Sunday, November 27, 2011

COURTSHIP: Out of the Mouths of Babes


It's hard to believe these days instead of these little romantic cute dances all they have is grinding, bad words, disrespect,.... shaking...ugh. I'm 14 and I want my prom to be like this... :(

-A You Tube Commenter


The above comment was posted by a 14 year old girl  in regards to the YouTube clip from the movie "Saturday Night Fever" . John Travolta's character is dancing with his partner to the Bee Gees song, "More than a woman". It is a very romantic dance indeed, a simple dance with no sexual overtones.  In the midst of  (in my humble opinion) an oversexualized society where sex sells everything, here is a young lady born at the end to the 1990's who is sad that there is no sincere romantic exchange between men and women, just simulated sex on the dance floor. For her to make that comment is very telling of the kind of interaction she has either witnessed or experienced in her young life. A fourteen year old should not have to experience this type of sadness for something so early in her life.  She is not alone, a month earlier another commenter simply said this:
this is my dream prom night.... 

Wow, I am speechless! She said this is what she dreamed of for her prom, she did not speak of her dress, or the limo, or the party, but the essence of  romance she saw in this clip from a 33 year old movie. Is it possible that many  young people are tired of the garbage that has been fed to them in the name of being with the times and having more freedom? While I am sure they are not asking to go back 100 years, it is apparent that they want some of the elements of courtship and romance restored.

It is not just the girls who feel something is missing, young men are expressing the same sorrow. My 22 year old cousin has spoken to me on more than one occasion that he wished girls were more interested in being courted instead of immediately wanting to take the interaction to an "adult" level so soon after meeting. My guess is thinking they know what the guy is probably expecting, they jump the gun not presenting an opportunity for the possibility of something wonderfully different, the chance to be romanced and  they rob the young men who genuinely want the opportunity to express it.

I wonder how long it is going to take for adults/parents to see that not all young people desire to be a friend with benefits. Maybe, just maybe they want to learn about  those so called "old fashioned, out of date" values that are ridiculed by those who are out of touch with what is really important to people.

2 comments:

  1. I remember a young friend from church talking about wanting to go out on a real date where the man paid and did the traditional things that women expect from a man who is courting her. Unfortunately she had decided to choose men that were not like this. I do not have regular contact with her these days but I saw that she was dating another fellow stating that 'she was in love'. I hope that he is treating her like I feel good men will treat women.

    I believe more and more young women in particular want this but most will not state it publicly for fear of being accused of having standards that are too high. I know I am old enough to be the parents of the two mentioned in this post. BUT at the same time I do not believe that the desires of heterosexual women have changed all that much. We have young people watch us as so-called newlyweds and find us really cute. He is very traditional in his treatment of me and generally very kind-hearted to people. That never gets old fashioned.

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  2. Pamela thank you for your comment yes you are right, I think there are more girls (and guys) out there than we think that want romance and courtship but becasue of reality TV and peers (and sad to say some adults)who want to pressure them out of their innocence becasue for some reason IMHO the feel threatened by it. I remember being teased in high school about being a virgin by some of the girls and guys. it was not till much later I learned that the girls were secretely jealous of me not being easy and still having my innocence and the guys respected me for the same reason.

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