Pros And Cons Of Dating

1551 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Culture and courtship

From Courtship Rituals to Endless Opportunities
Dating in the modern age seems like a lot of work. Romanticized ideals of dating from the 1950s with the perfect soul mate and the excitement of going steady no longer apply in current times. These days, only after an intense round of filtering through prospective love interests and rating on a scale of attractiveness and mutuality would one ever consider asking someone out. However, the 21st century offers far more freedom and equality in comparison to the 50s, with women finding success in professional and personal lives. No longer is the man considered the only breadwinner of the household; women are now achieving great strides in equality in the workforce. How come these brief differences in time resulted in a tremendous shift in social values that changed the face of dating? Nevertheless, the youth dating culture of the 21st century rivaled that of the 1950s due to the differences in the principles of dating, the exclusivity
There were strict rules that men and women followed in the 50s that was symbolic of the wholesome nature of dating. For example, men were responsible for asking women out, gaining parental approval, doling flattery and extravagant gestures in order to impress their prospective partners, providing the financial means, and lastly, provide a physical token that signified that the relationship was official. For women, it was crucial that they keep their virtue and maintain their innocence, all while doting on their boyfriends and providing emotional support. Couples at the time were not mutually exclusive and the expectation was that both partners stayed committed to one another. Additionally, men were the only ones who could achieve relative economic and social mobility in comparison to the rigid status of women so men were expected to provide for essentially

Show More
Related

  • Gender Roles in the 1950's Compared to Gender Roles Portrayed in Rebel Without a Cause

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like stated earlier, gender roles in the 50’s were very strict and narrow-minded. That being said, women were extremely limited in their role in society. First of all, women were expected to be homemakers. By homemaker, I mean the women w...

    Read More

  • Summary Of From Front Porch To Backseat: The History Of Dating

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    Belongingness is an emotion that everyone longs to feel throughout the course of their lives. Starting in adolescence, we as humans are naturally attracted to others in a romantic way. Girls in junior high start wearing make-up and dressing nice in order to impress the boys and get their attention. During this time, both girls and boys want a boyfriend or girlfriend, and are interested in this idea of “dating.” As boys and girls progress into high school, dating becomes even more of the thing to do. As a young teenager, I wanted to date, but my parents were against it. Many parents have a negative outlook about dating because of the consequences it may lead to, mainly sexual activity. Some believe that dating has changed drastically for the worse, but Beth Bailey believes differently. In Bailey’s article entitled “From Front Porch to Backseat: A History of the Date,” she analyzes the history of dating and how numerous people have not conceptualized this idea correctly. By showing authority, evidence, and values, Bailey presents an effective argument about the history of dating.

    Read More

  • Flappers

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    The flapper life moved at a faster pace. Before this era of change, there was no dating scene where common interaction between men and women heading for spousal relationship could occur. The proper method to finding a spouse was controlled by the male. A young lady was expected to wait for a man to address her with intentions of marriage to begin courting (Rosenberg 1). The war left “nearly a whole generation of young women without suitors” (Rosenberg 1). This situation encouraged the flapper lifestyle because women did not want or have time to wait for a suitor.

    Read More

  • The Journey Through The Differences In Relationships in Cold Sassy Tree

    1659 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dating back to the early 1900’s and all the way through to the present, romantic relationships have been viewed differently. From strict unwritten dating regulations to not having regulations at all, recent generations have become more liberated in making their own decisions. The progressing times have made us become a more accepting society and have caused a decrease in the strong practice of religion and class. Even though differences such as religion and class in relationships were more than an issue they were not always a complete deterrence.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The 1950s

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    The world was a very different place sixty years ago. The men came home from the war to take back the work force from the women and sent the women back into the home to follow traditional domestic roles. All aspects of life had to be cookie cutter perfect, to include the gender roles. The roles of both genders have been portrayed by the BBC Television show, Call the Midwife, as they use to be in the 1950’s. The men were the breadwinners of their family by working arduous hours, protect their family and home, and have zero contact with feminine things and activities; the women were expected to get married early, always look their best, and never indulge in their aspirations for a career outside of the home unless they were single.

    Read More

  • Teenage Dating in the 1950s

    3472 Words  | 7 Pages

    Teenagers like these were unique. They were given a chance to redefine the ways things were done in America. One of the conventions they put a new spin on, and consequently revolutionize, is the idea and practice of dating. The 1950's set up precedents in dating that led to what many consider "normal" dating today.

    Read More

  • Homemaker to Superwomen: The Evolution of Betsy Rath

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the beginnings of the cold war the media and propaganda machine was instrumental in the idea of the nuclear family and how that made America and democracy superior to the “evils” of the Soviet Union and Communism; with this in mind the main goal of the 50’s women was to get married. The women of the time were becoming wives in their late teens and early twenties. Even if a women went to college it was assumed that she was there to meet her future husband. Generally a woman’s economic survival was dependent on men and employment opportunities were minimal.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of He's Just Not That Into You

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    For a very long time, men always had a higher status than women. In marriages during the beginning of the 1900s, men were dominant over their wives. They were the providers and the leaders of their families.(Bernstein, 2011) For women, their main goal in life was to get married to a man that could provide for them financially. Women did not attend college or have careers, so having a man asking for their hand in marriage was a need and a privilege. Originally, marriage contracts stated that any property that the woman owned automatically became his once they were married. (Bernstein, 2011) Even though marriage contracts were changed so that women could own their own property and they gained the right to vote in 1920, women were still looked down upon. (Bernstein, 2011) Until the 1980s, rape within marriages was legal because technically it was the wife’s job to have sex with her husband. (Bernstein, 2011) Women literally only seen as something for men to marry so they had someone provide them with children and to take care of them

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Society

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    Warren Farrell is a well educated man who focuses his attention on gender. In his essay “Men as Success Objects,” he writes about gender roles in male-female relationships. He begins, “for thousands of years, marriages were about economic security and survival” (Farrell 185). The key word in that statement is were. This implies the fact that marriage has changed in the last century. He relates the fact that post 1950s, marriage was more about what the male and female were getting out of the relationship rather than just the security of being married. Divorce rates grew and added to the tension of which gender held the supremacy and which role the individuals were supposed to accept. “Inequality in the workplace” covered up all of the conflicts involved with the “inequality in the homeplace”(Farrell). Farrell brings to attention all ...

    Read More

  • Taming of the Shrew: Male Domination

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    We, as Americans, have come towards the concept of equality in relationships. Male dominant relationships were common throughout the forties and fifties in the United States. Women were deemed as housewives, whose job was to clean and have dinner ready for their husband's return from work. Imagining women in that type of status is difficult to do in society. Families are not a place for tyranny.

    Read More

  • Social Status And Dating

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social status has played a major role in many different aspects of life practically since the beginning of time. Social status acts as a label for one’s predicament of living. Such a label directly affects day-to-day tasks, opportunities, and interactions. Generally, how we perceive others is a determining factor for the value we place upon them to our lives. For this particular study, I will be focusing on how social status affects dating/relationships. Dating is the basis of any intimate relationship that can potentially lead to a long-term arrangement such as marriage and pro-creation.

    Read More

  • The Bachelor: Expectations For Love

    2115 Words  | 5 Pages

    The search for love is a dilemma most people are faced with at some point. Many different reality shows have been released over the years focusing on relationships. However the television show, The Bachelor, takes reality T.V. dating to the next level. Different from most dating reality T.V. shows, the participants on The Bachelor are looking for much more than just a relationship; the end goal is a proposal. The show revolves around a single bachelor who is essentially dating an entire group of woman, typically starting the first episode with around 25. As the show advances the bachelor eliminates women by not offering them a rose during the ceremony. All of the women that do receive a rose are invited to stay another week at the house while continuing to go on dates with the same man. Early in the season, the bachelor goes on large group dates with all of women at once but as the season progresses; the remaining women are also invited on one-on-one dates. The problem with this show is that it depicts love in an illogical way. Because she is the last woman, the bachelor’s logic dictates that she must be the right woman for him. The women and the bachelor of the show are whisked away to romantic and tropical areas to live while dating each other. Aside from the fact that the man these women are dating also is dating 24 other women, the participants in this show are completely removed from actual reality. There is no strain or issues that they have to work through like the real world with honest relationships. In this paper I will explain the issues with The Bachelor and what affects it has on our culture. My research question is: What does...

    Read More

  • Classic Television Show: Leave It To Beaver

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 1950‘s suburbs such as Levitown were springing up all across the country, and the so-called American dream was easier to achieve for everyday Americans than ever before. They had just come out of two decades dominated by The Great Depression and World War Two, and finally prosperity was in sight. The need for women to work out of the home that was present during the war was no more, and women were overwhelmingly relegated to female-dominated professions like nursing, secretaries, and teachers, if they worked at all. Televisions became very popular, and quickly became part of the American cultural canon of entertainment. Leave It To Beaver is a classic American television show, encompassing values such as respect, responsibility and learning from your mistakes. But, at least in the episode used for this essay, it is also shockingly sexist to a modern viewer. This begs the question, what does the episode The Blind Date Committee1 say about the gender expectations of the 1950’s?

    Read More

  • Women In The 1950s Essay

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    The women of the 1950s struggled to fit into the mold that the American culture wanted them to be in. Women were meant to be the caretakers of the family and were expected to do whatever it would take to make sure that everything was perfect for their husbands. In a magazine article from Housekeeping Monthly that came out in 1955, there are a list of things that a woman must strive to do in order to be the ideal wife. This includes things such

    Read More

  • Essay On Emerging Adulthood

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    Arnett (2000) explains the nature of romantic relationships in adolescence as tentative and transient where dating has more of a social component rather than romantic. He also describes dating in adolescence as often taking place in groups, where “adolescents share recreation such as parties, dances, and hanging out” (p. 473). It is evident that romantic relationships in adolescence are unstable, short-lived, and lack the mature component seen across adult romantic relationships. Arnett conveys that exploration in love becomes more serious and intimate during emerging adulthood. As opposed to adolescent romantic relationships, dating in emerging adulthood “is more likely to take place in couples, and the focus is less on recreation and more on exploring the potential for emotional and physical intimacy” (473). For instance, an adolescent in high school may seek a romantic partner to gain some sort of social status or experience in the process of romantic exploration whereas a senior in college may seek a long-term and mature partner to build a life with in adulthood. Exploration in the area of love during emerging adulthood “tends to involve a deeper level of intimacy, and the implicit question

    Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of Dating

Open Document