The baby boomer generation needs to calm down. Gen Y hasn’t killed off courtship; we’ve simply forced it to evolve to fit in with our modern day society.

In a recent article published in the New York Times titled “The End of Courtship?,” writer Alex Williams overreacts to a cultural change that is far more organic than it is negative.

It’s true that courtship looked very different in the past. Men were expected to ask women out on dates involving expensive dinners and flowers. Courtships were more committed, more formal and often involved more romantic effort from the man’s side.

Nowadays, the rules of dating have changed and become far more ambiguous. This isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it can oftentimes lead to more honest connections, where romantic interactions are tailored to what each individual wants.

Williams isn’t wrong in pointing out that casual sex is more common nowadays. He is wrong however in painting this as a bad thing.

We live in a generation where people are more willing to take the time to figure what they really want out of a romantic connection.

That doesn’t mean that individuals don’t put effort into building a romantic connection. Not all women want to be wooed with expensive gifts and dinners out, and not all men should be expected to do so.

The gender roles in 20th century courtship have also been blurred. Women can be the wooers too nowadays, especially given that the heteronormative standards applied to relationships have shifted.

“Gone with the Wind” type romances are waning, yes. But with the ever-changing role of women in society and with shifting gender expectations in general, maybe those romances simply don’t fit in with our modern day and age anymore.

Courtship as our parents’ generation knew it may be dead, but that doesn’t mean that today’s youth have killed it off completely.

It has simply changed and is better catered to the needs of what young people want and need out of a romantic connection today.

— Journal Editorial Board