Human Courting

Synonyms

Dating; Courting; Courtship; Mateship

Definition

The process of social and cultural processes whereby one attempts to gain another as a mate.

Introduction

Courting as we know it has gone through a drastic change in the last century, with an almost insurmountable level of change in the past decade due to technology. The word courting itself is old fashioned, bringing images of ice cream socials in the 1950s – now we commonly use words like dating. Once upon a time, and currently in some cultures, a man and a woman did not choose to spend their lives together, their bond was chosen by parents or other authority figures. When mateships are decided upon by outside people, there was/is no courting necessary. In modern times (with some exceptions), this tradition of having a mate chosen by an outside party has gone by the wayside and has been replaced with courtship – a period of time wherein a couple gets to know one another, often wherein one person (usually the male) competes for...