Characteristics, Benefits, and Costs of Traditional and Contemporary Dating Patterns

Marriage and Family
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1 Comparison between Latent and Manifest Functions of Dating
Manifest functions are the conscious or pre-planned functions in a relationship while latent functions are the unconscious and unintended roles in a relationship between two genders. Latent functions of dating also include socialization in that through dating people learn about the different gender roles, values, beliefs, attitudes and family structures that are different from theirs, whilst companionship is a manifest function that dating gives. Lastly, intimacy and sexual experimentation is a latent function that most teenagers learn during dating while maturation is a manifest function that dating sends. Dating sends a message to an adolescent that he or she is reaching puberty.
2 Characteristics, Benefits, and Costs of Traditional and Contemporary Dating Patterns
The traditional dating system that was synonymous with the 1970s is still a dependable method of meeting potential spouses. In traditional dating systems, females and males follow traditional gender norms especially among middle class individuals. Both women and men expect the male gender to be in control of the relationship, pay bills, deciding where the date is to be held, pick the woman, and even take her back home. The traditional dating events are characterized by coming out parties, bat mitzah a rite of passage for Jewish girls among others.
On the other hand, contemporary dating is more casual and includes actions like, hook ups, get-togethers and hang outs. Hang outs are simply and teenage pastime and also a place can be set for people to visit and leave at different times. Get together can be organized at a friend’s or relative’s residence depending on the social group that is getting together. And hooking up is a dating phenomenon where people have no strings sexual encounters that may or may not lead to dating. Since they are usually done during drug use, entertainment joints, such encounters have little possibility of future commitment.
3 Five strategies for meeting dating partners
Though most American met their spouses through friends, in schools and at work, there are several strategies that people use nowadays to meet potential dating partners. The first one could be personal classified advertisements published in magazines, newspapers and online. Such adverts usually bear the qualities of the man or woman looking for a date and those of the prospective date.
Second, we have the mail-order brides where American men can seek women from economically disadvantaged areas like South Asia, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Russia and Philippines. Usually pictures and descriptions of the women are published for potential dates to match with. Third, we have professional match making where match makers charge some service fee to connect date searchers with potential dates.
Next, we have speed dating where singles attend an event organized in local restaurants, churches and other social joints and engage face-to-face with 14 or more potential romantic partners before settling on one whom they can agree to meet for a longer date on a later date. Lastly, we have online dating where pot...