WHAT IS DATING AND COURTSHIP?
Dating is a special kind of
friendship between to persons of the
opposite sex that may lead to
Love, Courtship, and
Marriage. Dating begins with friendship, a special kind of friendship. Love and all the romantic stuff follows the developing friendship. Too often couples get things backward. They become lovers before becoming friends.
Dating progresses through FIVE STAGES, the
first of which is
FRIENDSHIP. Dating springs from a friendship between two members of the opposite sex. The better a young person is at developing good friendships, the successful he or she will be dating. If you want successful dating relationships, then you must begin by learning how to develop positive friendships.
In the
second stage, friendship moves into
DATING itself. But there are three phases of dating:
CASUAL, SPECIAL, and
STEADY DATING.
1. CASUAL DATING involves no special emotion involvement. You date for the pleasure of having something to do and someplace to go with member of the opposite sex.This necessary and positive step gives you the chance before you become emotionally involved to get acquainted with members of the opposite sex.
2. SPECIAL DATING requires a limited degree of emotional involvement.
3. STEADY DATING means that two young people commit themselves to date only each other. The depth of emotional commitment will vary with couple. Other use the relationship as a means of security so they will nwever have to attend a function alone or appear dateless.
The
third stage-
THE ENGAGED-TO-BE-ENGAGED is relatively new term applied the period between going steady and becoming officially engaged. A couple who has gone steady for some time begins to talk in terms of a permanent relationship and makes tentative plans towards marriage. The understanding is private and personal and not final or binding. They make no formal announcement, set no wedding date, and prepare no wedding plans.They do, however, plan to ge married and talk of a future time "someday" when they will get married.
Fourth, following the engaged-to-be-engaged level comes
FORMAL ENGAGEMENT. In engagement the couple commit themselves to marriage by exchanging some symbol that binds their commitment to each other. They also publicly announce their intention to marry, conclude their exploration of personalities, and establish a time for planning the wedding.
The
fifth and final stage, of course is,
MARRIAGE. Marriage is supposed to follow the engagement stage. I say
"supposed to" because 40 to 50 percent of all engagements are broken.
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