Dating Norms in US: North vs South
Jasbina Ahluwalia asks Brian Howie, author of How to Find Love in 60 Seconds: Yes, and it’s totally unexpected. That in and of itself kind of does the trick.
I’ve noticed in The Great Love Debate, there can be a range. I think I’ve seen anything from the 20s to 50s and 60s. You’ve heard from different age groups.
Have you noticed any patterns in differences among different age groups with respect to any aspects of how we’re dating?
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Brian Howie
Dating Norms in US: Younger in South
When we first started this tour, the farther south we got, the younger the crowds got.
Dating Norms in US: Text Versus Call
When we did the East Coast, we started in Boston and we worked our way down. By the time we got to Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., we arrived at a consensus that a man should never ask a woman out via text.
I thought that was one thing we could put in ink. That was right.
Then I got farther south and some of the women in our audience were 32 and younger, with people in their 20s.
That demographic clearly wants to be asked out by text. They think a phone call is too intimate, too vulnerable, and only part of a phone call.
What we thought was sort of a given that a man should pick up the phone, that’s age and generation specific. At the age of about 32, that flips and changes.
Dating Norms in US: The Confusion
It’s really confusing for a man who’s maybe 35 where some of the women he dates are 37 and some of the women he dates are 29. He has no idea what she prefers.
That is so interesting. Let’s talk about some regional differences.
You mentioned that. With these 32 year-olds, are they strictly southern ones or did you also find this from the east to west, north to south?
Brian Howie
Dating Norms in US: Importance of Marriage Down South
It’s sort of all over the place, but when we got to Atlanta, there were 25 year-olds at our shows who were absolutely beside themselves that they were still single.
They couldn’t believe that they had been a bridesmaid six times.
There must be something wrong with them at 25 that they weren’t married.
I thought that was a really sad, unfortunate and sort of destructive way to look at things.
They don’t mind getting divorced because that means the marriage failed, but if they don’t get married, they think they’ve failed.
That’s the mentality they have that I think is just frightening and wrong.
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Tell Us:
Have you learned dating norms in US states? Share advice and location with us in the comments section below.
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The above is an excerpt from Jasbina’s interview with Brian Howie
The entire interview transcript is at: Brian Howie Interview – How to Find Love in 60 Seconds
Listen to the entire interview on: Intersections Match Talk Radio – Jasbina’s Lifestyle Show
Listen to the entire interview on Blog Talk Radio: How to Find Love in 60 Seconds – Brian Howie
Listen to the entire interview on iTunes
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