I would imagine that a lot of young people think that dating is how it's always been done, but it hasn't. Dating is not only a predominantly American construct, but a very modern one at that. The practice known as dating was born within the last one hundred years and there were several big players in its development.

Before dating was called that, it was called "calling". Men would "call" on the lady of their affection by going to her house and the suitor was entertained (another archaic term), usually in the parlor where the young lady was under the watchful eye of family and most importantly, her father. If at any time the young man wanted to go somewhere with lady he was pursuing, the two would be chaperoned.

Probably the most influencial factor involved in changing the method by which a man pursued a woman was the invention of the automobile. I say "man pursued a woman" because until only very recently, men were almost always the instigators of the pursuit. The automobile greatly increased mobility and freedom, a word very familiar to teenagers. Before, the horse and carriage seriously limited the distance a person could travel in a given time. And thus, when a young suitor drove up in a flashy new Model A, the adolescent phrase "Aw dad, can't I go with him," was born. Incidentally, a popular song in the 1920s was titled "Wait 'Til You Get Them Up In The Air, Boys". Men soon realized that if they got too touchy while they in an automobile, the young lady could simply open the door and run. But if you're hundreds of feet in the air, there is no where to run.

Of course another big cofactor in the evolution of modern dating which certainly helped was the Industrial Revolution. People were moving out of the countryside and congregating in cities where there was less familiarity with neighbors and helped to break down a young lady's circle of protection.

Once this circle was broken, women were forced to make decisions they weren't required to make before. Up until that point in their lives, their father had been their protector and now, they were having to make moral decisions as men were bombarding them with propositions which compromised their morals. Women were beginning to give in because there was no longer someone to watch out for them.

Today, it is perfectly normal for a man to come and whisk away a daughter from her family. It is also normal to expect that physical intimacy will come into play at SOME point in this "dating" relationship, whether that is on the 5th date or the 50th date. It is almost assumed. Jokes have been made about this. Men casually think that if they put into a relationship, with time and money, they "should" get something out and 9 times out of 10, that something is physical payback. This is not how God intended courtship to be.