In 1937, Willard Waller conducted and published a study on college dating, “The Rating and Dating Complex”. In it, he claims that this new system of “dating” is not actually true courtship, as it does not always lead to marriage. Instead, this new system is based on thrill-seeking and exploitation. He describes the structure of college students going on as many dates as they can, always with those of the same social hierarchy, or rating, as themselves. The most popular boys belong to fraternities, are well-dressed and well-mannered, have money to spare and access to a car. The most popular girls are also well-dressed and mannered, dance well, and are frequently asked on dates. “Going steady” was not as popular at the time, although it was more common in colleges in which the ratio between girls and boys was more balanced. Just as Beth Bailey mention in her article “From Porch to Backseat”, dating had become a competition instead of a way to find a spouse.
In reading Waller’s findings, I couldn’t help but compare today’s dating culture in Provo, Utah. One thing Waller mentions is the popularity of the freshman girls. For the first two years of college, a girl is very popular and will be asked on a lot of dates. However, by the third year, she is not seen as appealing as she once was. The boys grow tired of her and she grows tired of the dating scene, and soon wishes to “go steady”. The same can be said in Provo today. I have personally heard boys voice their goals of only dating freshman girls. This leaves older female students without the same willing dating pool as their younger peers. While we may not label our classmates as “Class A” or “Class D” as the students in Waller’s study did, there is still a social hierarchy present in college dating today.
Towards the end of his findings, Waller claims that eventually the thrills of “dating” wears off on the males as well, and the new system breaks down to the old, and courtship takes over once more. The process of putting young adults through a series of “progressive commitments” that eventually leads to marriage is one that keeps showing up in the history of dating. Although the idea of dating and courtship is flexible through the years, we Americans who hope to get married still follow the pattern of casually dating, seriously dating, engagement, and then marriage. That pressure towards taking the next step is still very much in play today.
Waller, Willard. “The Rating and Dating Complex.” American Sociological Review 2, no. 5 (1937): 727-34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2083825.
Bailey, Beth. “From Front Porch to Back Seat: A History of the Date.” OAH Magazine of History 18, no. 4 (2004): 23-26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163698.
Women's History in America Today 2018 
I wonder how unique Provo is compared to other college towns. Obviously, there is a lot of dating going on, but it’s with the underlying assumption that you’re looking for a marriage partner. Because of that assumption and the expectation for Mormons to marry young, I would think that dating is much for stressful in Provo than most other college towns. I wonder what Waller would think about Provo’s dating culture.
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As someone who has gone to great lengths to avoid the Provo dating scene, this terrifies me. The word “exploitation” certainly seems to be an appropriate one. This is no doubt an important reminder that history is not a story of linear progress; the end of traditional courtship did not mean liberation and equality.
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I definitely agree that these ideas exist in the Provo dating world. There is a group of girls that frequently get asked out on dates, and there is another group that never go on dates seemingly because they don’t fit into a certain mold. Among guys in Provo, there are also those who want to date as many girls as possible, and those who are trying to find an eternal companion and only date one or two girls for a long period of time.
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