Customer Reviews

From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a college professor and I use this book in my classes all the time. Students (male and female) love it, and they remember it. Many of them give the book to their parents to read. Bailey is an engaging writer who employs a wide variety of sources to demonstrate the path from calling to dating to going steady, and the changing meanings of those words. An historian, Bailey provides helpful social and cultural contexts. It's useful gender history. But what the book really needs is an update that would take this topic to the present. The Epilogue doesn't explain enough about dating nowadays, and thus the earlier chapters are best.

Ms Bailey writes of 20th century courtship from the 1920's or so onwards. Discussing those elements that changed social conventions and permissible actions (such as the car) she vividly discusses the evolution of courtship, and with it sexuality throughtout the 20th century. A fun read for kicks, and a fabulous resource for historians researching the evolution in dating.

I appreciate that Bailey mines through a lot of popular culture in describing attitudes about courtship in this book, but I would have liked to have seen more research that delves into the larger trends she touches upon very briefly here. She argues that courtship became seen in economic terms as it went from a private ritual to a public activity-- were there other rituals that followed similar paths? Exactly how influential was Freudian theory on sexuality for the typical college co-ed?

I'm particularly interested in the history of the teenager, which this book was mildly helpful for. If you're more interested in gender relations or 20th-century American culture, you may find this work more meaningful.

Bailey does a few things rather well in this book. Courtship and dating makes for an interesting study in the ways in which our culture has changed over the course of the 20th century (although as another reviewer pointed out, an update in which she discusses developments of the 90s would be most welcomed). Her writing is clear, and it's a quick and satisfying read in cultural history. This is one where the title sums up the book nicely, so if you're intrigued, it's probably a good one for you.

I read this as part of my regular research for entries that'll be posted on my blog, www.courtshipordating.com.

This book, by far, is the most informative and well-researched one yet.

As I implied in my Review Title, the book is written in a very academic style and abounds in footnotes.

A must-read for those undertaking courtship! Includes both excellent background, and a fresh perspective. Beth L. Bailey writes: "In contemporary America, living together has become a conventional step in the path to marriage and an acceptable arrangement on its own terms. Sexual intercourse is a conventionally assumed part of long-term relationships (even among teenagers, for better or worse), and a clear possibility on first dates." In addition to covering some of the biblical truths of courtship, Beth L. Bailey takes you on a journey on the not-too-distant history of courtship, how it has changed--and how vastly different it is from the dating 'norm' of today. (Excellent books on this vastly under-written subject also include Elizabeth Elliott's "Quest for Love," and Joshua Harris' "I Kissed Dating Goodbye"). An entertaining & inspiring read--And an excellent gift for young adults.

A change of courtship occurred from the 1920s and 1940s was the shift from the girl's household to the vechile and away from the watchful eyes of the community. It was a change from sitting at the parlors at the girl's family. A boy would have to be invited to a girl's house causing the woman to have the authority and control, but those things changed. A boy could not go to a girl's house without her permission, but at times changed the guy began to take the authority from the girl. Dating was what was causing the changes of courtship. It moved the girl and the boy outside the home and created a shift from the parlor at the girl's house. Examples would be the replacing of the girl's house with the car.

Bailey's book is great for reading and will take only a day to finish (143 pages). Also, it is a really nice looking book. It covers the roles of consumption and competition in courtship, and the understanding that courtship has changed in American society. I give the book four stars.

This used book was not in "very good conditions", first 70 pages are highlighted importantly. I should have know this.