"Society places a lot of pressure on teenagers and young adults when it comes to dating. Some of these include the pressure to be in a relationship with someone because that is what everyone else is doing. Also, if he is not interested in you for a relationship, then the friendship is not worth it to the world. Our world has also come to place less emphasis on the Marriage part of the relationship, which is supposed to be the goal of the relationship. Also, it is common for a girlfriend and boyfriend today to believe they own their partner to an extent that it is almost like they are in a unofficial marriage together.
I believe it is important, when dating, or approaching the dating world, that you aren't looking for a boyfriend, rather, looking for good friends, and if one turns out to be who God has chosen for you, that is great! It is very important, although marriage is the goal, to not treat the dating relationship as if it is a marriage. You have not committed to this person, but at the same time you are learning commitment, so that you are ready when the marriage part does come."--MaryBeth Duren
"Our culture today has less standards than Austen's and when it comes to dating/courtship there is much more freedom. Young people tend to base their attraction on appearance. The prospect of marriage is not taken as seriously because we focus on having fun and forget the significance of dating. Although we should enjoy dating, we need to find someone who we can have a God-centered relationship with."--Ashlyn Freemyer
"Not much is expected of males and females in our society. There are low standards when it comes to dating and courtship. Propriety and discretion are not enforced. The slogan, “girls will be girls” or “boys will be boys” reflects our cultures worldview. Our society thinks young males and females cannot help themselves if, for instance, they have sex outside of marriage. The only expectations our society places is to allow the young people to “follow their hearts” and to “be what you want to be,” not what you should be."--Evangeline Lewis
"One expectation that I've noticed recently is the idea that a friendship between a guy and girl automatically means that there's a romantic interest hidden somewhere. In my own personal experience, you can't be 'just friends' to the outside looking in. This expectation isn't good - nor is it healthy for a friendship."--Petra Reini
"Our culture places many expectations upon males and females but they are very different from those that Catherine and Henry joke about. For one thing, all young people are expected to be in some sort of romantic relationship constantly. Young people are also supposed to put a lot of value and their identity into these relationships no matter how brief and meaningless they are. As long as your girlfriend or boyfriend is handsome or pretty then it is considered a good relationship. Whoever is in a romantic relationship is also supposed to be very intimate with their boyfriend or girlfriend, definitely beyond the bounds of modesty and propriety. And finally as soon as that relationship stops making you happy then you have permission to end it and go find something new."--Maddie Teel
"Some expectations society places on male and female relationships are:
(1) Dating should start whenever boys and girls begin to like each other and not when they are both mature enough to start a relationship. It’s important to secure your identity of who you are in Christ, not who you are in your boyfriend or girlfriend, thus it’s very important you are mature enough to understand this before you start in a relationship, making this a bad relationship expectation.
(2) Within a dating relationship, both people should love/like each other in some way, and this is actually a good relationship expectation compared to some of the relationships in Austen’s time that based off of gaining money or title advantages.
(3) Finally, if two people really love each other, than there should be no restrictions on how far they can take their relationship, even if they are not married, and thus making it acceptable to overstep God's guidelines for unmarried men and women relationships."--Meredith Teel
"Typical men and women all aspire to be the cutest couple. There is a term out there called "goals." Everyone aspires to be "relationship goals" or "friendship goals." There is a problem with this. You will never ever reach these unrealistic goals. Sadly people feel pressure to take cute couple pictures or to wear matching outfits because it is what society deems cute. It is not realistic. You will get worn out and eventually tear yourselves apart because the stress of becoming the ultimate "goal" is tiring." --Elise Canada
"Nowadays, on relationship issues, our culture is pressing for males and females to be more "equal" in relationships. Men are traditionally the ones who take the first step, asking a woman to date him, asking a woman to dance, and asking for a woman's hand in marriage. It was seen as improper for a woman to ask a man anything like that, and todays culture is changing things like that. In a couple ways this change might be okay, like if a man likes a woman but is too shy ask her out, that sort of thing. Culture is kind of pressing that men step back in a relationship, and women become more directing. Women having more "equality" in relationships is changing expectations on men. They don't hold open doors for women anymore, when a man and woman go out to dinner, they usually split the bill, chivalry has pretty much gone out the window. Men have less respect for women now. Even though the way of dating back in Austen's time seems silly, there was still more respect for both genders. Also, the dating age seems to be getting lower." --Sarah Stone
