Cultural Comparison of Generational Dating

Before cell phones and the Internet, if a man was interested in a woman, he would call her on his house telephone, walk over or drive to her house and ask for a date. In 2013, if a person is interested in someone, they look online at their Facebook profile or send a text message. Over the past thirty years, there has been a significant change in the dating culture. As society evolved and new technology was introduced, the process of meeting and dating has adapted in order to keep up with new advances. Social psychologists have said that close relationships are not only beneficial, but an essential part of happiness and well-being. This can especially be seen with the time, effort, and investment that is put into dating. As mentioned before, the process of dating has drastically changed over the past thirty years. One could argue that the respect and value of dating is not exactly what it used to be. In the 1980s, dating would actually involve going on many dates and getting to know a person before committing to an exclusive relationship. In 2013, if a young man is interested in a young woman, he looks at her Facebook profile and follows her Twitter posts. Then after talking for a week or two over text messages, they are in an exclusive relationship. The concept of dating, which can be defined as going out on dates to see if there is a possibility of a relationship, is gone. In present time, once a couple is exclusive they may go to dinner together, see movies, go to a concert, etc., but these activities were not done as a part of the courtship. The expectations of dating are higher now than they were in the 1980s and 1990s. People want to go out and do more things, which in turn costs more money. Thirty years ago it was more acceptable to stay home and rent a movie, or even make a simple dinner at home. Now people want to go to fancy dinners or take weekend trips. Expectations may be greater now because men want to impress women more than ever. Women are

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