Quote of the Day (Judith Shulevitz, on Dating as Hard Work in the Digital Era)

“The purpose of dating is not much clearer than its definition. Before the early 1900s, when people started ‘dating,’ they ‘called.’ That is, men called on women, and everyone more or less agreed on the point of the visit. The potential spouses assessed each other in the privacy of her home, her parents assessed his eligibility, and either they got engaged or he went on his way. Over the course of the 20th century, such encounters became more casual, but even tire kickers were expected to make a purchase sooner rather than later. Five decades ago, 72 percent of men and 87 percent of women had gotten married by the time they were 25. By 2012, the situation had basically reversed: 78 percent of men and 67 percent of women were unmarried at that age.”— Judith Shulevitz, “Dating, Disrupted: Why Is Finding Love in the App Era Such Hard Work?”, The Atlantic, November 2016

(Photo of Judith Shulevitz taken in May 2013 by Barbara Lemann.)