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Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers Dating

Go on! Baby Boomers Dating?

Baby boomers dating started during the sexual revolution of the 1960's and the availability of the birth control pill made sexual behavior seem less risky. Boomers were put at risk of a lethal STD with the advent of HIV/AIDS. Currently dating boomers are likely to use the internet to connect with other boomers to date.

Baby boomers are the generation born from 1946 to 1964 in the great post WWII baby boom. They are the largest of the American generations and number approximately 78 million people. This group is now between their mid 40's and mid 60's in age. Because of their large size and their financial power, baby boomers have a great influence on society and the economy.

The dating habits of baby boomers reflect their times. As the first of them came of age, the attitudes of American culture about sexuality were becoming much more open. A significant medical breakthrough also had a profound impact on baby boomers when the first oral contraceptive pill was first marketed in 1960.

So, who are the Baby Boomers Dating?

It was the most effective form of birth control ever and allowed women to consider sexual activity virtually without the risk of unwanted pregnancy. Many economists also think that this freedom from pregnancy also increased the female workforce significantly. Women could pursue a sexual relationship inside or outside marriage and put off childbearing until they were ready.

 

Thus “The Pill” was available about the time most baby boomers were dating as well as the time that some were entering marriages. For baby boomers, sexuality became an issue of itself instead of just a risk of childbearing. Unlike their parents' generation, baby boomers were able to be more open with their sexuality and dating was not just the seeking of a permanent partner but also an exploration of sexuality.

 

Dating for single baby boomers took another turn in the 1980's with the advent of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. While other sexually transmitted diseases had always been an issue, many baby boomers considered them to be mostly an easily curable nuisance. AIDS, however, had no cure and when it became known that it did not only affect homosexuals and intravenous drug users, there was a return by baby boomers to using condoms for disease prevention rather than contraception.

 

Older baby boomers who were accustomed to the atmosphere of “free love” as teenagers and young adults who were dating again later in life were less likely to use condoms than younger people and became an at risk population for HIV infection.

 

Technology also impacted the dating habits of baby boomers with the advent of widespread use of computers and the internet. Baby boomers are among those who have turned to internet dating and in fact there are websites that specialize in dating connections for baby boomers. Widowed or divorced baby boomers who have not dated in many years often find it more comfortable to use the internet to initially meet new people to date.