Dr. Brandon West and Beth Komisar
discuss their dating experiences.
Bob McKeown
oing out for a date. It
conjures up images of
the old Adventures of Ozzie and
Harriet show, where Ricky asked a
girl out to a movie, the malt shop
and then took her home, only to be
stopped by her father peeking
through the curtain as he tried to
give his date an innocent good-
night kiss.
Basically, dating has not
changed too much from the boy
calls girl, boy picks up girl, boy
pays tab and brings girl home for-
mat of previous years. However,
the women's liberation movement
and the "Me Decade" of the 1970s
have affected the way singles date.
In addition, Jewish singles have to
think about whether or not they
should date out of the faith. And
what about sex? Is there a place for
it in dating?
All three psychotherapists,
Richard Kellman, Keith Levick and
Jackie Odom, agreed that the tra-
ditional notion of a "date" still
holds. In my mind, the male is ex-
pected to pick up the entire tab and
take the major responsibility," ac-
cording to Odom, psychotherapist
with the Beacon Hill Clinic in
Birmingham. But, she added "it
places a pretty heavy burden on
the male."
Levick, a psychologist in pri-
vate practice. at Jensen Counseling
Clinic in Farmington Hills, concur-
red with Odom. "My own subjective
interpretation of a date is the man
calls the woman."
Singles Dr. Brandon West,
Beth Komisar and Gary Smith,
also see today's dating scene taking
the traditional path. But, to Larry
Rosenberg, it doesn't really matter
who calls whom.
Has dating changed all that
much in the '80s? On the whole,
the singles and psychotherapists
agreed that the dating scene is pre-
tty much the same as it was in
previous decades. However, they
said they feel that because of the
women's liberation movement's ef-
fect of giving women encourage-
ment to be assertive, that many
women are taking a more active
role.
The women assume more re-
sponsibility for organizing a date,"
Odom said, "including financial re-
sponsibility as well as even going
so far as planning (it)." Levick sees
Keith Levick, left, Jacqueline Odom,
center and Richard Kellman discuss
what they advise their clients about
dating.
a change as -well, which he attri-
butes to women's new-found equal-
ity gained by the feminist move-
ment. The whole informal way of
dating and courting in the '80s dif-
fers from the '50s — women have
more freedom, mobility to move ab-
out." He said it is not uncommon
these days for a woman to ask a
man out. However, he said, there
are many women who still feel it is
inappropriate to ask a man for a
date.
The singles too, said that they
see women taking a more aggres-
sive role. Rosenberg, a speech
therapist employed by the State of
Michigan, said that men and
women should be equal as far as
dating is concerned. According to
Dr. West, "it's important for a
woman to be aggressive enough to
come up to a guy and say some-
thing. She shouldn't take a back
seat. She should take an active
role." Komisar agreed. "The women
should be as much a part of it as a
man and not take the back seat
and let the guy ask all the time."
But what about the man's role,
the
Has the way singles date changed
from the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s?
HEIDI PRESS
Local Nctos Editor
Continued on next page
V ,t,. 4-+
103