Hot bodies. Loud music. Laughter. A tall, attractive guy leaves his friends to approach the tipsy girl on the far side of the room. She’s attractive. His friends watch with approval as he comes up to her and offers her a drink. She takes it. He’s cute. He’s flirty. And plus, she’s already been drinking. Why not take another sip? He’s drunk too. It can be a sort of bonding experience. Maybe if they keep drinking she’ll be a little less nervous about talking to him. She smiles, laughs, and throws her head back as she downs the drink.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol is a commonly used route to teenage hookups, whether both parties would be completely eager under sober mindsets, or not.

A junior male pointed out that in his own experience, alcohol created an easier environment in which he could hook up with the girl.

“Alcohol is sort of the icebreaker. It would definitely be a lot harder if I was sober” he said.

In the same 25 person survey taken by The Piedmont Highlander for the Fantasy Slut League clarification editorial, 25 of the 25 girls said that people are usually drinking at parties and that it is entirely the girls’ decision to drink. Seventeen of the 25 said that guys do not give girls alcohol with the intent of hooking up with them.

Although guys are commonly stereotyped as being the initiators of hookups, as discovered in a study published in Gender & Society, pressuring girls to engage in sexual activities cannot be completely blamed on males. Girls, too, have a part to play in the interaction between the two parties, especially when under the influence of alcohol, a male student said. “It’s played out to be that guys are the only initiators and are generically known for pressuring girls,” he said. “Guys get pressured a ton too. Girls tend to be all over guys when intoxicated, so it’s hard for guys to say no.”

A senior guy said he has personal experience with friend groups bringing two individuals together.

“A lot of the time a guy makes the first move, but then there are also cases where she’s just really drunk or her friends tell her it’s a good idea. I’ve had girls come tell me to hook up with their friends quite a few times,” he said.

According to the CDC, at times, the hookup is completely reliant on alcohol. Without the mind-altering substance, the attraction would not have been there.

“If I was sober I probably wouldn’t have done it. The alcohol was the only thing that made it happen,” a male student said.

According to a junior male, alcohol also serves as a mask which allows them to do things with no shame. He pointed out that drinking is used more as an avenue to a hookup rather than as a key to pressuring.

“[Alcohol] makes it easy and less awkward for people to hook up. [Hooking up] is more of a thing they do and have being drunk as an excuse,” he said.

A sophomore girl said alcohol provided a way for her to hook up with no inhibitions.

“The opportunity was there and I felt like alcohol was a good excuse,” she said. “If I got embarrassed or something happened, I could blame it on being drunk.”

A junior girl has a different idea of what would have happened if she was not under the influence when she hooked up with a guy.

“We probably wouldn’t have hooked up and probably [would have] just talked or something,” she said.

A sophomore girl similarly said that if she had been sober she “probably wouldn’t have hooked up with [him].”

According to sociology professor Lisa Wade, the environment surrounding hookups puts an extreme amount of pressure upon girls to hook up.

A junior girl said that girls hook up in order to maintain a certain social image.

“[Girls think] that other guys won’t be interested in them if they seem “prude” by not hooking up,” she said. “Some girls do it to seem cooler or more attractive.”

She said her own reason for engaging in a hookup when she was drunk was for fear of creating an uncomfortable situation.

“It would be more awkward if I just walked away,” the junior said, “but thinking back on it, it would have been less awkward.”

Girls are not the only victims of sexual pressure. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in three boys ages 15 to 17 feel pressure from male friends to engage in sexual activities.

“That’s how boys get ranked in their lives,” a sophomore girl said. “[They are] more manly if [they] get with more girls.”