Today is the day to think about love.
But this Valentine's Day, some social scholars are taking a new perspective: they want to know what love means and where traditional notions of it have gone, especially on college campuses.
What is love at Penn? Hard to define, if anything. Relationships on campus run the gamut, from hooking up to dating to long-term commitment.
"I think we need to be very wary about media-driven over-simplifications," Felicity Paxton, an English, Communications and Women's Studies professor, wrote in an e-mail. She also serves as the assistant director of the Women's Center.
From her experience as the faculty fellow at Stouffer College House, Paxton wrote she has learned that "you can't generalize."
"I know Penn students who've been in happy, egalitarian, monogamous pairings since freshman year. I know students who've yet to go on a date and are just fine with this. I know students who are deeply concerned about finding a mate. I know female students who find casual sex profoundly liberating and others who find it soul-destroying. And I know students for whom romantic relationships are far less crucial than the impressively close bonds they maintain with hallmates and friends. Do we have a trend here? I'm not so sure," she wrote.
For College sophomore Tim Buchmiller, going out is about putting forth the least effort in order to release the most stress, an equation that doesn't lend itself to traditional dating.
"We're always so busy and the downtimes we do have we just want to relax," he said.
"There's obviously a lot of stress going out with a girl on a date - you have to dress up, make sure you don't say anything stupid during dinner, be on top of your game," he explained. " When I have time to let loose, I'd rather just hang out with my buddies and hope that the stuff we do is going to involve girls."
According to Buchmiller, the "hanging out" formula can still lead to a relationship.
"If the other person becomes a priority, it's going to happen whether you like it or not," he said.
But some Penn students prefer traditional trajectories to traditional relationships.
"Personally, I'm more of a date guy," said Wharton freshman Jared Mollenbeck, who said he has taken girls on dates twice this year. "Love has been misinterpreted by college students, and people value hooking up more than they value a long-lasting relationship. But I think commitment is a good thing."
A female Wharton and College junior, who wished to remain unidentified for personal reasons, softened the assessment of the state of love at Penn.
"I think some guys date and some guys don't," she said. "Everybody recognizes that no one has a lot of time, so in that sense people's expectations go down, but you can still find the time for dating if you want it."
The ambitious nature of Penn students could actually be working in favor of dating, she said, noting that she has been on more dates at Penn than many of her friends have at state schools.
"Because Penn is a little more pre-professional, and because there are interesting people to meet and get to know, it makes dating more of a possibility," she said. "A lot of girls here aren't willing to just hook up with a guy if he doesn't show her respect."
But with classes and career-searching inhibiting many students' quests for a Valentine this season, how are Penn students planning to spend the day?
"I have no idea," Mollenbeck said. "Probably studying and going to class."
