Marriage at First Sight

At first my emotional response to this article was anger, how could they just choose a life partner for their child? These poor people were missing out on the opportunity to really fall in love, what if their soul mate showed up after their parents had already arranged a marriage? By the end of the article I had thought all of this over and realized these things aren’t realistic. So many people think they’re in love with their soul mate only to find themselves crying to their friends because they’ve been cheated on or dumped and can’t understand why. It’s sad that people are losing touch with their families, the people that care about them most and the only ones who have been there for them when they really needed someone. I agree with the modern arranged marriages, it’s pretty much dating with your family’s help. I am very close with my mom. At first I didn’t want to hear it when she didn’t agree with a relationship I was in, I think as a teenager I even went out of my way to date guys she would hate but now I realize she just wants me to be happy. She spent 13 years of her life in a miserable relationship, she has experience and she knows me better than I know myself. She told me how she felt about my ex once, she let me know that she was there for me and that was it. She never brought it up again. When we finally broke up she cried with me and told me how hard it was for her to accept something that she knew wasn’t right for me and how much she hated that I wasn’t happy but she knew I needed to figure it out for myself and that’s exactly what I did. I wish I could learn from other people’s mistakes but I can’t….It’s like I have to burn myself before I will believe it’s hot and even if a 100 people told me themselves I wouldn’t understand until I had the scar to prove it. I’m still that way the only difference is I’m more aware of it. When I get ready to date again I’m sure I will introduce the person to my mom and ask her what she thinks. It’s important to me that the person I spend the rest of my life with love my family. I wouldn’t let my mom arrange an old school marriage for me but I would def let her arrange a modern marriage.

Love in the Time of No Time

My emotional response wasn’t so much toward the article in general but one of the men that was interviewed, Greg. What a skank! Obviously the only thing on his mind is sex. He is leading this poor woman on, taking her on family events, spending weekends with her but refuses to call her his girlfriend.
I don’t believe that online dating is detrimental to the traditional form of dating. There will always be people who meet in real life situations and decide to go on a date after. There is nothing that will ever stop that. More and more people might turn to online dating because of how convenient it is but not matter how popular it becomes it won’t stop people from living life and going to places like the grocery store, their job, their school or even just for walks at the local park.
I thought online dating was more underground than it actually is. Apparently it’s very acceptable. After reading this article I talked to a few of my girlfriends and they all said online dating was perfectly fine to them and a few of them even had online profiles for dating sites and had actually gone on dates with men from the site. I was so shocked that they never told me about their dates but they all said it wasn’t a big deal to them so it wasn’t something they brought up in conversation.
I do believe online dating works, although I have yet to meet a person who it has worked for. I have read the ads and seen the commercials. It must work if there are so many people using it but it just isn’t for me. If I ever went on a date with someone I met online I would probably just stare at the guy wondering how many woman he had met online before and where he buried them, then I would freak myself out and leave without ever giving him a chance. I realize the way I view online dating is ridiculous but it’s not something I’m worried about. I will just stick to the old fashioned way of dating. :)

The Buddy System

As I read this article I couldn’t stop wondering if these people understood the consequences of “hooking up”. Weren’t they afraid of an unplanned pregnancy or aware of the fact that they can very easily contract an STD through oral sex? I couldn’t believe that they thought that just because it’s oral sex they are safe from those consequences. It was mentioned that hooking up is the norm and it’s perfectly acceptable, I seriously doubt that, it may be accepted with the people they interviewed but I know it wasn’t acceptable when I was in high school, which was around the same time the article was written. I remember the rumors going around about the girls that were “easy”. Those girls were shunned by the other students. I also remember the people who were coupled up. Those people weren’t usually made fun of for being sexually active, so I know hooking up wasn’t something that was acceptable at my high school. I’m sure it’s a problem in some places but it seems these people aren’t very well educated on the consequences of sexual activity.