The History of Dating.

In this dating blog I am going to be looking at where dating came from, why dating started and also datings evolution over the years! So here goes!

The idea of dating really began at the turn of the 20th century. Prior to the late early 1900s, it was called courtship and was much more private and unemotional like a business transaction really!

A woman would meet with several different men always with her parents present, to find the most suitable match for marriage. This would be more about how their financial and social status was rather than love and romance which again makes it more like a business transaction between two families which is a bit sad!

When a young woman decided on a man she wanted to see exclusively, their activities as a couple took place either in the household, or at social gatherings. At that time, there was no such thing as just two young lovers “going out on a date.”

The biggest difference between courtship and dating is the freedom that dating allowed. While traditional courtship had its own set of rules that had to be stuck to, dating became less structured and more appealing to couples.

When people started dating, relationships became less restricted and more personal. As time moved on school, college and work began to open the doors to more potential dating opportunities as the purpose of dating was to have fun and not find a partner for marriage! This big shift in young peoples lives meant that the idea of courtship was left behind and dating became the new way to have fun and meet people.

The 1950s is where the term going steady came from and it was usually accompanied by the giving of a ring, sweater, jumper or that kind of thing (remember the scene in Grease where Danny wants to give Sandy his ring!)

Then we jump to the free love movement in the 60’s but we won’t talk about that because it’s rude!

The next major change in dating started with the introduction of matchmaking services and the internet. In 1965, two Harvard students created what is known as “Operation Match” to make dating easier for young people and this was one of the first matchmaking services before the internet even caught hold of it!

And with that followed the rise of internet dating and technology that then moved onto all the dating apps that are now widely used and available in 2020.