What Is Courtship?

What is courtship? Courtship is essentially a safe way to advertise our interest to another person while, at the same time, assessing the amount of interest (or lack of it) in the other person.

The word “safe” here is very important. From the point of view of the man, because he doesn’t want to risk rejection and, consequently, to “loose his face” with his friends and the other people around him. From the point of view of the woman, because she doesn’t want to run the risk of choosing the wrong man.

While it’s easy to guess why a man would prefer a safe way to meet a woman (being possibly rejected by the woman would not only let him loose his face with others but with himself too, especially if he lacks self confidence and self esteem), it’s more difficult to understand why a woman would want a safe way to meet a man.

Usually, is the man the one who makes the first move and starts the conversation so, there is no risk of rejection or to be ridiculed for a woman. She just sits there waiting to be approached with no other incumbency than to say “yes” or “no”
(The fact that the man is the one who makes the first move is not correct, at least in 75% of the cases. We will discuss about this in another article).

In reality, the risk for women is potentially greater than for men even though it is not immediately perceivable.
While for men the risk is evident and immediate (the rejection happens here and now for everyone to see), for women it is more subtle, more hidden but nonetheless it can have a strong impact on their future life.