A campaign to bring back authentic dating as an alternative to merely “hooking up” is gaining traction on US college campuses.
The “Bring Back Dating” campaign from the Love and Fidelity Network was hosted at 36 US campuses last week.
The sites included Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Brown and Princeton.
Love and Fidelity Network executive director Caitlin La Ruffa told the Catholic News Agency that many students say they don’t know how to go on a date.
“Romantic relationships on campus tend to take two forms – anonymous hook-ups where attachment, communication, or care are against the ‘rules’ or co-dependent serially monogamous pairings where ‘the relationship’ is defined long before suitability of the partnership has been assessed,” Ms La Ruffa said.
“Going on casual dates – which allow a person to express an appropriate level of interest and to begin getting to know another person and opening themselves up to be known – runs radically counter to both of those trends.”
She said “hook-up” culture is increasingly being seen for what it is – “unfulfilling, dehumanising, and, frankly, less fun”.
On participating campuses, student groups hosted special events leading up to Valentine’s Day on February 14.
Some campuses screened classic romance films, hosted speakers, or held workshops.
Posters were distributed around campuses in both English and Spanish offering students light-hearted advice on how to bring back dating.
“This year our focus with the posters is a message of encouragement aimed at assuaging some common sources of anxiety around dating – that it’s way too complicated, or it’s going to be awkward, or it’s ultra old-fashioned or just plain scary,” Ms La Ruffa said.
The group compiled a full list of tips with advice from how to ask someone out (“Relax. They’re human too”) to how to treat a date well (“Don’t expect to spend the night”) to how to have a great time (“It’s just a date. Have fun”).
Sources
- Catholic News Agency
- Image: Lipstiq.com