Perspective

Beth Bailey is a social and cultural historian who currently teaches at Temple University. She promises in the book that her perspective will be displayed, but surprisingly her own views only come through indirectly. The reader will form the impression early on that the author intends to argue for her own view but instead she refrains from doing so until the very end. The reader will wonder whether the author is a conservative or a feminist for much of the book. On the one hand, Bailey is consistently concerned about the exploitation of women. On the other hand, she does not see cultural progress as necessarily improving women's position with respect to men.

The most noteworthy feature of Bailey's perspective is her focus on exploding the idea that there is such a thing as 'traditional' courtship. Each generation forms their own conception of what is normal and appropriate...