Evolution of Love & Relationships: America 1800s to Present

One may ask what love is, how do you define love? You can look up the word love in the dictionary and find ten or more different explanations. Most sociologists consider love to be learned through cultural experiences (Love). This would mean that however or if persons parents showed them love while growing up, that is how that individual would interpret love throughout their life. When the Puritans first came to America, their concept of love was less of a romantic passion and more of a deepening reciprocal of respect and affection (Seidman 16). During the Enlightenment (1714-1818), love was typically viewed as a rational and orderly experience that could be controlled by those who experienced it (Sternberg 69). Love was assumed to be a rational feeling made by rational people and thus could be controlled. This belief had a major alteration during the eighteenth and nineteenth century when people began to believe that love was uncontrollable and could happen without reason (Sternberg 70). This change in the perception of love being uncontrollable also shifted the conclusion that people were not as rational as first presumed. In the late twentieth century, love became more sexualized and erotic which became perceived as a crisis in sexual morality and marriage (Seidman 66). Love today is viewed as unobtainable by reason of Americans have unrealistic expectations of love, true love, love at first sight, and the idea that love conquers all (Love). As a result of these unrealistic views, Americans have moved back to the concept that love is controllable but not necessary for a “romantic” relationship (Sternberg 63). As presented, love and the interpretation of what love is has transformed dramatically over the past two hundred years ...

... middle of paper ...

...sed, especially due to women being more prominent in the workplace and not depending on a mans income. Overall marriage is still seen as important in the United States but not as a necessity.

Works Cited

Cott, Nancy F. Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation. Cambridge, MA:

Harvard UP, 2000. Print.

Laner, Mary Riege. "Dating." International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family.

Farmington: Gale, 2003. Credo Reference. Web. 30 March 2014.

"Love." The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science.

Hoboken: Wiley, 2004. Credo Reference. Web. 30 March 2014.

"Marriage & Divorce." Http://www.apa.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.

Seidman, Steven. Romantic Longings: Love in America, 1830-1980. New York:

Routledge, 1991. Print.

Sternberg, Robert J. Cupid's Arrow: The Course of Love through Time. Cambridge:

Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.