In the 1940's and 50's it was expected of the young that you would seriously date, and find a mate or someone to marry.
In highschool dating was expected and then in college was where you most likely would find your partner.
The iinstitution of marriage was very different than it is in 2006. It was a part of the American psyche that you were expected to have a marriage, and make it work no matter what. It was implied that marriage was very important and was to be treated as sacred, and something that required a lot of work. Divorce meant you were an outcast, divorce was the last resort. Today, the process of divorce has become so much more easy that, many troubled couples find it easier to opt out of the relationship than to stick to it and come through problems. There are many relationships that are better ended in divorce, but there are so many that could be saved if it were considered sacred.
As I write this I need to talk about getting to know someone. Many people marry to marry, and get to know someone after marriage only to find that they are not as a god match as they had previously thought. What happened to getting to know someone? What happened to saving yourself for someone special? What happened to the art of dating?
I see fewer and fewer people setting others up on dates or having friendly gatherings where people can meet, WITHOUT THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL! Are we too busy? Is life so fast that we forget to pay attention to each other?
In a city like Los Angeles, everyone drives to work, to the store, to the bank, everywhere! So in able to meet a mate, you'd literally have to hit someone with your car! Because of the isolated lifestyle here, many people avoid contact with each other. Perhaps this is because this is what we get used to doing, in our cars, at work, etc...
Anyhoo, this is just me rambling about an institution that has changed over so many years, and there certainly are cultures and humans that cmpletely value marriage as sacred, but there are also those in between who do not have any clue what a successful marriage entails and have never had a great example of it growing up.
-Jen
