Dating is an evolution of the courtship ritual; it became common for young couples — like this pair at a soda fountain in the 1960s — to go out for a movie or a meal as part of a courtship.
Young people during one of the most sexually active periods of their lives aren't necessarily looking for a mate. What used to be a mate-seeking ritual has shifted to hookups: sexual encounters with no strings attached.Photo Credit: NPR.
"The idea used to be you are going to date someone that is going to lead to something sexual happening," Bogle says. "In the hookup era, something sexual happens, even though it may be less than sexual intercourse, that may or may not ever lead to dating."
Young people from high school on are so preoccupied with friends, getting an education and establishing themselves, they don't make time for relationships.
New Goal: Fun, Not Marriage
"Going out on a date is a sort of ironic, obsolete type of thing," says 25-year-old Elizabeth Welsh, who graduated from college in 2005 and now lives in Boston. She says that among her friends, dating is a joke. "Going out on a date to dinner and a movie? It's so cliche — isn't that funny?"
2 comments:
I'm a little confused. (OK, maybe a lot... shaddup!) Is this NPR article really about singles hooking up or is it an allegory about America's flirtation with Obama and the subsequent screwing? Oh, sure, there are the inconvenient diseases, many of which do not yet have a cure, but it felt exhilarating at the time and was worth it.
Well, it is a lot cheaper than dating. :-^)
-Dave
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