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What Caused The Dating Apocalypse
How did dating get to be so horrible?
One of my favorite Medium authors, Benjamin Sledge, wrote about post-apocalyptic dating. He describes it as “a bleak landscape in which people scavenge to survive,” and he posed the question, “…what went wrong?” The advent of technology, especially social media and dating apps, has destroyed the process of meeting, dating and “courting”. Benjamin mentions radioactive dating apps in the cesspool, and I agree they have supercharged the sludge like the spider that bit Spiderman or the Gamma Rays that turned Dr. Banner into the Hulk, minus the superpowers. These apps have created monsters out of what was already awkward and damaged. But the problem began earlier than dating apps.
It began with changes in societal norms and throwing the rules of dating out the window. Men and women were expected to behave in certain ways at all times: A gentleman picked a lady up and opened doors. Both used the best manners they had, kept their legs crossed and their hands to themselves, and returned home at a “reasonable” hour. Those that didn’t, had reputations as “fast” or “easy”. There was pressure from the entire community to keep this in place. This was how it began. How things worked out next depended on the individuals involved. Then came the Sixties with the push for sexual freedom, women’s rights and civil rights. There was a powerful…
