Conservative Crush
Jessica Armentrout
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Entertainment
Dating. Such a simple thing we used to do. Some of us used it just as casual fun to meet people, some of us looking for the start of a serious relationship. That was the beauty of the traditional "date." Let's be cliché and say the "date" is dinner and a movie. If you asked someone to dinner, there didn't have to be any expectations, there didn't have to be alcohol and poor decisions involved and a lot was accomplished on the personal level. The problem is, people don't do this anymore.
What has happened to "the date?" Why has it become so difficult to define the start of a relationship as anything other than, "Well the first time we hooked up…"? What makes going to a party and standing around drinking keg beer an acceptable replacement to being picked up, dressed up, dinner paid for and being dropped off with a PG kiss? When I described this first date it seems like a common, traditional scenario, but I don't know anyone who has actually gone on one of those in the past two years.
I cannot think of one friend of mine in a relationship that started out by something other than "hanging out" or "hooking up." What makes a real "date" so taboo? It could be the peer pressure, it could be the paying the check thing, it could be lack of courage to ask or it could be that women do not expect it anymore. Just in conversation with a friend the recently she said asked "Is it bad that in 8 months we have only gone on three actual dates? Do I have a right to be a little perturbed about this?" Yes, she absolutely does. But at the same time, if she has let him get away with it for that long, he probably isn't going to change.
As women have gained equality, we should demand more, not less, from the men who want to be a part of our lives. Why be satisfied with some guy taking the easy way out by just inviting you to a party every weekend and then hoping you'll make out with him? The novelty of the idea of just inviting your object of interest to a party is that you have other people to crutch the conversation and alcohol… two things that are NOT successful building blocks for a relationship. We're supposed to be more independent but we have shown ourselves to be more desperate by pretending that we can really be satisfied by drunken conversation in line for the keg or on the shared ride home from the bar… this applies to males and females.
What has happened to "the date?" Why has it become so difficult to define the start of a relationship as anything other than, "Well the first time we hooked up…"? What makes going to a party and standing around drinking keg beer an acceptable replacement to being picked up, dressed up, dinner paid for and being dropped off with a PG kiss? When I described this first date it seems like a common, traditional scenario, but I don't know anyone who has actually gone on one of those in the past two years.
I cannot think of one friend of mine in a relationship that started out by something other than "hanging out" or "hooking up." What makes a real "date" so taboo? It could be the peer pressure, it could be the paying the check thing, it could be lack of courage to ask or it could be that women do not expect it anymore. Just in conversation with a friend the recently she said asked "Is it bad that in 8 months we have only gone on three actual dates? Do I have a right to be a little perturbed about this?" Yes, she absolutely does. But at the same time, if she has let him get away with it for that long, he probably isn't going to change.
As women have gained equality, we should demand more, not less, from the men who want to be a part of our lives. Why be satisfied with some guy taking the easy way out by just inviting you to a party every weekend and then hoping you'll make out with him? The novelty of the idea of just inviting your object of interest to a party is that you have other people to crutch the conversation and alcohol… two things that are NOT successful building blocks for a relationship. We're supposed to be more independent but we have shown ourselves to be more desperate by pretending that we can really be satisfied by drunken conversation in line for the keg or on the shared ride home from the bar… this applies to males and females.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
646-563
posted 7/11/09 @ 10:43 AM AST
Lol thanks for such informative article on dating, I will definitely take these advices in my heart :p
Stocker @ Food Lion
posted 11/04/09 @ 7:55 PM AST
Here is a three-step process to acquire the love you seek:
1. Support your local library by checking out a copy of "The Rules." Follow.
2. Quit bitching. (Continued…)
Post a Comment