With every new generation, come changes in how people interact and socialize. Dating is no exception to this. In the 1930s and '40s it would have been unheard of for a woman to be respected if she didn't have a deep desire to marry and become a wholesome wife with children. The 1950s and '60s was the age of the white picket fence, perfect house with the beautiful family--the husband that is successful and the wife that is beautiful. Except, if you have seen Mad Men, or better yet talked to anyone that was alive in that era, you know it was not perfect. Women were suppressed most of the time, in that they couldn't have their own careers, and even if they chose to do so, it was very difficult for them to succeed. Therefore, their lives revolved around taking care of their children and husband, when he would arrive home from work at 6pm on the spot.
Once the 197os hit, the American woman changed forever. She was more liberated and sex was the least taboo it had ever been in our society. Suddenly the modern woman could do what (and who) she truly wanted to do. Not everyone adapted this mindset and progressive way of being, but many took to it, and it changed how men and women interacted and had relationships forever. The woman was no longer the submissive partner that was assumed to stay at home with the children while the husband goes off to his career and is able to enjoy another aspect to his life. It was easier for the woman to become equally educated and therefore she could get a decent job and not feel pressured into being married at such a young age.
Fast forward to the 2000s and the young woman is even more progressed. But, in my opinion, what has taken a negative turn is dating and the standards for which relationships are based off of. The young men of today aren't old enough to remember the time when a man would always have to pick up the girl for a date, meet her family, be extremely respectful, and act in the way of what the older generation did to court a woman into a relationship or marriage. Now, it has all become too casual. I touched on this in my post about online dating. I can say to be fair in my argument that I would be confused if I was a young man dating, especially in New York.
One of the problems is that sex is too talked about and overexposed now. (I think we can agree upon this since certain clothing stores are now selling push-up bikini tops to tweens.) The young man thinks women care about sex just as much, and that they aren't necessarily looking for something too serious. But no matter what a woman says, if she is interested in you, she has the idea of marriage or at least a monogamous relationship in the back of her mind. The young women is confused in different ways though, as we are over sexualized in our society, so we often feel we have to convey that side to a man early on, even if we don't really feel comfortable doing so. And what happens is that actually drives them away from thinking that it will become any significant or serious in the future. The rules are fuzzy. What is the happy medium of courting, having sex, and building something meaningful?
To add more complications, the young modern woman wants to be able to be the CEO of a major corporation just as much as she wants to be a wife and mother. Okay, well then how is a man supposed to know how to treat her!? It's very confusing. We must remember that business is a completely different aspect of life from dating and relationships. How you treat a woman at the workplace should be quite different from how you treat a woman you are trying to impress and become a couple with (or whatever your end goal is). This is where the young man gets lost. I suggest taking some pointers from the past generations who had to work hard to not only succeed in business but also in finding a woman to love and care for him.
