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