Last Century Dating Essay

My topic is discussing how over the last century dating customs has changed between men and women in the United States. For as long as history has been recorded, courtship has been the formal manner in which relationships have started and developed. However, this is not saying that the customs and rituals of these courtships have been conducted has remained the same. In my paper, I will talk about the most influential decades between the 1900 's to present day. I will not only explain the changes in how people dated throughout history, but my research will also cover dates from the first date to how people dated while in a relationship. Also, I will use three theories to help understand the functions and dysfunctions of these changes in customs and rituals. These theories include structural functionalist theory, conflict theory, symbolic interactionist theory. After the turn of the century in the 1900 's, people started to change their …show more content…
However, there were some changes to the norms and customs of the dating world due to the impact of World War II. Some manifest functions were with the telephone, couples were able to call more and weekly dates which let the couple able to get to know their partner very well. Love was still a main reason when looking for their future spouse. Manifest dysfunctions include that with the end of World War II, men went back to work and women were expected to go back to being a housewife. This gave the power back to the men in relationships. Latent functions were since people started dating younger they married younger. While most teens engaged in several relationships each one included lots of love and affection. The latent dysfunctions, because men were once again in power of the relationship and couples were starting to date younger, it began to be harder for women to stay pure and premarital sex was on the