.  Such an explanation makes me wonder about the implications of gender stereotypes in the booty call process.  Barney implies that it is the male who initiates contact, furthering the stereotype that men are the sex-craved aggressors in any co-ed interaction.  However, many of the female college students with whom I have spoken about this topic have stated that they have no problems making the first move and that they will often initiate the booty call, especially if it is with a recurring hook-up.

Barney further implies that women are desperate to be hit up for a booty call if it gets easier to persuade them as the night goes on.  Through my interviews, I found this to be partially true and partially untrue.  Girls said that if they are in the mood for a hook-up, they are more likely to respond to a booty call as the night goes on, particularly as the night starts to die down and there is less going on.  However, on the other hand, girls also said that if they are not in the mood for a hook-up, the time does not matter.  They are not simply sitting in bed all night waiting for a booty call text message.

For those of you who do not engage in casual sex, you may be asking yourself, “Well, what exactly is a text message booty call?  How does it work?”  You will be happy to know that there are sites all over the internet that not only describe the text message booty call in detail but also teach you how to construct your own text message booty call.  I was shocked to find that even eHow had an article on “How to Write a Text Message Booty Call” (link = http://www.ehow.com/how_2103241_write-text-message-booty-call.html).  These sites describe the text message booty call as an entire process that begins early on in the day and (the initiator hopes) culminates in a hook-up.

My personal experience and the experiences that others have discussed with me lead me to believe that this is not actually how a text message booty call usually works.  One interviewee said, “You’re most likely not going to hear from your hook-up until 11:00 at the earliest and I certainly wouldn’t text a guy before that because I wouldn’t want him to think that I’m desperate.”

The process of the booty call is one that continues to change alongside the growth of technology.  Who knows how booty calls will be established in the coming decades.  The fact is that with the evolution of technology, human relationships will continue to be affected by it.  Have you ever received a text message booty call?  Do you like the way that texting has revolutionized this aspect of dating and relationships?

Media Meltdown is a weekly column that deciphers the stereotypes and restrictions of pop culture. Shane is currently in his third year at Wheaton College, majoring in Creative Writing & Literature and French Studies.