Functionalist Perspective on Dating, Courting, and Other Pre-Marriage Arrangements

Dating, courting, and other pre-marriage arrangements are practices that are influenced by the time period, social conditions and constructs, biology, cultural norms, and institutional structures that surround people. Dating has changed a lot in the past century. In the 1920's to 1940’s, dating involved a more informal dating. For the first time there were no chaperones on dates between males and females. The dates required no formal commitment to each other and there was more freedom. Previously the community and church established the dating rules, but now peers institute the rules. Instead of the man coming to the women's house, They went "out" where it required money. It is said that there was a control issue surrounding the change in dating. Previously dating was somewhat in the women's control because the man was coming into her house. However, now couples were going out and the man paid for the date, giving up a little of the woman’s control. The most popular pastimes on dates were dancing and movies. Before the 1920's going dancing was a group activity but now it became couple oriented. Cars also had a huge impact on dating practices. Having a car

now enabled couples to have more privacy and intimacy. The practice of "petting" spread over all the dating couples now more than ever and there were even "petting" parties. This new kind of dating allowed each person to get to know each other better before they settled in an exclusive relationship. The focus was now on success and popularity with out involving emotions. Before, this type of dating, formal courting was for the purpose of finding the "ideal" mate. During the 1930's, "steady" relationships had developed as a stage between casualness of dating and marriage. When a "steady" stage had formed, they dated only each other, which could last for months or maybe just a week. This bond was marked with meaningful rituals, for instance the sharing class rings or letter jackets. Romantic love was the only basis for marriage, and you definitely knew when you found "the right one". Some of the same practices of the twenties and thirties were carried to the years between 1945 and 1960. However, there was a drop in age of

the couples marrying and there was an increase of marriage in the 40's and early 60's. In the year 1950, the average age for a male marring was 22 and the female 20. This is because dating activities now began at a much lower age, in junior high dating was common. The youth that didn't go to college married soon after graduation, and after 1-2 years of courtship. If women did go to college, they were seen as having only one goal, to

"land" a man or getting their "MRS" degree. Parents didn't agree with

This new behavior towards dating evolving in the youth because of the Increase in pre-marital sexual behavior. The "good" girl however engaged in all form of petting except intercourse, to keep "pure" for their husbands. If women did engage in pre-marital intercourse, she usually intended to marry. Love still was the basis for marriage, which was the most important source of happiness and fulfillment. The single men and women were pitied, because they were thought of lacking happiness in their life. From the 1960's to the present there have been some drastic changes in the dating. Feminism had a big impact on dating rituals. Women were now empowered more than ever to think of themselves not as just a wife but also a human being. Between the years 1960-1972 the amount of women in colleges greatly increased. The youth culture also began to develop a more liberal attitude towards pre-marital sex. Birth control was now very common for couples to have. The pill went on the market in 1960, and within three years more than 2 million American women were using it.

It is important to look at dating, courting, and other pre-marriage arrangements from a sociologist’s functionalist perspective because it plays such a large role in every day behavior for its meaning in society. Dating is a practice that is highlighted again and again in the popular media. The ways in which people date, is effected by the cultural norms of the time and place. To understand dating, courting, and other pre-marriage arrangements we must look at a particular time and place to understand the ways in which a society works and therefore how the people in that society go about activities like dating.

In modern America, dating has emerged as an activity that is not often regulated by adults as it once had been. There are many explanations for this change including the change in lifestyle that industry and technological advances have brought about. Sociologists point out that the idea of romantic love did not even exist prior