the early nineteenth century, women had the dominant role in deciding upon whom she would like to pursue regarding a relationship. Ultimately, the role of masculinity had completely shifted as far as supremacy in a relationship. In the American history of dating, there are many shifts regarding attitudes, sex and the overall idea of marriage. American society now approaches a once traditional way of marriage with a casual attitude. Bailey’s statement of “our past does not contain a golden age of courtship” (Bailey, 143) is agreeable. She claims that some people may become nostalgic when looking back on the old ways of relationships because there were ‘rules’. However, if Americans continue to look back, all of the positive advances within
