Chapter 8

Summary:

Chapter 8 talks about how people go about dating and choosing a mate. Most people want a lifelong partner with whom they can be intimate with. Dating has decline in people under the age of 18, and how people meet and what they call dating has changed. The process of dating is thought of as a marriage market, where people compare the assets and liabilities of eligible partners and choose the best available mate. Dating has many functions, both manifest and latent. The manifest functions of dating are: maturation, fun and recreation, companionship, love and affection, and mate selection. The latent functions of dating are: socialization, social status, fulfillment of ego needs, sexual experimentation and intimacy, big business. Dating can be looked at one broad spectrum from traditional dating to contemporary dating.

Traditional dating involves going steady, girls waiting to be asked on dates, and guys paying for everything. Contemporary dating involves hooking up, hanging out, and getting together. Even though traditional dating and contemporary dating very different there are some traditional-contemporary combinations such as proms, homecoming, and dinner dates. There are many different ways in which dating partners meet. People meet through personal classified advertisements, mail-ordered brides, professional matchmakers, speed dating, and cyberdating. We choose who we dated on the basis of propinquity, physical appearance, ethnicity and race, age, social class, and values and personality. There are some harms of dating, such as dating violence, acquaintance and date rate. Things that may lead to these types of violence are family violence, gender roles, peer pressure and secrecy, use of alcohol and other drugs. Dating does not always end in marriage, and sometimes they may end up in break ups.

Interesting Thing:

One thing I found interesting was the “marriage market” section. I think many of us would like to think that we are not that self-centered to be worried about the risk and rewards when choosing a partner, but we are. Who really wants to be with someone who is constantly taking from them and draining them? There has to be equal give and take; and if social status is one of the things you are gaining who wouldn’t put up with some negative, as long as the good outweighs the bad.

Discussion:

I am curious to find out what the class believes is the definition of hooking up, and getting together. When it comes to dating I feel like that is one thing that we have not yet come to an agreement on. And that causes problems when it comes to expressing ourselves with friends.

Did anyone see the caption under the Chris Brown and Rihanna picture? What is everyone’s thought on the fact that 46% of teens blamed the incident on Rihanna?