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For Immediate Release
Contact: Stephanie Coontz
360 556-9223; coontzs@msn.com
LOOKING FOR LOVE BEFORE THE INTERNET
19th Century Personals Have Much In Common With Today's High-Tech Versions - And Some Interesting Differences
A Valentine's Day Information Sheet Prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families
by Pam Epstein, Rutgers University
On Valentine's Day, it is only natural that our thoughts turn to love. Those who think they have found it use the occasion to celebrate their relationship, making Valentine's Day the busiest day of the year for candy sales and romantic restaurant dinners. Those still looking for love often feel lonelier than ever, so that web dating sites see their numbers spike in February.
Much attention has been paid to the explosion of on-line dating and the posting of personal profiles, but Americans have been advertising for partners for more than 150 years. I have collected thousands of personal ads from the 19th-century, and it's worth reading what men and women said they were looking for then, and how they went about it, to see what has and has not changed.
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Read more... [Looking for love before the internet]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- September 20, 2009
CONTACT: Bella DePaulo; depaulo@psych.usb.edu; 805.565.9582
Check out the numbers from a Council on Contemporary Families Fact Sheet out this week: Single Americans are 43% of the population-up from 28% 40 years ago. Single Americans are healthier and happier than ever before-and they are more likely than married Americans to help, encourage, and socialize with friends and neighbors, and to visit, contact, and help out their parents and siblings.
In preparation for national Unmarried and Single Americans Week, psychologist and CCF Fellow Bella DePaulo explores myths and realities about the diverse lives of unmarried Americans. DePaulo, who researches the changing roles and status of the unmarried, argues that the persistent belief that single people are lonely and miserable just isn't supported by the facts. In her CCF Fact Sheet, DePaulo provides data that shows that singles are not only happier and healthier than many other Americans but also make important contributions to our society.
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Read more... [CCF Fact Sheet on Unmarried and Single Americans Week]
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