The topic of my paper was to find out more in relation to the sociology behind dating. Dating is defined as an activity performed as a pair or even a group with the mentality of assessing the other person suitability as their partner in a relationship or marriage. Dating has gone a long way, from strict rules and regulations to a more open environment, including many options thanks to an ever changing world.
First before discussing modern ideologies and practices of dating we should take a step back and discover how dating first came about in American society. In the years from 1920 to 1945 dating took a bold step and became more informal than ever, having no chaperones or any formal commitment to each other. Before this change the community and church had established the rules and guidelines to dating, but now instead of the man going to the women's house, they would go out and spend time and money. People began practicing “petting” which allowed each person to get to know each other better before becoming settled in an exclusive relationship and the focus became on success and popularity without involving emotions, because before this dating had been for finding ideal mates. As the 30's came around “steady” dating became more of a trend, which was between dating and marriage, where couples would only date each other. After 1945, the age of marriage began to drop, and the number of marriages increased, because dating had now started in earlier stages like junior high school, and for kids that didn't go to college, they married soon after their graduation.
This increase in dating also lead to a greater amount of pre-marital sex which parents could not agree with, however, women who intended to stay “clean” would not have sex unless they planned on marrying. Drastic changes came into play after the 60's as feminism played a huge role in dating, causing women to be empowered to be more than a wife, showing an increase in women at colleges. The younger generation also became more liberal towards pre-marital sex and birth control became common for couples. The biggest step in relation to this was the birth control pill that came out in the 60's and within 3 years around 2 million American women were using it. Therefore, dating had changed remarkable in the 70's and 80's, because the dating process no longer as formal as the first meeting to marriage path that had been the case in early years, it became more pluralistic over time.
Sociology is the study of society and its social interaction, so this makes dating a critical component of sociology, especially because it is considered as such a big norm. Dating can be seen every day by the media, and this causes an effect on how people date because of the social norms at the period of time and place. This is very important information because sociologists look into the time and place to fully understand the society, which helps them realize who that society would feel toward certain activities, like dating. In modern America, dating is something far beyond what it once was, and some explanations include that there was a change in lifestyle that technology and industry have brought about. Some sociologist even point out that the idea of romantic love, which is the reason behind a lot of dating and marriages, was not there prior to the industrial revolution. Marriage is considered an institution that allowed a man and woman to increase their chance of survival and their quality of life with each other.
Romantic love at that point did not even exist, and it was not until the industrial revolution when people did not need to depend on each other to survive that the term began to come up. It was also after this time that feminists and some sociologist began to feel that marriage and motherhood were just ways to keep women subjugated to men, and keep them from the work force. Motherhood is a strong topic for feminists because it is socialized as a valued lifestyle but at the same time oppresses women, and it is because of society that motherhood plays a role in dating. Younger women would say that they are dating to find a lifetime partner, as oppose to an older crowd who may have a completely different view on the topic.
Dating at a young age is seen as being fun and for companionship rather than a serious relationship to find a lifelong partner. Certain sociologists have claimed that the current generation of college students who lack this interest in serious dating is a reflection of seeing people they know who have divorce. Relationships are another concern of students, with nearly one third of all college freshmen growing up with one or no parent. College students worry over the unhappy relationships between their own parents and so it results in current students worrying a great deal about divorce. This then brings into play the fears towards intimate relationships and most students being eager to escape an intimate relationship. This fear becomes evident when you look into group dating, which allows for younger adults to move away from traditional two people dating and saves them from any deep emotional intimacy that may take place in two people dating. The media has played a significant role on the dating habits and views on the opposite sex, such as male controlled media placing women as sex objects. All of the forms of media are meant to serve and maintain societal beliefs about the sexes, and so the dominance of women being displayed as stereotypes play a message to the younger generation. Studies have shown female students talk about how they have to balance a relationship with their academics, but male students talked mostly about sexuality and never went near the role of gender.
In conclusion, we see the role of society in dating every day, simply through the media, and the results of all those changes. Society and dating has come a long way since the late 19th century when dating used to be a very serious activity where two people would end up marrying each other. A lot of factors have played a role in the growth of dating, from its religious ritual courtships to its more modern day styles, including fears to technological advances. Men and women today in college are moving away from intimacy into group dating as a result of seeing their parents' generation marriages end in divorce. Men and women have a difficult time talking about gender, with men being more frightened of the topic than women. The idea of dating as an activity for finding a life time partner has practically disappeared at the younger generation's level.
