“Dating” appeared around the late 19th century, as young women left the home to work in cities. Young men were going to cities to work, and there was nobody for young women in rural farming towns. All of this was nicely chronicled in Labor of Love (2016), by Moira Weigel.
Before 1900, any young woman living independently in a big city was considered a prostitute. This was the general label given to such women. When you hear statistics that “London in 1850 had 80,000 prostitutes,” they basically mean young single women. It was just assumed that a young single woman, living alone, would end up sort of like a whore; and eventually, would end up trading sex for favors and money, in some way. Anyway, they weren’t marriageable. When more young women came to big cities, and were seen walking about with men they weren’t married to, they were sometimes arrested for prostitution. Women claimed they were doing it “for love.” To police, they seemed like very cheap prostitutes.
“Dating” replaced “Courtship.” Courtship was still dominant before the 1940s, but the First Sexual Revolution in the 1920s undermined it considerably. The First Sexual Revolution was a combination of cheap manufactured condoms (for the first time), jazz, and alcohol. “Dating” became dominant after 1950. People are now figuring out that “dating” is inherently dysfunctional.
Cornerstone 