Question for the older crowd - has dating really changed?

[erub]

My mom tells me that when she was dating in college (mid 70s), she would date multiple guys simultaneously (ok no MILF jokes here, hehe)..she said up until the week that she got engaged to my dad, she was still going out with other guys. My mom even lived in another city from my dad for a while and it was no big deal, they both dated other people before he made a couple trips out there and proposed..the family joke is that back in the 40s, my grandpa would have 8 dates per week, one for each night and 2 for sunday (yep he was a playah hehe)

Nowadays it seems like everybody is exclusive..I've been with my current gf for more than a year now, and she moved away (far enough that we can only see each other one weekend per month)..i know she would not be open to me dating other people even given the fact that we are really LD, and will be for a couple of years at minimum..

 

[eakers]

yes, but now we have STDs

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: eakers
yes, but now we have STDs

bingo

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: eakers
yes, but now we have STDs

I was thinking that before I read the OP.

 

[BEL6772]

Originally posted by: erub
My mom tells me that when she was dating in college (mid 70s), she would date multiple guys simultaneously (ok no MILF jokes here, hehe)..she said up until the week that she got engaged to my dad, she was still going out with other guys. My mom even lived in another city from my dad for a while and it was no big deal, they both dated other people before he made a couple trips out there and proposed..the family joke is that back in the 40s, my grandpa would have 8 dates per week, one for each night and 2 for sunday (yep he was a playah hehe)

Nowadays it seems like everybody is exclusive..I've been with my current gf for more than a year now, and she moved away (far enough that we can only see each other one weekend per month)..i know she would not be open to me dating other people even given the fact that we are really LD, and will be for a couple of years at minimum..

Were your parents and grandparents sexually active with all of their dates? I'm guessing not. With the relatively recent idea that 'dating' == 'having sex', it isn't surprising to see the increased emphasis on fidelity within a 'dating' relationship.

 

[erub]

BEL6772: You're right, not with all of them..my mom says she wasn't sexually active until marriage (of course for her that was age 21 -another thing thats changed)..my grandfather definitely was active with some..

so just STD's? it was my hunch that girls had gotten more possessive..of course nobody really 'dates' anymore (except at the beginning of the relatinoship), you kinda just hang out with your S.O., maybe go places some of the time

 

[Electric Amish]

I don't know. The only woman I ever dated is my wife...not that I ever dated any men.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: eakers
yes, but now we have STDs

There were STDs then too but awareness was not shoved down your throat like it is today. Sexual activity was also not as widespread as today. Society actually had a set of standards, unlike today, and thus there was more pressure to make better decisions. The average woman was not the slut quite a few are today. Dates were actually dates, not sexual rendevouz for the majority of people. Yes some people were sexually active but they were in the minority unlike the overwhelming majority they represent today.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Yep, it's different, seems like people pair up now instead of date.

Things were a lot more casual back then compared to now...

 

[jadinolf]

I thought that I would offer my 2 cents.

When I was dating and you wanted to have sex with your girl friend, you'd better have an engagement ring and a marriage license handy.

There were round heeled sluts around but us ordinary guys could never get to them. The lines were too long.

 

[mugs]

I think the 60s-70s in particular was a time of "free spirits" and sexual umm... "exploration." The 40s and 50s would have been as jadinolf described.