Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Disrupting The Traditional Dating Discourse: Expanding The Romantic Relationship Narrative, Brooke Wolfe

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dating to find a lifelong partner is a priority for many young adults, as the process exists on a socially constructed timeline (Baxter & Braithwaite, 2002). Although, like many other experiences in the public sphere, single women are adversely constrained by societal expectations in regard to their sexuality and use of agency (Dunn & Vik, 2014). This study explores women’s dating behaviors in cooperation with societal messages that are navigated as a necessary step in finding a romantic partner. With the framework of Relational Dialectics, the study examines how participants learn the rules of dating, in what ways dating behavior …