Gender Influences in Relationships
Empirical findings consistently support that the relationships we form in our lives play a great role in determining whether we will live a healthy and happy life. Relationships are formed and nurtured differently. For instance, in intimate relationships, partners engage in subjective experiences of connectedness and closeness, which is a process that involves acceptance, mutual trust, and self-disclosure (Bonomi et al., 2013). Advancement in technology has provided options for forming relationships as online dating has become popular in the recent past. This essay will discuss the traditional expectations of men and women in dating, discuss how the popularity of online dating has affected gender roles, and discuss how society and gender differences will be affected.
Traditional Expectations for Men and Women in Dating Relationships and Sexual Behavior
In Western cultures, as mentioned by Brannon (2017), there have existed variations in the dating relationships of men and women in the last few centuries. Traditionally, especially when both men and women worked on farms, families chose mates for their children. Simply, parents were in control of the dating relationships of their children. In most, if not all, traditional cultures, marriages between men and women were planned, and this is a practice that has extended to the modern world, though limited to few cultures (Bonomi et al., 2013). Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Like in dating relationships, there were traditional expectations for people engaging in sexual behavior. Since traditional cultures placed more value on masculine than feminine behaviors, some of the traditional expectations of sexual behavior would include vaginal intercourse, partnered masturbation. In some cultures, anal sex was an expectation (Brannon, 2017). Nevertheless, with the advent of the internet across the globe that have made sexual information accessible. In a self-report study conducted by Brannon (2017), men scored more in sexual behaviors. Though, in a bogus pipeline procedure to assess truthful responses in sexual behavior between men and women, there were very small differences between the two genders.
Effects of the Current Popularity of Online Dating Sites and Sexuality Images
The use of the internet in the modern world is inevitable. As a result, online dating is a popular choice for people of different age groups. In a research conducted by Kreager et al. (2014) to determine how couples meet and live together, the results of the study showed that with the increasing popularity of online dating, the traditional forms of how people meet are being displaced slowly. The survey reported that sex and sexual information are some of the most researched contents on the internet.
As Bonomi et al. (2013) maintain, the use of sexual imagery and online dating sites for sexual pleasure has proven to have underlying benefits to the users. The core purpose of using online dating is to reduce the fear of rejection. This is because online dating helps eliminate face to face interactions during the solicitation. Second, it eliminates rejection, especially for people with dating unviability. Third, online dating reduces social stigma due to anonymity (Kreager et al., 2014). Moreover, online dating offers alternative reactions to nonresponse.
Impact on Individuals and the Society
Even though online dating and sexual behavior changes possess notable and positive impacts on people, they also have some negative impacts not only on people but also on the whole society. To people who use online dating as a hope to end up with a good relationship, it may only satisfy the fantasies of these people. However, for those who seek to move their online relationships offline, they may end up suffering from depression since they might fall for the risk of social rejection, probably due to their unrealistic aspirations of how online dating works (Kreager et al., 2014). If online dating continues to be popular, marital conflicts will increase in society since many couples will live in fear of being cheated on.
Will there be an Increase or Decrease in Gender Differences in Intimate Relationships?
The changes in traditional dating and sexual behavior will lead to an increase in intimate relationships, primarily due to the increasing use of the internet. Every day, more women and women are using the internet to access the dating sites for a hookup or dates. This is because online dating has made meeting people easier since only what a person requires is to create a profile and describe the preferences of the partner he/she would like to hook up with or date. In Kreager et al. (2014) article, it is noted that by using online dating, both genders are more likely to aim higher in terms of the preferred characteristics of people who they would like to date or hook up with. In my opinion, the changing roles in traditional dating and sexual behavior as a result of the popularity of online dating will result in increased intimacy relationships since people have an easy option for meeting people. Unlike face to face interactions, online dating enables people to choose partners of their preferences.
Conclusion
As discussed above, it is clear that the advancement of technology has provided options for forming relationships like online dating. Unlike traditional marriages where families choose mates for their children, online dating has changed this aspect as people can now choose their partners with the preferred qualities by just creating a profile. Online dating is beneficial because it eliminates social stigma due to anonymity, and it offers alternative reactions for nonresponse. However, as a negative impact, for those who seek to move their online relationships offline, they may end up suffering from depression since they might fall for the risk of social rejection.
References
Bonomi, A. E., Altenburger, L. E., & Walton, N. L. (2013). “Double crap!” Abuse and harmed identity in Fifty Shades of Grey. Journal of Women‘s Health, 22(9), 733-744.
Brannon, L. (2017). Gender: Psychological perspectives (7th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Kreager, D. A., Cavanagh, S. E., Yen, J., & Yu, M. (2014). “Where have all the good men gone?” Gendered interactions in online dating. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(2), 387-410.