Is Courting Old-Fashioned?

Have you ever played "Pokemon Ruby (or Sapphire) Version" before?


Well, in it, you go to an island, and a boy is walking around and asks you what is "hip, happening, and trendy." He'll say that "Mystery Radio" (or something else that strange) is "in", and then ask if you agree. If you say "no", then he'll ask you what is the new thing that's "in". When I put something else ("Hero Girl"), he said "Yeah! That's right! 'Hero Girl', right? Isn't 'Hero Girl' the coolest or what? 'Mystery Radio'... It's, like, so five minutes ago. Now 'Hero Girl' is what's vital....!"


Now, what does this have to do with courting or dating? Well the question is "Is Courting Old-Fashioned", and that is the question I (Princess Catherine) intend to answer.



First, before the question "Is Courting Old-Fashioned" can be answered, it already assumes something else; that something else, newer and better, is here. I mean, to ask whether courting is old-fashioned means that something else is newer, right? Kinda like the "Mystery Radio" and "Hero Girl". I don't know about you, but "Hero Girl sounds a lot better than "Mystery Radio", right? But is courting better than dating?


Princess Emily shared with us how her dating experience (click here for that post), and I am sure you have heard similar stories of how dating has hurt people. Maybe it's even happened to you. The only 2 "benefits" for dating I can see are

1. You spend your time worrying, enjoying, and being part of someone else's life

2. You can call them you "boyfriend" and sound adult-like

Notice that both of these are "short term"; they don't last.

Remember in the post "Now What?, Part 2" It talks about 7 real benefits of courting, and 7 real benefits is 3 times as much as 2 "benefits".


Don't worry; I'm not going to side track anymore. :)

So, is courting old-fashioned, or is dating "hip, happening, and trendy"?

As I mentioned in a reply to a comment on the post "What's Courting? And How is it Different From Dating?" I used the mailbox comparison "Also, some old fashioned things aren't bad. For example, mail. Now that we have e-mail, why do we still have mail boxes? Because they are still useful. It's kinda like that with courting. :)" (see the whole comment here) Or what about doors? "Doors?" You might be wondering, but think about it. We have all these automatic doors (in libraries, churches, schools, etc.), but what type of door do you have at your house? A "plain" old door that is fashioned (made) like the ones in Laura Ingall's time (the author who wrote the "Little House" book series)! So, the point is, old fashioned isn't always bad.

But although courting itself was practiced in the "Little House" times and farther back, it survived because of what? If something is useless, than it isn't used, right? Well, if courting was useless, than how come people from the 1800's (and people farther back in history) used courting instead of dating? How come they didn't invent dating if they needed it? "OK, OK!" You might be thinking "But what about now? Someone invented it now, so is it needed? Is courting now useless?"

Well, first off, as many stories -fiction and non fiction, of today and in the past- have shown us that courting is a good way of getting to know the other gender. But there's always someone who wants to "shake up the status quo", and so dating began. I looked to see who "formally" started dating, but I didn't get an answer. So, even though courting is old, I don't see it as old-fashioned. It's still useful, it's not out-of-date (no pun intended)(although on the pun, it kinda is "out of date" because it's courting, not dating. ;), and it's benefits are more than those of dating. People see dating's the new "in", so then, just like that boy on the Pokemon game they think courting is "so five minutes ago", as if that makes it wrong!

I'm sorry for those who have been patiently waiting (or wanting) for the end of this "blog entry", where I would tell them a simple "yes" or "no" answer. OK, so here are my answers.


Although courting is old, it isn't old fashioned. It's still useful and beneficial, but our society wants what's "hip, happening, and trendy" not what will be better in the long run. Dating's happening everywhere and it's started a "trend". So, again "Courting isn't old-fashioned, it's just dating's new!"

Now that I've officially answered your question (that I asked and answered for you :), I'll end this blog entry for you to comment! :)

Princess Catherine ~*~