Think about the humble nightclub for too long and it starts to seem stranger and stranger. Hundreds of people wolfing down litres of liquid intoxicant while dancing repetitively for hours. What purpose does it serve?
There are those of us who claim to merely enjoy being out with our friends, the sensation of drunken euphoria nightclubs induce, and the comforting thought of post-night-out cheesy chips that clubbing brings. For many people, however, whether they admit it to themselves or not, one of the main motives is to pull. To get that bit of action to make the hangover, unwanted Jagerbombs and heart-breaking amounts of money spent all worth it. In many ways, the random club-night pull can be good for the soul, offering a break from incessant dancing and in some ways, a little ego boost; it provides assurance that it is in fact possible you do not look like the back end of a bus.
However, lurking behind the seemingly harmless clubbing culture are those people who are perhaps a little too intent on getting a bed partner for the night. We all know these people exist, and are often joked about by so-called ‘mates’ and acquaintances, but the problems brought on by the creepy, over-zealous serial puller are often masked by clubs themselves, and this is made worse by the fact that the people who fall prey to these issues often blame it on themselves. The influence of alcohol is often blamed, as inhibitions dissipate and the ability to make rational judgements about potential bed-mates gets a whole lot worse.
But how can the responsibility be placed solely on the individual when clubs offer drinks so cheap they might as well be free, and reel off a playlist that would even make Robin Thicke blush?
The serial puller knows the ways of the club, whether he is conscious of it or not. I use the word ‘he’ here with caution: there are many girls who could conceivably fit into the category of the serial puller, but the creepy culture of clubs is disproportionately and obviously stacked against girls.
In an environment where all the senses are muted or obscured by loud music, flashing lights and, of course, alcohol, the creepy guy is hard to say no to, and this is worsened by the fact that random hook-ups are very much the expected result of a night out. They seem harmless, and if all else fails, might bring some amusement to the friends you brought along with you to the club.
There are, however, deeper issues than this. Once the serial puller has reeled in their prey, there is the immediate question of what happens next. As your lips are locked to the stranger in front of you, questions naturally pass through your head – what’s this person’s name? What subject do they do? How old are they? – and you might not even have the chance to exchange one word with them.
The assumption that your partner in pulling will automatically desire to come to bed is held by many people, and the pressures put on girls by student and clubbing culture is quite immense. It often seems easier to go along with it than object and back away.
It is often an issue swept under the carpet, but some men are pushy, and once the night is over and morning comes, they reassure themselves that, technically, she didn’t say no, that her dress was too provocative for her not to want it, and that, indeed, it was not just her that the alcohol affected.
In this way, it is easy to blame clubs for the sort of creepy culture students harbour, as they are the perfect venues for the puller to strike – numbing, dark and alluring. However, the clubs are unlikely to change and are not the intrinsic problem here.
The emergence of a new culture in which all questionable deeds and morals can be excused merely as ‘banter’, in which girls are expected to wear little more than small pieces of material in order to be deemed attractive, and in which groups of males value each other based on the number of notches on the bed post each has racked up, means that something needs to change within student culture and beyond.
It is easy to brush off student promiscuity as harmless frivolity, and for the most part, this is exactly what it is. But there are deeper and darker elements at work here, and they can be just as damaging for the much-maligned ‘creepy guy’ as for the girls that he goes out to pull.