Teenage Dating in the 1950s Essay -- Relationships

Teenage Dating in the 1950sTeenagers in the 1950s are so iconic that, for some, they represent the last generation of innocence before it is lost in the sixties. When asked to imagine this lost group, images of bobbysoxers, letterman jackets, malt shops and sock hops come instantly to mind. Images the likes of these are so classic, they, for a number of people, are as American as apple pie. They are produced and perpetuated by the media, through films like Grease and Pleasantville and television receiver shows like Happy Days, The Donna Reed Show, and Leave It to Beaver. Because of these entertainment forums, these images will continue to be a pop cultural symbol of the 1950s. After the second mankind War, teenagers became much more noticeable in America (Bailey 47). Their presence and existence became readily more apparent because they were granted more freedom than previous generations incessantly were.Teenagers like these were unique. They were given a chance to redefine the wa ys things were done in America. One of the conventions they put a new spin on, and consequently revolutionize, is the desire and practice of dating. The 1950s set up precedents in dating that led to what many consider normal dating today.ORIGINS OF DATINGDating is definitely an American phenomenon. few different countries carry on this practice with as much fervor as Americans do. Then again, few other countries have the same social conditions as America. Since the turn of the century, there has been a greater freedom between men and women, for example, both attend the same schools with the same classes. Both sexes become accustomed to the other at early ages which is very conducive to the practice of dating (Merrill 61).Dating essentially replaced the pra... ...isible. They drove cars and had money to spend. They were a new source of power, independent from their parents and attain for a change.Works CitedBailey, Beth. From Front Porch to Back Seat. Baltimore Johns Hopkins Univ ersity, 1988.Cross Country Report on Teens. cardinal Sept. 1959 134-135.Do I have the right to love? Seventeen May 1959 136.Gould, Sandra. Always Say Maybe. bran-new York Golden Press, 1960.How Much Do Boys Spend on Girls? Seventeen June 1959 75, 121.McGinnis, Tom. A Girls Guide to Dating and Going Steady. New York Doubleday, 1968.Merrill, Frances E. Courtship and Marriage. New York William Sloane, 1949.Sadler, William. Courtship and Love. New York Macmillan, 1952.Smith, Ken. Mental Hygiene Classroom Films 1945-1970. New York Blast Books, 1999.The Art of Pursuit. Seventeen Feb. 1959 72-73, 131.