Sign in with Facebook
Maddie's Reviews > From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America
From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America
by
by
In "From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America," Beth L. Bailey explores the development and traditions of the American dating system from 1920 to 1965. Arguing that changes in courtship practices fundamentally affected the way many Americans lived their day-to-day lives, Bailey’s narrative highlights the construction of different meanings of dating practices, as well as the cultural weight these changes carried during notable historical moments.
Some of these historical moments produced reverberations that created tension between the sexes, such as the way courtship practices transitioned from the “rating-dating” system used in the pre-WWII era to the early marriage-focused postwar years. As such, Bailey uses these conflicts to show the ways that dating had to change in order to accommodate the needs, wishes, and demands of a culture undoubtedly affected by loss (of men, of stability and security, of cultural and self-awareness, of opportunity, etc.). This pre-war/post-war example strongly represents the ways that circumstances often beyond the control of many Americans catapulted the American dating system into an alien realm; a realm that forced individuals to adopt different (yet sometimes more obliging) mindsets towards interactions with the opposite sex.
An engaging read for students of modern history or anyone interested in the historical basis for American dating, marriage, and family practices in the twentieth century.
Some of these historical moments produced reverberations that created tension between the sexes, such as the way courtship practices transitioned from the “rating-dating” system used in the pre-WWII era to the early marriage-focused postwar years. As such, Bailey uses these conflicts to show the ways that dating had to change in order to accommodate the needs, wishes, and demands of a culture undoubtedly affected by loss (of men, of stability and security, of cultural and self-awareness, of opportunity, etc.). This pre-war/post-war example strongly represents the ways that circumstances often beyond the control of many Americans catapulted the American dating system into an alien realm; a realm that forced individuals to adopt different (yet sometimes more obliging) mindsets towards interactions with the opposite sex.
An engaging read for students of modern history or anyone interested in the historical basis for American dating, marriage, and family practices in the twentieth century.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
From Front Porch to Back Seat.
Sign In »
