Oh how simple everything was in 1953- and how limiting!Men and women would consult the Book of Love (from the famous song) and know their roles exactly.
Men were sexual.
Women were romantic.
It was more or less expected that a young man would walk around in a state of sexual frustration because he would have no reason to marry if he was not. This made premarital sex very precious to him because it was the only free relationship he would ever embark upon.
Women were forbidden from being openly sexual but they could indulge in romance of a distorted and limited kind. This 'romance' was dictated by the advertisers who told women that love meant regular gifts of flowers and chocolates. In effect this 'romance' was nothing more than an extended test of a man's ability to provide for a future wife. Love had nothing to do with it.
Gradually this artificial distinction was broken down. Women realized that it was OK to be sexual but did not realize that it was also OK to be romantic. We see this most strongly in films such as 'Sex and the City' in which women sit around and discuss their empty sex lives endlessly. They seem entirely focused upon sex and yet they have no real companionship in their lives- why else would they spend so much time together?
I think the time is right for men to become as liberated about romance as women have become about sex. This is a natural development because sex is no longer the rare thing it once was. Almost any man can learn a little game and get lucky and many men are discovering that the most precious moment is when a woman looks at him with that look of wonder and total acceptance that is impossible to describe.
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