Clearly no one would be surprised to find out that dating (and all that goes with it) has changed A LOT over the last century. Here and now we have all these different names for sometime what appears to be the same thing. From "seeing each other," to "being exclusive" to the big bad "girlfriend/boyfriend," we are left in this mess of names wondering what the difference is. I decided to do some research on the way that dating has changed over the last century and to see if that could help some of us sort out this wild mess of dating nomenclature. Hopefully so...
1900s-1910s: So essentially what I found about dating at this point in time was that it was kind of like every family dinner you did not want to be at. A man would fancy a woman, show up to her house, and sit and get to know her. Here's the catch - her family had to always be in the room. These poor kids could hardly play footsies without feeling super weird. Not to mention that poor guy has to not only meet but hang out with the whole fam on the first date. Once parents got tired of hosting or just couldn't afford it anymore the couple started going out of the house - hence "out on a date." For this period dating meant the time you spent getting to know a guy/girl intellectually with their family and occasionally alone, before you got married. Straight to the point.
1920s-1930s: Things changed. People had cars. Dating actually became something fun instead of spending all their time chatting with a girl's parents. Girls tried to get with the guys that had money and didn't want to be seen with the same guy too many times. It was way more casual and relaxed and just some kids trying to get to know each other.
1940s-1950s: I just like this one because I wish we could bring back the phrase "going steady" (the phrase of the time). I think it's charming. But during this time, because of World War II there weren't too many men around and women became more keen on locking one down rather than their status in society.
1960s: Most of you know what happened here. Everyone kind of went wild (food for thought - this was a lot of our parents generation). The Women's Movement made women feel more free to do what they wanted, experimenting with drugs and alcohol became popular, and birth control became readily available. People say this was the end of dating and the start of the "hook-up" culture that seems so popular now.
2000s: So here we are now. As you can see things have changed an awful lot from the beginning of the century, when dating honestly sounded like the courtship process in Pride and Prejudice. Seems like we have a lot to thank the 60s for. But what do we do about the 1039403 stage process of dating someone now? What's the difference between all the dating lingo now?
It seems to me, and other research I have done, that dating is really a process now, which we are all shockingly familiar with. You start "talking." Then, "hanging out." Next, being "exclusive," and finally dating. This does not mean that monogamy is dead like many suggest because of the willy-nilly beginning stages, but it just seems that people view the dating and boyfriend girlfriend terms as more serious and a big commitment that means something for the long term even if being exclusive is virtually the same thing. A few words are carrying a lot of weight and that is good and bad. People are kind of dabbling in a weird grey area of exclusivity and can't really be sure what is off limits for the other partner. At the same time, it is showing the significance that people feel for their girlfriend/boyfriend in terms of longevity and commitment. Words are just words, but from what I gather, being a girlfriend seems to be a word that holds a lot of weight that might not be warranted. Being exclusive isn't too far from dating, but it just seems that similar to how Romeo and Juliet struggled, a name is just a name but when push comes to shove, they matter. But on the bright side - as we can see, things are changing. Dating has changed historically and probably will continue. So if you aren't into the current lingo and rituals, wait it out. Maybe one day "going steady" will come back. We all can hope.
Source: http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/history-da...
