The cultural dominance of non-relational sexual scripts for short-term sexual encounters on college campuses, combined with the persistence of gendered practices for heterosexual relationship formation, complicates students’ interest in committed, monogamous, and gender egalitarian relationships. This paper draws on interviews with 56 heterosexual undergraduates ages 18–23 at the University of Illinois at Chicago to examine how students perceive and experience committed relationships and the role of gendered practices in their formation. I find that relationships begin with “hanging out” and then follow either date (“asking out”) or hookup (“sliding in”) pathways into exclusivity. The dating pathway is characterized by “symbolic gendering” (Lamont, 2014) but presents clear progression into commitment. In contrast, “sliding in” is less characterized by gendered practices but also generates ambiguity in its lack of direct verbal communication. This ambiguity is particularly challenging for women, given perceptions and realities of their greater interest in relationships than men and the operation of a sexual double standard. Students face some trade-off between gender egalitarianism and definitional clarity in forming committed relationships.

中文翻译：

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询问和滑入: 大学联播文化中的性别关系途径

大学校园短期性接触的非关系性脚本的文化主导地位，加上异性恋关系形成的性别化实践的持续存在，使学生对忠诚、一夫一妻制和性别平等关系的兴趣复杂化。本文对芝加哥伊利诺伊大学 56 名 18-23 岁的异性恋本科生进行了访谈，以研究学生如何看待和体验忠诚的关系以及性别实践在他们形成中的作用。我发现关系从“闲逛”开始，然后按照约会（“询问”）或联播（“滑入”）途径进入排他性。约会途径的特点是“符号性别化”（拉蒙特，2014 年），但呈现出明确的承诺进展。相比之下，“滑入”的特点是性别化的做法较少，但也因缺乏直接的口头交流而产生歧义。考虑到女性比男性对人际关系更感兴趣的观念和现实，以及性双重标准的运作，这种模糊性对女性来说尤其具有挑战性。学生在形成忠诚的关系时面临性别平等主义和定义清晰之间的一些权衡。