Spring Cleaning

So I cleaned out a lot of my old posts. Just so that everyone's not completely bored, here's something my friend Todd called "the article you've written that makes the most sense." It should be pointed out Todd probably didn't read the news feature I wrote that won third place at the ACP's, but that's why I love him.


Media Credit: Liquid Library
It's rare to see couples actually go on a traditional date today. Times are changing and there are many more opportunities for men and women to get to know each other prior to a date.


It's no secret. For most members of my generation, going on actual dates is as extinct as the Chinese river dolphin.

Oddly enough, the Chinese river dolphin outlived the social trend, with the last of the species disappearing in 2006. By the time that happened, dates were like pagers. We remember them, but they're not really useful.

If you're currently arguing with me, I challenge you to think of the last time you went on a real date with someone you weren't already hooking up with. We're talking about a classic guy-picks-up-girl-just-like-in-the-movies date - and it has probably been a while since you've been on one of these. Most people in our age bracket skip dinner (and a movie) and head straight for dessert.

Being that I'm a hopeless romantic, this makes me somewhat annoyed. Being that I'm hopelessly selfish, it makes me somewhat happy. But I'm still wondering exactly why this phenomenon developed.

Looking back, the disappearance of the classic date as a way to get to know a person makes sense. If we consider dating as a means of figuring out whether we could be with someone, this process really started at the beginning of the 19th century.

At that time, women and men were kept separate in almost all areas of life. About the only place you'd see members of the opposite sex who weren't in your immediate family was at church, which I'm sure was just as unsexy then as it is now.

But think about how the world works now. Within my direct line of sight as I write in my office are five women. If I go outside onto campus, I'll see 500 more. I meet potential dates in class, at work, through friends and while I'm out and about.
Scarcity leads to value, and with the vast expansion of our dating pool we are less likely to invest a ton of time and money into a date.

It was also hard to get to know someone when dates began to develop back in the day. Women's secrets were buried behind layers of clothing, chaperones and social barriers. Now, getting to know someone is as simple as logging onto Facebook and clicking "View More Photos."

It's so easy to meet someone now that choosing to exclusively date vegetarian blondes taller than 6 feet who smoke is a completely do-able (if unlikely) scenario.
With more options, women can be more choosy.

It's no secret that the sexual choice almost always lies with the females of the species. But with the way society used to work, a woman was limited in her choices to the men who were willing to brave meeting her family and taking her on dates.

That's all changed. The number of men a woman can conceivably choose from ranges from guys in her classes to any friend of her friend's to some guy on Facebook.
And it's much easier for a man to make the first move to show he's interested now that he has text messaging and the Internet on his side.

And while you could expand this topic into an entire book, this is the simple reason behind the hook-up culture.

People have more choices and there are fewer consequences. If you buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, you're wasting valuable resources that could be used to buy cereal to accompany the milk.

So adapt with the times or you'll wind up like the Chinese river dolphin.