From Front Porch to Back Seat

Download or read book From Front Porch to Back Seat written by Beth L. Bailey and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1989-08-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From gentleman callers to big men on campus, from Coke dates to "parking," From Front Porch to Back Seat is the vivid history of dating in America. In chronicling a dramatic shift in patterns of courtship between the 1920s and the 1960s, Beth Bailey offers a provocative view of how we sought out mates-and of what accounted for our behavior. More than a quarter-century has passed since the dating system Bailey describes here lost its coherence and dominance. Yet the legacy of the system remains a strong part of our culture's attempt to define female and male roles alike.