title: Perrie Edwards

text: In 2012 during the recording stages for the group's debut album DNA, Edwards had to undergo surgery to remove her inflamed tonsils. In the same year of May 2012, she began dating British singer Zayn Malik, after they met when she was a contestant on The X Factor UK in 2011. In August 2013 the couple had announced their engagement but later separated in August 2015.


title: Perrie Edwards

text: In November 2016, Edwards began dating English professional footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but their relationship was not confirmed until February in 2017. On 10 May 2021, she announced that she was expecting her first child with Oxlade-Chamberlain, and on 21 August of the same year, gave birth to their son, Axel. In an interview for Women's Health, Edwards spoke about her struggles with breastfeeding. she added "Every night I'd be up breastfeeding Axel, so shattered my eyes would be falling out my head. I'd think of Leigh-Anne and the fact she had to do this with two. she needs a medal! One baby is massively intense enough, never mind two. I don't get how she does it." On 18 June 2022, the pair announced their engagement.


title: Perrie Edwards

text: Edwards was born with oesophageal atresia, which is responsible for the bisectional scar on her stomach, and anosmia. As a child she underwent several operations because of the condition. In 2017, she was scheduled to perform alongside Little Mix in Las Vegas, but was hospitalized due to suffering from gastric problems. In August 2018, she revealed via Instagram that she received further treatment on her throat for her oesophageal condition. In April 2019, Edwards shared her struggles with panic attacks and anxiety through Instagram and was interviewed on the subject by Glamour Magazine.


title: Perrie Edwards

text: On 27 September 2022, Edwards and Oxlade-Chamberlain were at home with their son Axel, when burglars broke in and stole items such as jewellery and handbags. Both couple were downstairs at the time, and police were called to the incident.


title: American Reunion

text: American Reunion (also known as American Pie 4: Reunion or American Pie: Reunion in certain countries) is a 2012 American ensemble sex comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. It is the fourth installment in the "American Pie" theatrical series. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $235 million worldwide.


title: American Reunion

text: Thirteen years after their high school graduation, Jim Levenstein lives in the Chicago area with his wife Michelle and their two-year-old son. Chris "Oz" Ostreicher works as a sportscaster in LA with his unfaithful supermodel girlfriend Mia and is clearly unhappy, Kevin is married and works from home as an architect, Paul Finch tells his friends that he has been traveling the world, and Steven Stifler works as an office temp for a verbally abusive boss.


title: American Reunion

text: Former classmate John, one half of the "MILF" duo, organizes the Class of 1999 high school reunion in East Great Falls, Michigan. Jim and Michelle return to Jim's dad's house, where he encounters his neighbor Kara, whom he used to babysit, and is almost 18.


title: American Reunion

text: At a local bar, Jim, Oz, Kevin, and Finch meet Selena, Michelle's friend from band, and Stifler appears unexpectedly. The next day, at the beach, Oz meets his high school girlfriend, Heather, who is dating a cardiologist, Ron, and Kevin reconnects with high school sweetheart Vicky. Stifler destroys Kara's boyfriend's jet-ski, much to the disapproval of the guys. That night, they stumble upon Kara's birthday party. Kara gets drunk; Jim drives her home, and she tries to seduce him. Kevin wakes up next to Vicky and assumes they had drunken sex.


title: American Reunion

text: Jim and Michelle attend a party hosted by Stifler and bring Jim's widower dad along, who Stifler gets drunk. Kevin confronts Vicky who maintains they did not have sex. Mia takes ecstasy, and Ron humiliates Oz. Heather comforts Oz, and they reconcile before Mia and she get into a fight. Jim's dad meets Stifler's mom.


title: American Reunion

text: Michelle, concerned about the recent lack of sex in their marriage, attempts to have BDSM sex with Jim but is interrupted by Kara. Her boyfriend arrives and a fight breaks out between his friends and Jim's. Michelle finds out that Kara seduced Jim and tried to lose her virginity to him. Jim tells Michelle he does not care about Kara. Upset, both Kara and Michelle leave. The police arrest Finch for stealing his boss's motorcycle, which Stifler thinks is funny. Exasperated by Stiffler's immaturity, the guys rally to Finch's side, reiterating they dislike Stifler. Distraught, Stifler ends the party.


title: American Reunion

text: The next morning, Jim's dad offers him advice on how to fix his marriage. Finch admits to being an assistant manager at Staples. The boys ultimately learn that despite Stifler's immature behavior, he genuinely cares about them. They then apologize to him, they also sympathize with him when they realize how unhappy he is, and insist that high school would not have been fun without him.


title: American Reunion

text: Stifler quits his job but not before standing up to his boss and they head to the reunion together: Kevin reconciles with Vicky; Finch makes amends for lying to Selena; Oz reunites with Heather after breaking up with Mia and Stifler punches Ron for threatening Oz. Jim reconciles with Michelle and Nadia (who appears with a man by her side) interrupts them having sex but is pleased to see them still together. Jessica reveals that she is a lesbian, and with Stifler's help, Sherman hooks up with Loni.


title: American Reunion

text: Stifler is offered work as a wedding planner. He then meets Rachel Finch (Paul Finch's mom) who makes a brazen sexual pass at him and they proceed to have sex on the lacrosse field. John is reunited with his estranged buddy, Justin, and they watch Stifler having sex with Mrs. Finch while shouting “MILF!” from the bleachers.


title: American Reunion

text: The next morning: Jim and Kara apologize to each other; Oz plans to stay in town with Heather; Finch plans a trip with Selena to Europe; and Stifler drops subtle hints about sleeping with Finch's mom. Kevin proposes a pact for them to reunite once a year.


title: American Reunion

text: In October 2008, Universal Pictures announced it was planning to produce a fourth theatrically released sequel to the first film. In , the film entered pre-production, with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg signing on to write and direct with plans to reunite the whole cast of the primary series.


title: American Reunion

text: In , it was announced that Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott and Eugene Levy had signed on to reprise their roles. Biggs and Scott were granted executive producer credits and also helped convince the other previous cast members to return. In , Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, and Mena Suvari signed on. The following month, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tara Reid, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Shannon Elizabeth, and Jennifer Coolidge signed on. In June and , John Cho and Natasha Lyonne were the last returning cast to sign on.


title: American Reunion

text: On , a casting call went out for the character "Kara", a role that involved "upper frontal nudity". Ali Cobrin was cast in the role. National Football League wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and actor Neil Patrick Harris have cameo roles.


title: American Reunion

text: Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott each received a reported $5 million plus a percentage of the profits for their performances. Alyson Hannigan and Eugene Levy were said to have been paid $3 million each, with the rest of the cast receiving payments within the $500,000 to $700,000 range, except Tara Reid, who was paid $250,000.


title: American Reunion

text: On a budget of $50 million, principal photography took place from early June to in metro Atlanta, Georgia. In late June, filming took place at Conyers, Monroe and Woodruff Park. While in Conyers, filming took place at Heritage High School’s football stadium and band room. Production filmed at Newton High School in Covington from to . Scenes were filmed at the school's gym for a reunion prom set, football field, commons area and hallways; which included 200 extras. Under the deal the production company paid $10,000 to the Newton County School System for using the school.


title: American Reunion

text: During the last week of July, production moved to Cumming to film at Mary Alice Park on Lake Lanier and included about 100 extras. Moore said the beach at the lake looks similar to a Lake Michigan setting, which is the state in which the film is set. The production company paid $23,000 to have full access to the property for a week. Suvari finished filming her scenes on .


title: American Reunion

text: "American Reunion" opened in North America on April 6, 2012 in 3,192 theaters for a weekend total of $21,514,080, putting it at number 2 at the box office behind "The Hunger Games".


title: American Reunion

text: On its second week of release it dropped to number 5 at the box office with a weekend total of $10,473,810.


title: American Reunion

text: The film earned $56,758,835 in North America and $177,978,063 internationally, for a worldwide total of $234,736,898.


title: American Reunion

text: The DVD and Blu-ray discs were released on July 10, 2012 in North America. The film was also released in a box set titled the "American Pie Quadrilogy" on August 22, 2012 in Australia. The theatrical version was available on iTunes a few days ahead of time, as an "Early Digital Release". It was released on September 10, 2012 in the United Kingdom.


title: American Reunion

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film a holds an approval rating of 45% based on 183 reviews, with an average rating of 5.21/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It'll provide sweetly nostalgic comfort food for fans of the franchise, but "American Reunion" fails to do anything truly new or interesting – or even very funny – with the characters." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: American Reunion

text: The charm of "American Pie" was the relative youth and naïveté of the characters. It was all happening for the first time, and they had the single-minded obsession with sex typical of many teenagers. "American Reunion" has a sense of déjà-vu, but it still delivers a lot of nice laughs. Most of them for me came thanks to Stifler... If you liked the earlier films, I suppose you gotta see this one. Otherwise, I dunno.


title: American Reunion

text: After some strained "Remember the time . . ." callbacks to 13-year-old gags, "American Reunion" gets comfortable and funny, as Hurwitz and Schlossberg hit familiar marks from unexpected angles, while the ensemble interplay is "routine" in the best sense of the word. Taken altogether, the "Pie" movies offer a cohesive worldview, showing each of life's stages as the setting for fresh-yet-familiar catastrophes, relieved by a belief in sex, however ridiculous it might look, as a restorative force. The recipe is so durable and the sustained character work so second-skin by now, one can imagine the Pie films keeping with the dramatis personae through middle age and into the problems of geriatric love, a raunch-comic version of Britain's documentary "Up" series. "American Midlife Crisis"? "American Retirement"? "American Funeral"? Let's go!


title: American Reunion

text: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave "American Reunion" a positive review of two and half stars out of four saying, ""American Reunion" reminds us what we liked about the original: the way the movie sweetened its raunch to build a rooting interest in these characters."


title: American Reunion

text: In August 2017, Seann William Scott said in an interview that the fourth film probably had not made enough at the domestic box office to warrant another film. In August 2018, Tara Reid said she met with the directors, with them saying that the fifth film will happen, and that filming could begin soon.


title: Cult of personality

text: A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, is the result of an effort which is made to create an idealized and heroic image of a leader by a government, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Historically, it has developed through techniques of mass media, propaganda, fake news, spectacle, the arts, patriotism, and government-organized demonstrations and rallies. A cult of personality is similar to apotheosis, except that it is established by modern social engineering techniques, usually by the state or the party in one-party states and dominant-party states. A cult of personality often accompanies the leader of a totalitarian or authoritarian countries. It can also be seen in some monarchies, theocracies, and failed democracies.


title: Cult of personality

text: Throughout history, monarchs and other heads of state were often held in enormous reverence and were thought to be endowed with super-human qualities. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, notably in medieval Europe, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God or the gods. Ancient Egypt, Imperial Japan, the Inca, the Aztecs, Tibet, Siam (now Thailand), and the Roman Empire are especially noted for redefining monarchs as "god-kings". Furthermore, the Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority (auctoritas) of the Roman State.


title: Cult of personality

text: The spread of democratic and secular ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it increasingly difficult for monarchs to preserve this aura. However, the subsequent development of mass media, such as radio, enabled political leaders to project a positive image of themselves onto the masses as never before. It was from these circumstances in the 20th century that the most notorious personality cults arose. Often these cults are a form of political religion.


title: Cult of personality

text: The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web in the 21st century has renewed the personality cult phenomenon. Disinformation via social media platforms and the twenty-four hour news cycle has enabled the widespread dissemination and acceptance of deceptive information and propaganda. As a result, personality cults have grown and remained popular in many places, corresponding with a marked rise in authoritarian government across the world.


title: Cult of personality

text: The term "cult of personality" probably appeared in English around 1800–1850, along with the French and German use. At first, it had no political connotations, but was instead closely related to the Romanticist "cult of genius". The first political use of the phrase appeared in a letter from Karl Marx to German political worker Wilhelm Blos dated to November 10, 1877:


title: Cult of personality

text: There are various views about what constitutes a cult of personality in a leader. Historian Jan Plamper wrote that modern-day personality cults display five characteristics that set them apart from "their predecessors": The cults are secular and "anchored in popular sovereignty"; their objects are all males; they target the entire population, not only the well-to-do or just the ruling class; they use mass media; they exist where the mass media can be controlled enough to inhibit the introduction of "rival cults".


title: Cult of personality

text: In his 2013 paper, ""What is character and why it really does matter"", Thomas A. Wright stated, "The cult of personality phenomenon refers to the idealized, even god-like, public image of an individual consciously shaped and molded through constant propaganda and media exposure. As a result, one is able to manipulate others based entirely on the influence of public personality ... the cult of personality perspective focuses on the often shallow, external images that many public figures cultivate to create an idealized and heroic image."


title: Cult of personality

text: Adrian Teodor Popan defined a cult of personality as a "quantitatively exaggerated and qualitatively extravagant public demonstration of praise of the leader." He also identified three causal "necessary, but not sufficient, structural conditions, and a path-dependent chain of events which, together, lead to the cult formation: a particular combination of patrimonialism and clientelism, lack of dissidence, and systematic falsification pervading the society's culture."


title: Cult of personality

text: One underlying characteristic, as explained by John Pittman, is the nature of the cult of personalities to be a patriarch. The idea of the cult of personalities that coincides with the Marxist movements gains popular footing among the men in power with the idea that they would be the "fathers of the people". By the end of the 1920s, the male features of the cults became more extreme. Pittman identifies that these features became roles including the "formal role for a [male] 'great leader' as a cultural focus of the apparatus of the regime: reliance on top-down 'administrative measures': and a pyramidal structure of authority" which was created by a single ideal.


title: Cult of personality

text: The mass media have played an instrumental role in forging national leaders' cults of personality. The modern cult of personality has arisen in large part due to how the leader is presented through the media. The modern cult of personality developed alongside the media. The twentieth century brought technological advancements that made it possible for regimes to package propaganda in the form of radio broadcasts, films, and later content on the internet. Today, governments are capable of isolating citizens from the outside world and creating a monopoly of what citizens have access to, making it much easier to foster a cult of personality.


title: Cult of personality

text: Writing in 2013, Thomas A. Wright observed that "[i]t is becoming evident that the charismatic leader, especially in politics, has increasingly become the product of media and self-exposure." Focusing on the media in the United States, Robert N. Bellah added, "It is hard to determine the extent to which the media reflect the cult of personality in American politics and to what extent they have created it. Surely they did not create it all alone, but just as surely they have contributed to it. In any case, American politics is dominated by the personalities of political leaders to an extent rare in the modern world ... in the personalized politics of recent years the 'charisma' of the leader may be almost entirely a product of media exposure."


title: Cult of personality

text: Often, a single leader became associated with this revolutionary transformation and came to be treated as a benevolent "guide" for the nation without whom the claimed transformation to a better future could not occur. Generally, this has been the justification for personality cults that arose in totalitarian societies, such as those of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong.


title: Cult of personality

text: Admiration for Mao Zedong has remained widespread in China in spite of his actions. In December 2013, a "Global Times" poll revealed that over 85% of Chinese viewed Mao's achievements as outweighing his mistakes.


title: Cult of personality

text: Jan Plamper argues while Napoleon III made some innovations in France, it was Benito Mussolini in Italy in the 1920s who originated the model of dictator-as-cult-figure that was emulated by Hitler, Stalin and the others, using the propaganda powers of a totalitarian state.


title: Cult of personality

text: Pierre du Bois de Dunilac argues that the Stalin cult was elaborately constructed to legitimize his rule. Many deliberate distortions and falsehoods were used. The Kremlin refused access to archival records that might reveal the truth, and key documents were destroyed. Photographs were altered and documents were invented. People who knew Stalin were forced to provide "official" accounts to meet the ideological demands of the cult, especially as Stalin himself presented it in 1938 in "Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)", which became the official history.


title: Cult of personality

text: Historian David L. Hoffmann states "The Stalin cult was a central element of Stalinism, and as such it was one of the most salient features of Soviet rule ... Many scholars of Stalinism cite the cult as integral to Stalin's power or as evidence of Stalin's megalomania."


title: Cult of personality

text: In Latin America, Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser link the "cult of the leader" to the concept of the "caudillo", a strong leader "who exercises a power that is independent of any office and free of any constraint." These populist strongmen are portrayed as "masculine and potentially violent" and enhance their authority through the use of the cult of personality. Mudde and Kaltwasser trace the linkage back to Juan Perón of Argentina.


title: Cult of personality

text: Juan Perón, who was elected three times as President of Argentina, and his second wife, Eva "Evita" Perón, were immensely popular among many of the Argentine people, and to this day they are still considered icons by the leading Justicialist Party. In contrast, academics and detractors often considered him a demagogue and a dictator. Perón sympathised with the Axis powers when he was a colonel and Minister of War and even served as a diplomatic envoy to Fascist Italy. During his regime he kept close ties with Francoist Spain. He ferociously persecuted dissents and potential political rivals, as political arrests were common during his first two terms. He eroded the republican principles of the country as a way to stay in power and forced statewide censorship on most media. Following his election, he built a personality cult around both himself and his wife so pervasive it is still a part of Argentina's current political life.


title: Cult of personality

text: During Perón's regime, schools were forced to read Evita's biography "La Razón de mi Vida", union and government jobs were only given to those who could prove themselves to be a fervent Peronist, newspapers were censored and television and radio networks were nationalized, and only state media was allowed. He often showed contempt for any opponents, regularly characterizing them as traitors and agents of foreign powers. Those who did not fall in line or were perceived as a threat to Perón's political power were subject to losing their jobs, threats, violence and harassment. Perón dismissed over 20,000 university professors and faculty members from all major public education institutions. Universities were then intervened, the faculty was pressured to get in line and those who resisted were blacklisted, dismissed or exiled. Numerous prominent cultural and intellectual figures were imprisoned. Thousands of artists, scientists, writers and academics left the country, migrated to North America or Europe. Union leaders and political rivals were arrested and tortured for years and were only released after Perón was deposed.


title: Cult of personality

text: Mao Zedong's cult of personality was a prominent part of Chairman Mao Zedong's rule over the People's Republic of China from his rise in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mass media, propaganda and a series of other techniques were used by the state to elevate Mao Zedong's status to that of an infallible heroic leader, who could stand up against The West, and guide China to become a beacon of Communism. Mao himself, however, publicly criticized the personality cult which was formed around him.


title: Cult of personality

text: During the period of Cultural Revolution, Mao's personality cult soared to an unprecedented height. Mao's face was firmly established on the front page of "People's Daily", where a column of his quotes was also printed every day. Mao's Selected Works were later printed in even greater circulation; the number of his portraits (1.2 billion) was more than the inhabitants in China. And soon Chairman Mao badges began to appear; in total, about 4.8 billion were manufactured. Every Chinese citizen was presented with the "Little Red Book" - a selection of quotes from Mao. It was prescribed to be carried everywhere and displayed at all public events, and citizens were expected to quote the contents of the book daily.


title: Cult of personality

text: After the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and others launched the "Boluan Fanzheng" program which invalidated the Cultural Revolution and abandoned (and forbade) the use of a personality cult. However, since Xi Jinping succeeded as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, the cult of personality has been promoted again in China.


title: Cult of personality

text: A cult of personality has been developing around Xi Jinping since he became General Secretary of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and the regime's paramount leader in 2012.


title: Cult of personality

text: Benito Mussolini was portrayed as the embodiment of Italian Fascism and was keen to be seen as such. Mussolini was styled by other Italian fascists as Il Duce ("The Leader"). Since Mussolini was represented as an almost omniscient leader, a common saying in Italy during Mussolini's rule was "The Duce is always right" (Italian: "Il Duce ha sempre ragione"). Mussolini became a unifying force in Italy in order for ordinary Italians to put their difference to one side with local officials. The personality cult surrounding Mussolini became a way for him to justify his personal rule and it acted as a way to enable social and political integration.


title: Cult of personality

text: Mussolini's military service in World War I and survival of failed assassination attempts were used to convey a mysterious aura around him. Fascist propaganda stated that Mussolini's body had been pierced by shrapnel just like St. Sebastian had been pierced by arrows, the difference being that Mussolini had survived this ordeal. Mussolini was also compared to St. Francis of Assisi, who had, like Mussolini, "suffered and sacrificed himself for others".


title: Cult of personality

text: The press were given instructions on what and what not to write about Mussolini. Mussolini himself authorized which photographs of him were allowed to be published and rejected any photographs which made him appear weak or less prominent than he wanted to be portrayed as in a particular group.


title: Cult of personality

text: Italy's war against Ethiopia (1935–37) was portrayed in propaganda as a revival of the Roman Empire, with Mussolini as the first Roman emperor Augustus. To improve his own image, as well as the image of Fascism in the Arab world, Mussolini declared himself to be the "Protector of Islam" during an official visit to Libya in 1937.


title: Cult of personality

text: India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was known to foster a personality cult around himself. Many leaders opposed Nehru's style of functioning, his economic policies, and his socialist agenda. C Rajagopalachari criticized the personality cult surrounding Nehru, saying that there should be an opposition group within the Congress because it was running with "accelerators and no brakes" without a true opposition. Rajagopalachari later formed the liberal Swatantra Party because of his opposition to Nehru's style of functioning. The expression 'Nehruvian consensus' reflects the dominance of Nehruvian ideals, a product of Nehru's personality cult and the associated statism, i.e. the overarching faith in the state and the leadership. The Congress party has been accused of propagating a personality cult centered around Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi & the Nehru-Gandhi family.


title: Cult of personality

text: Current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often criticized for creating a personality cult around him. Despite some setbacks and criticism, Modi's charisma and popularity was a key factor that helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) return to power in the 2019 Parliament elections. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of the country's second largest state, said in 2022, "He is superhuman and has traces of god in him." Opposition often accused Modi for spreading propaganda using popular media such as movies, television and web series, while the BJP has protested against a reality show in Tamil Nadu in which two children performed a skit about a vain and foppish king.


title: Cult of personality

text: Starting in the 1920s, during the early years of the Nazi Party, Nazi propaganda began to depict the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as a demagogue figure who was the almighty defender and savior of Germany. After the end of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, the German people were left in turmoil under the Weimar Republic, and, according to Nazi propaganda, only Hitler could save them and restore Germany's greatness, which in turn gave rise to the "Führer-cult". During the five election campaigns in 1932, the Nazi newspaper "Völkischer Beobachter" portrayed Hitler as a man who had a mass movement united behind him, a man with one mission to solely save Germany as the 'Leader of the coming Germany'. The Night of the Long Knives in 1934 – after which Hitler referred to himself as being single-handedly "responsible for the fate of the German people" – also helped to reinforce the myth that Hitler was the sole protector of the "Volksgemeinschaft", the ethnic community of the German people.


title: Cult of personality

text: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels cultivated an image of Hitler as a "heroic genius". The myth also gave rise to the saying and concept, "If only the Führer knew". Germans thought that problems which they ascribed to the Nazi hierarchy would not have occurred if Hitler had been aware of the situation; thus Nazi bigwigs were blamed, and Hitler escaped criticism.


title: Cult of personality

text: During the early 1930s, the myth was given credence due to Hitler's perceived ability to revive the German economy during the Great Depression. However, Albert Speer wrote that by 1939, the myth was under threat and the Nazis had to organize cheering crowds to turn up to events. Speer wrote:


title: Cult of personality

text: The myth helped to unite the German people during World War II, especially against the Soviet Union and the Western Allies. During Hitler's early victories against Poland and Western Europe the myth was at its peak, but when it became obvious to most Germans that the war was lost then the myth was exposed and Hitler's popularity declined.


title: Cult of personality

text: The North Korean cult of personality surrounding its ruling family, the Kim family, has existed for decades and can be found in many examples of North Korean culture. Although not acknowledged by the North Korean government, many defectors and Western visitors state there are often stiff penalties for those who criticize or do not show "proper" respect for the regime. The personality cult began soon after Kim Il-sung took power in 1948, and was greatly expanded after his death in 1994.


title: Cult of personality

text: The pervasiveness and extreme nature of North Korea's personality cult surpasses that of even Joseph Stalin or Mao Zedong. The cult is also marked by the intensity of the people's feelings for and devotion to their leaders, and the key role played by a Confucianized ideology of familism both in maintaining the cult and thereby in sustaining the regime itself. The North Korean cult of personality is a large part of Juche and totalitarianism.


title: Cult of personality

text: The first cult of personality to take shape in the USSR was Vladimir Lenin. Up until the dissolution of the USSR, Lenin's portrait and quotes were a ubiquitous part of the culture. However, during his lifetime, Lenin vehemently denounced any effort to build a cult of personality as in his eyes the cult of personality was antithetical to Marxism. Despite this, members of the Communist Party further used Lenin's image as the all knowing revolutionary who would liberate the proletariat. Lenin attempted to take action against this; however it was halted as Lenin was nearly assassinated in August 1918. His health would only further decline as he suffered numerous severe strokes with the worst in May 1922 and March 1923. In this state Lenin would lose the ability to walk and speak. It was during this time that the Communist Party began to promote the accomplishments of Lenin as the basis for his cult of personality, using him as an image of morality and revolutionary ideas.


title: Cult of personality

text: After Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924 and the exile of Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin came to embody the Soviet Union. Once Lenin's cult of personality had risen in power, creating enough influence, Stalin integrated his ideals into his own cult. Unlike other cults of personalities, the Lenin and Stalin cults were not created to give the leaders power, they were created to give power and validation to the Communist Party. Stalin initially spoke out against the cult and other outrageous and false claims centered around him. However Stalin's attitude began to shift in favor of the cult in the 1930s and he began to encourage it following the Great Purge. Seldom did Stalin object to state actions that furthered his cult of personality, however he did oppose some initiatives from Soviet propagandists. When Nikolai Yezhov proposed to rename Moscow to "Stalinodar", which translates to "gift of Stalin", Stalin objected. To merge the idea of the Lenin and Stalin cults together, Stalin changed aspects of Lenin's life in the public's eye in order to place himself in power. This kept the two cults in a line that showed that both Lenin and Stalin had the same ideas and that Stalin was the rightful successor of Lenin, leading the USSR in the fashion Lenin would have.


title: Cult of personality

text: In December 1929, Stalin celebrated his 50th birthday which made Stalin become a prominent feature in the Soviet press. The Soviet press used positive adjectives like, "Great", "Beloved", "Bold", "Wise", "Inspirer", and "Genius" to describe him. Similarly, speeches that were given by people to the peasants described Stalin as "Our Best Collective Farm Worker", "Our Shockworker, Our Best of Best", and "Our Darling, Our Guiding Star". By 1934, under Stalin's full control of the country, socialist realism became the endorsed method of art and literature. Even under the communist regime, the Stalin cult of personality portrayed Stalin's leadership as patriarchy under the features laid out during Khrushchev's speech. After 1936, the Soviet press described Stalin as the "Father of Nations".


title: Cult of personality

text: One key element of Soviet propaganda was interactions between Stalin and the children of the Soviet Union. He was often photographed with children of different ethnic backgrounds of the Soviet Union and was often photographed giving gifts to children. In 1935 the phrase, "Thank You, Dear Comrade Stalin, for a Happy Childhood!" started to appear above doorways at nurseries, orphanages, and schools; children also chanted this slogan at festivals. Another key element of Soviet propaganda was imagery of Stalin and Lenin. In many posters, Stalin and Lenin were placed together to show their camaraderie and that their ideals were one. Throughout the 1930s, posters with both images were used as a way to bring the nation and the military together under the policies of the Communist Party during World War II, with the idea of Lenin as the father of the revolutionary ideas and Stalin as the disciple who would fulfill the communist ideals. Stalin was also portrayed in numerous films produced by Mosfilm, which remained a Soviet-led company until the fall of the Soviet Union.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Kandi Lenice Burruss Tucker (born May 17, 1976), known professionally by her mononym Kandi, is an American producer, television personality, singer, songwriter and actress. She first gained notice in 1992 as a member of the female vocal group Xscape. In 2000, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for her writing contributions on the TLC hit song "No Scrubs".


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss has starred in the Bravo reality television series "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" since its second-season premiere on July 30, 2009. Burruss has appeared in six "Real Housewives" spinoff and companion series as of 2022, beginning with 2012's "The Kandi Factory", and continuing on with "Kandi's Wedding" (2014), "Kandi's Ski Trip" (2015), and "" (2017), all of which were aired by Bravo. Burruss also appeared as a guest in Kim Zolciak-Biermann's wedding special "Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding" in 2012. Burruss's sixth Bravo companion series appearance, and fifth series overall to focus on Burruss, is called "Kandi & the Gang", which premiered on March 6, 2022.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss had a recurring role as Roselyn Perry in the third season of the Showtime drama series "The Chi". She also won the third season of the Fox competition series "The Masked Singer", and placed fifth on the second season of "Celebrity Big Brother" on CBS.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss was born in College Park, Georgia, the daughter of the Reverend Titus Burruss Jr. and Joyce Jones. She had an older brother, Patrick Riley (1968–1991), who died in a car crash. Burruss attended Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia, graduating in 1994. She first appeared on the BET series "Teen Summit" at age 15.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Prior to joining Xscape, LaTocha Scott had been performing with a group called Precise. While attending Tri-Cities performing arts high school in East Point, Georgia, Scott's sister Tamika met Kandi Burruss. The three began singing together and recruited a fourth member, Tamera Coggins, though her time with the group was short-lived. Soon Tameka "Tiny" Cottle was asked to audition for the girls, and Xscape was officially formed. After the group's major debut performance at BET's Teen Summit in 1992, the girls were introduced to record executive Ian Burke, who later became the group's manager. Xscape soon caught the attention of Jermaine Dupri, who later signed the group to his recording label So So Def Recordings.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: On October 12, 1993, the group released their debut album, "Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha". The album peaked at number seventeen the U.S. "Billboard" 200 and number three on the Top R&B Albums chart. It was a critical and commercial success, certified platinum within a year, and launched two top ten singles.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: After their debut album's success, Xscape released their second studio album, "Off the Hook", in 1995. The album eventually went platinum.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Their third and final studio album "Traces of My Lipstick" debuted at twenty-eight on the "Billboard" 200 and at six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop album chart; over a million copies were sold in the U.S. After "Traces of My Lipstick", LaTocha Scott initially left the group to pursue a solo career. The ladies soon regrouped and made appearances on the "Big Momma's House" and "Hardball" soundtracks, before going on another hiatus until 2005.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: In 2017, TV One had planned to produce an unauthorized movie about Xscape which Kandi Burruss did not want to happen against her and the group's wishes. She called other band members to discuss starting a show of their own. The show was named "Xscape: Still Kickin' It", and set as a four-episode miniseries. On November 5, 2017, the show premiered on BravoTV. Before Kandi could rejoin the group, she wanted an apology from band member Tamika Scott, who claimed in a 2007 interview that Burruss broke up the group by sleeping with their label head Jermaine Dupri and his father, Michael Mauldin. Kandi wanted an apology for the false statement that Scott told regarding Mauldin, but did confirm that she and Dupri had been involved (though Burruss claims that wasn't the reason why the group broke up). Burruss received an apology from Scott on stage during a concert in Detroit in 2017.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: After the disbanding of Xscape, Burruss focused on production and songwriting. In 1999, Burruss co-wrote, along with Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, three major hit songs: "No Scrubs" for TLC, "Bills, Bills, Bills" for Destiny's Child, and "There You Go", Pink's debut single. All three songs had writing involvement by their respective artists, and "No Scrubs" was also co-written by Burruss's former groupmate Tameka "Tiny" Cottle.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: In 2000, Kandi released her debut album, "Hey Kandi...", which spawned the singles "Don't Think I'm Not" and "Cheatin' on Me". "Don't Think I'm Not" reached number 24 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The album did not do as well on the chart as the lead single did, reaching #72 on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss won the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers's Songwriter of the Year award in 2000, in the Rhythm & Soul category. She was the first African-American woman to win the award.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss rewrote and executive produced the 2009 song "Tardy for the Party" for her "Real Housewives of Atlanta" co-star Kim Zolciak. On March 12, 2013, Kandi Burruss, and her collaborating songwriter/producer, Rodney "Don Vito" Richard, filed suit against Zolciak for profits earned from "Tardy for the Party". In the documents filed, Burruss' attorney, "RHOA" castmate Phaedra Parks, alleges her clients wrote the song for Zolciak and that Zolciak released and sold the single "without [the] plaintiffs' authorization, license or consent." Burruss was also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent future sales of the song and the "destruction of all copies of the infringing single and any other product of defendant's that infringe plaintiffs' copyrights", punitive damages, attorney's fees, and a jury trial. The lawsuit was dismissed on October 12, 2013, after the presiding judge deemed that Burruss failed to furnish enough evidence of copyright infringement.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Following a hiatus from music, Burruss recorded her first EP. The "Fly Above EP" was released on October 29, 2009. In December 2009, Burruss announced she had signed a deal with Asylum Records after her deal with Capitol Records fell through. Her second album, "Kandi Koated", was released in December 2010. Burruss also teamed with Atlanta female rapper Rasheeda to form the duo Peach Candy.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: The 2017 song "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran, which ranks as one of the most successful singles of all time, drew comparisons in its lyrical rhythm to "No Scrubs", particularly in the pre-chorus line, "Boy, let's not talk too much/ Grab on my waist and put that body on me." As a result, Burruss, Cottle, and Briggs were awarded co-writing credits on "Shape of You".


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Replacing DeShawn Snow, Burruss joined "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" in its second season, which began airing in July 2009. She has since appeared in every subsequent season of the show, becoming the series' longest-serving cast member. When she first joined the show, she had recently become engaged to her boyfriend A.J. and was shown expressing interest in reviving her music career. A feud developed between her and Nene Leakes after Burruss became friends with Zolciak and helped her record her single "Tardy for the Party". In the third season, Zolciak and Burruss continued recording music together, although they clashed over their creative differences. A conflict between Burruss, Leakes, and Zolciak later ensued while the latter two women embarked on a promotional concert tour. In later seasons, Burruss struck up a friendship with castmates Phaedra Parks and Porsha Williams, even starring the latter a role in her production of "A Mother's Love", a play that Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, created and produced. Sometime during her pregnancy with son Ace, a rift was shown between Phaedra and Kandi, eventually souring due to unpaid production fees that Parks owed Tucker.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burrus received the second spin-off from "The Real Housewives of Atlanta", "The Kandi Factory", in 2012. It was originally planned as a one-time television special, but eventually ran for a full season. It followed Burruss and her record producers as they attempted to launch the music careers of undiscovered artists, with a new artist selected every episode. Burruss and Tucker then got another spin-off series on Bravo, titled "Kandi's Wedding", which aired for five episodes in June and July 2014 and showed the two getting married. "Kandi's Wedding" brought in very high ratings for Bravo, and topped NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak's previous spin-offs. Her third spin-off series, "Kandi's Ski Trip", was a three-part special that aired in 2015 after the conclusion of the seventh season of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta".


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss was a contestant on the second season of the reality competition show "Celebrity Big Brother." She placed fifth in the competition and was a fan favorite during her run on the show. She appeared as a guest judge on the "From Farm to Runway" episode of season 11 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" alongside model and actress Amber Valletta, which aired on April 11, 2019.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: In 2020, she competed in the third season of "The Masked Singer" as "Night Angel". Burruss had been originally asked to compete in the first season, but was unable to participate due to other commitments. After watching T-Pain perform and having producers approach her again however, she reconsidered. Burruss won her season as the show's first female winner. In 2022, Burruss began starring in Bravo's "Kandi & the Gang".


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss has made cameo appearances on series such as "Single Ladies", "", "Chef Roblé & Co.", and "Let's Stay Together".


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss also owns a sex toy company called "Bedroom Kandi". Burruss and four friends started "Kandi Koated Nights", a "sex and relationship" web series on Ustream. The show began airing on television in 2018.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: Burruss and her ex-boyfriend, Russell "Block" Spencer of Block Entertainment, have a daughter named Riley Burruss, born on August 22, 2002. In late 2008, Burruss began a relationship with Ashley "A.J." Jewell and after dating several months, the couple became engaged in January 2009. However, on October 2, 2009, after sustaining head injuries in a brawl, Jewell died.


title: Kandi Burruss

text: On January 15, 2013, Burruss announced via Twitter that she was engaged to Todd Tucker, a former line producer for "The Real Housewives of Atlanta", whom she had been dating since 2011 while filming the fourth season. On April 4, 2014, the two were married in a lavish ceremony. In July 2015, Burruss announced that she was pregnant. She and Tucker welcomed their son on January 6, 2016. They welcomed their second child, a daughter, via surrogate on November 22, 2019. The couple resides in Atlanta, Georgia.


title: Arch Enemy

text: Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan Liiva, who were both originally from the death metal band Carnage. The band has released eleven studio albums, three live albums, three video albums and four EPs. The band was originally fronted by Johan Liiva, who was replaced by German vocalist Angela Gossow in 2000. Gossow left the band in March 2014 to become the group's manager and was replaced by Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz.


title: Arch Enemy

text: Arch Enemy's debut album was "Black Earth", was recorded in Studio Fredman and released by the now defunct Wrong Again Records in 1996.


title: Arch Enemy

text: After the release of "Black Earth" the band switched labels, signing a contract with Century Media. In 1998 Arch Enemy released "Stigmata", for which bassist Martin Bengtsson and drummer Peter Wildoer joined the band. The album gained a wider audience and popularity in Europe and America. This was also the first Arch Enemy album to be released worldwide.


title: Arch Enemy

text: In 1999, Sharlee D'Angelo (ex-King Diamond, ex-Mercyful Fate) assumed the role of Arch Enemy's bassist, and Daniel Erlandsson (Eucharist, ex-Carcass) was again recruited as the drummer. "Burning Bridges" was released, and was followed by the live album "Burning Japan Live 1999". During the touring-cycle for "Burning Bridges", D'Angelo was temporarily replaced twice; first by Dick Lövgren (Meshuggah, ex-Armageddon) and then by Roger Nilsson (ex-Spiritual Beggars, Firebird, the Quill).


title: Arch Enemy

text: In November 2000, vocalist Johan Liiva left and was replaced by German death metal vocalist Angela Gossow.


title: Arch Enemy

text: The first album with songs featuring Gossow was "Wages of Sin", released in 2001. In December of the same year, Arch Enemy took part in the "Japan's Beast Feast 2002" concert, playing alongside Slayer and Motörhead.


title: Arch Enemy

text: "Anthems of Rebellion" was released in 2003 and brought some innovations, such as the use of a second voice singing in harmony; such as in the "End of the Line" and "Dehumanization" tracks. In November of the following year, the band released the EP "Dead Eyes See No Future", which featured live recordings, along with covers of Manowar, Megadeth and Carcass songs. In June 2004, the band embarked upon yet another Japan tour.


title: Arch Enemy

text: In June 2005, Arch Enemy finished the recording for their sixth album, "Doomsday Machine". In July 2005, guitarist Christopher Amott left the band in order to focus on his personal life. He was temporarily replaced by guitarist Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind) and then by Fredrik Åkesson in September 2005. Christopher returned on a permanent basis in March 2007, shortly before the band entered the studio to begin recording their new album with producer Fredrik Nordström (who had previously worked with the band on their first four albums). Åkesson went on to become Opeth's new lead guitarist in May 2007.


title: Arch Enemy

text: Arch Enemy's seventh album, entitled "Rise of the Tyrant" was released on 24 September 2007 in Europe and 25 September 2007 in the United States. "Rise of the Tyrant" debuted at number 84 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. This surpassed the "Doomsday Machine" chart entry, making it the band's highest charting effort to date. Gossow said the new album has more emotion and less double vocals, as well as less vocal processing, yielding a more "raw" presentation.


title: Arch Enemy

text: Arch Enemy played the Bloodstock Open Air Festival in August 2007, between Sabbat and In Flames. They then performed on the Black Crusade tour at the end of 2007 with Machine Head, Trivium, DragonForce and Shadows Fall.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 8 March 2008 Arch Enemy filmed a live show in Tokyo, Japan for the live DVD "Tyrants of the Rising Sun". Arch Enemy also co-headlined the "Defenders of the Faith" tour in April 2008 with Opeth, while DevilDriver and 3 Inches of Blood opened for them. They then headlined the "Tyranny and Bloodshred" tour in May 2008 with Dark Tranquillity, Divine Heresy, and Firewind as supporting acts.


title: Arch Enemy

text: A compilation album titled "The Root of All Evil" was released on 28 September 2009 in Europe, 30 September in Japan, and 6 October in the United States. "The Root of All Evil" features twelve re-recorded songs spanning the band's career before Gossow joined as vocalist, with some material pre-dating D'Angelo as their bassist. In the first half of 2009, the band toured Europe and South America, and then played at the annual "Dubai Desert Rock Festival" alongside Opeth, Chimaira, and Motörhead. Following the release of "The Root of All Evil" on 28 September 2009, the band embarked on an Asian and Australian tour, which included their first visit to New Zealand. The tour started at the "Loud Park festival" in Japan on 17 October supplementing other acts including Megadeth, Judas Priest, Slayer, Anthrax, Rob Zombie and Children of Bodom. They also toured in South Korea on 25 October headlining at the Melon AX Hall in Seoul.


title: Arch Enemy

text: According to a September 2010 interview with Angela Gossow, Arch Enemy entered the studio on 1 December to begin recording their eighth album, "Khaos Legions", for a release in June 2011, according to the band's website. The first single from the album was released on the Century Media website on 31 March entitled "Yesterday is Dead and Gone". The album was released on 31 May 2011. On 12 December the band announced that they would be filming a show in Cologne the following day for an upcoming live DVD entitled "World Khaos Tour".


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 3 March 2012 it was announced on the band's Facebook page that Christopher Amott had once again departed from the band. He was replaced by Nick Cordle from Arsis. Arch Enemy released their third music video from Khaos Legions on 25 April 2012 for "Under Black Flags We March". Not only does Nick Cordle appear in the video, he also recorded a new guitar solo, making this his debut track with the band.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 3 March 2014 the band revealed their ninth album would be titled "War Eternal", released in June 2014.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 17 March 2014, Gossow released a statement announcing her departure from the group and welcoming her replacement, former vocalist of Canadian metalcore band the Agonist, Alissa White-Gluz. In the statement, she wrote that while she had enjoyed her time with the group, it was time for her to move on, be with her family and pursue other interests. Gossow did confirm that she would remain Arch Enemy's business manager, and would be "passing the torch to the super talented Alissa White-Gluz, whom I’ve known as a dear friend and a superb vocalist for many years. I always thought she deserved a chance to shine – and now she’s getting it. Just like I got that chance back in 2001."


title: Arch Enemy

text: White-Gluz also released a statement saying: "I am very honored and happy to announce a new chapter in my life and musical career. "Wages of Sin" was the first metal album I ever bought, and it was love at first listen. It is not often that you get a phone call from your favorite band asking you to join! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such amazingly talented musicians whom I also consider great friends. I look forward to being able to write and perform at a whole new level now with Arch Enemy! Music is forever, metal is limitless and this is only the beginning!"


title: Arch Enemy

text: During Arch Enemy's North American tour in support of their album "War Eternal", guitarist Nick Cordle left the band on 10 November 2014. Specifically, he left the stage with only a few songs remaining in the set during the show at San Francisco's Regency Ballroom. Christopher Amott temporarily re-joined the band for the remainder of the tour, while famed guitarist Jeff Loomis (formerly of Nevermore) was announced as the official replacement and joined the band for their European tour with Kreator and subsequent events.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 22 January 2016, the founding members of Arch Enemy formed a side project named Black Earth. Consisting of former members Liiva and Christopher Amott, and current members Daniel Erlandsson, Michael Amott, and Sharlee D'Angelo, the band played a sold out Japan tour in May 2016 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of both Arch Enemy and the release of their debut album, "Black Earth", they only performed songs from the band's first three albums.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 26 August 2016, it was announced that Arch Enemy was working on their tenth studio album which would be released in 2017. On 22 May 2017, the band revealed that the album would be entitled "Will to Power", to be released on 8 September 2017 by Century Media Records.


title: Arch Enemy

text: The first single, "The World Is Yours", was released on 14 July 2017, along with a music video that gained more than 1.1 million views on YouTube in the first two days.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 2 August 2017, the band announced a co-headlining North American tour with Trivium in fall 2017 with While She Sleeps and Fit for an Autopsy as support acts.


title: Arch Enemy

text: In an October 2018 interview, Michael Amott announced that he has been "writing a little bit here and there" and has "a few new ideas" for the next Arch Enemy album.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 18 January 2019, Arch Enemy released "Covered in Blood", a compilation album of songs covered over the years.


title: Arch Enemy

text: On 30 November 2020, Arch Enemy announced their participation in the European Siege Tour 2021 with Behemoth, Carcass and Unto Others (later postponed to 2022). On 21 October 2021, Arch Enemy premiered the music video for their new single "Deceiver, Deceiver". On 10 December 2021, they released a music video for another single, "House of Mirrors". On 27 January 2022, Arch Enemy announced their eleventh album, entitled "Deceivers", released on 12 August 2022 (originally announced for 29 July 2022, but later postponed). Along with the album announcement came the third single "Handshake with Hell", with yet another music video. On 22 April 2022, the band announced the fourth single from the new album, "Sunset over the Empire", released on 20 May 2022, digitally and as a limited 7" vinyl with a B-side "The Judging Eyes", an instrumental remake of "You Will Know My Name" from 2014’s "War Eternal". On 11 July 2022, came the fifth single announcement - "In the Eye of the Storm", out on 14 July 2022.


title: Arch Enemy

text: Arch Enemy's musical style has been classified as melodic death metal. AllMusic critic Steve Huey describes the band's sound as a "blend [of] progressive and death metal influences." Earlier albums, such as "Burning Bridges", while still classified as melodic death metal, are more centered around classic death metal.


title: Dating

text: Dating is a stage of romantic relationships in which two individuals engage in an activity together, most often with the intention of evaluating each other's suitability as a partner in a future intimate relationship. It falls into the category of courtship, consisting of social events carried out by the couple either alone or with others. The protocols and practices of dating and the terms used to describe it vary vastly between cultures, societies, and time periods. Although dating is most often colloquially used to refer to the action of individuals engaging in dates with one other, dating can also encompass a wide range of activities which fall outside participation in social events.


title: Dating

text: The meaning of dating also shifted during the 20th century to include a more informal use referring to a romantic, sexual relationship itself beyond an introductory or trial stage. Although informal, this meaning is very common and is used in formal speech as well as writing. Although taboo across most of the world for much of history, premarital sex has become increasingly common within the last century, beginning with the onset of the sexual revolution. Across a greater number of portrayals in film, television, and music, sex within dating has become increasingly accepted as a natural progression of the relationship.


title: Dating

text: Dating as a social practice is a relatively recent phenomenon, emerging only within the last few centuries. From the standpoint of anthropology and sociology, dating is linked with other institutions such as marriage and the family which have changed rapidly, having been subject to the effects of advances in technology and medicine. As humans societies have evolved from hunter-gatherers into civilized societies, there have been substantial adjustments in relations between people, with perhaps the only remaining biological constant being that a woman and man must have sexual intercourse for human procreation to happen.


title: Dating

text: Historically, marriages in most societies were arranged by parents and older relatives with the goal not being love but legacy and "economic stability and political alliances", according to anthropologists. Accordingly, there was little need for a temporary trial period such as dating before a permanent community-recognized union was formed between a man and a woman. While pair-bonds of varying forms were recognized by most societies as acceptable social arrangements, marriage was reserved for heterosexual pairings and had a transactional nature, where wives were in many cases a form of property being exchanged between father and husband, and who would have to serve the function of reproduction. Communities exerted pressure on people to form pair-bonds in places such as Europe; in China, society "demanded people get married before having a sexual relationship" and many societies found that some formally recognized bond between a man and a woman was the best way of rearing and educating children as well as helping to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings regarding competition for mates.


title: Dating

text: Generally, during much of recorded history of humans in civilization, and into the Middle Ages in Europe, weddings were seen as business arrangements between families, while romance was something that happened outside of marriage discreetly, such as covert meetings. The 12th-century book "The Art of Courtly Love" advised that "True love can have no place between husband and wife." According to one view, clandestine meetings between men and women, generally outside of marriage or before marriage, were the precursors to today's dating.


title: Dating

text: From about 1700 a worldwide movement perhaps described as the "empowerment of the individual" took hold, leading towards greater emancipation of women and equality of individuals. Men and women became more equal politically, financially, and socially in many nations. Women eventually won the right to vote in many countries and own property and receive equal treatment by the law, and these changes had profound impacts on the relationships between men and women. Parental influence declined. In many societies, individuals could decide—on their own—whether they should marry, whom they should marry, and when they should marry. A few centuries ago, dating was sometimes described as a "courtship ritual where young women entertained gentleman callers, usually in the home, under the watchful eye of a chaperone," but increasingly, in many Western countries, it became a self-initiated activity with two young people going out as a couple in public together. Still, dating varies considerably by nation, custom, religious upbringing, technology, and social class, and important exceptions with regards to individual freedoms remain as many countries today still practice arranged marriages, request dowries, and forbid same-sex pairings. Although in many countries, movies, meals, and meeting in coffeehouses and other places is now popular, as are advice books suggesting various strategies for men and women, in other parts of the world, such as in South Asia and many parts of the Middle East, being alone in public as a couple is not only frowned upon but can even lead to either person being socially ostracized.


title: Dating

text: The 1849 book "The Whole Art of Polite Courtship; Or the Ladies & Gentlemen's Love Letter Writer" exemplifies the importance of love letters in 19th century dating (then known as courtship, due to its goal of marriage). The book contains 31 love letter samples for men and women in different careers, presumably for readers to draw inspiration when writing their own romantic correspondences. Etiquette books, such as the 1852 "Etiquette of Courtship and Matrimony," detail socially appropriate ways to meet lovers, date, arrange a wedding, honeymoon, and avoid arguments.


title: Dating

text: In the twentieth century, dating was sometimes seen as a precursor to marriage (i.e. courtship) but it could also be considered as an end-in-itself, that is, an informal social activity akin to friendship. It generally happened in that portion of a person's life before the age of marriage, but as marriage became less permanent with the advent of divorce, dating could happen at other times in peoples lives as well. People became more mobile. Rapidly developing technology played a huge role: new communication technology such as the telephone, Internet and text messaging enabled dates to be arranged without face-to-face contact. Cars extended the range of dating as well as enabled back-seat sexual exploration.


title: Dating

text: In the mid-twentieth century, the advent of birth control as well as safer procedures for abortion changed the equation considerably, and there was less pressure to marry as a means for satisfying sexual urges. New types of relationships formed; it was possible for people to live together without marrying and without children. Information about human sexuality grew, and with it an acceptance of all types of consensual sexual orientations is becoming more common. Today, the institution of dating continues to evolve at a rapid rate with new possibilities and choices opening up particularly through online dating.


title: Dating

text: Humans have been compared to other species in terms of sexual behavior. Neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky constructed a reproductive spectrum with opposite poles being tournament species, in which males compete fiercely for reproductive privileges with females, and pair bond arrangements, in which a male and female will bond for life. According to Sapolsky, humans are somewhat in the middle of this spectrum, in the sense that humans form pair bonds, but there is the possibility of cheating or changing partners. These species-particular behavior patterns provide a context for aspects of human reproduction, including dating. However, one particularity of the human species is that pair bonds are often formed without necessarily having the intention of reproduction. In modern times, emphasis on the institution of marriage, traditionally described as a male-female bond, has obscured pair bonds formed by same-sex and transgender couples, and that many heterosexual couples also bond for life without offspring, or that often pairs that do have offspring separate. Thus, the concept of marriage is changing widely in many countries.


title: Dating

text: The earliest usage of the noun "date" is in 1896 by George Ade, a columnist for the Chicago Record. Date referred to "public" courtship, when a woman would meet a man publicly rather than privately at a residence or at court. In Ade's 1899 "Fabels in Slang", he used the term "Date Book" to describe a type of ledger system a cashier used to track dates with suitors until she married.


title: Dating

text: Social rules regarding dating vary considerably according to variables such as country, social class, race, religion, age, sexual orientation and gender. Behavior patterns are generally unwritten and constantly changing. There are considerable differences between social and personal values. Each culture has particular patterns which determine such choices as whether the man asks the woman out, where people might meet, whether kissing is acceptable on a first date, the substance of conversation, who should pay for meals or entertainment, or whether splitting expenses is allowed. Among the Karen people in Burma and Thailand, women are expected to write love poetry and give gifts to win over the man. Since dating can be stressful, there is the possibility of humor to try to reduce tensions. For example, director Blake Edwards wanted to date singing star Julie Andrews, and he joked in parties about her persona by saying that her "endlessly cheerful governess" image from movies such as "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" gave her the image of possibly having "lilacs for pubic hair"; Andrews appreciated his humor, sent him lilacs, dated him and later married him, and the couple stayed together for 41 years until his death in 2010.


title: Dating

text: While the term "dating" has many meanings, the most common refers to a trial period in which two people explore whether to take the relationship further towards a more permanent relationship; in this sense, dating refers to the time when people are physically together in public as opposed to the earlier time period in which people are arranging the date, perhaps by corresponding by email or text or phone. Another meaning of the term "dating" is to describe a stage in a person's life when he or she is actively pursuing romantic relationships with different people. If two unmarried celebrities are seen in public together, they are often described as "dating" which means they were seen in public together, and it is not clear whether they are merely friends, exploring a more intimate relationship, or are romantically involved. A related sense of the term is when two people have been out in public only a few times but have not yet committed to a relationship; in this sense, "dating" describes an initial trial period and can be contrasted with "being in a committed relationship".


title: Dating

text: One of the main purposes of dating is for two or more people to evaluate one another's suitability as a long term companion or spouse. Often physical characteristics, personality, financial status, and other aspects of the involved persons are judged and, as a result, feelings can be hurt and confidence shaken. Because of the uncertainty of the whole situation, the desire to be acceptable to the other person, and the possibility of rejection, dating can be very stressful for all parties involved. Some studies have shown that dating tends to be extremely difficult for people with social anxiety disorder.


title: Dating

text: While some of what happens on a date is guided by an understanding of basic, unspoken rules, there is considerable room to experiment, and there are numerous sources of advice available. Sources of advice include magazine articles, self-help books, dating coaches, friends, and many other sources. And the advice given can pertain to all facets of dating, including such aspects as where to go, what to say, what not to say, what to wear, how to end a date, how to flirt, and differing approaches regarding first dates versus subsequent dates. In addition, advice can apply to periods before a date, such as how to meet prospective partners, as well as after a date, such as how to break off a relationship.


title: Dating

text: There are now more than 500 businesses worldwide that offer dating coach services—with almost 350 of those operating in the U.S. And the number of these businesses has surged since 2005 Frequency of dating varies by person and situation; among singles actively seeking partners, 36% had been on no dates in the past three months, 13% had one date, 22% had two to four dates and 25% had five or more dates, according to a 2005 U.S. survey.


title: Dating

text: There are numerous ways to meet potential dates, including blind dates, classified ads, dating websites, hobbies, holidays, office romance, social networking, speed dating, or simply talking in public places, vehicles or houses. A Pew study in 2005 which examined Internet users in long-term relationships including marriage, found that many met by contacts at work or at school. The survey found that 55% of relationship-seeking singles agreed that it was "difficult to meet people where they live." Work is a common place to meet potential spouses, although there are some indications that the Internet is overtaking the workplace as an introduction venue. In Britain, one in five marry a co-worker, but half of all workplace romances end within three months. One drawback of office dating is that a bad date can lead to "workplace awkwardness."


title: Dating

text: There is a general perception that men and women approach dating differently, hence the reason why advice for each gender varies greatly, particularly when dispensed by popular magazines. For example, it is a common belief that heterosexual men often seek women based on beauty and youth. Psychology researchers at the University of Michigan suggested that men prefer women who seem to be "malleable and awed", and prefer younger women with subordinate jobs such as secretaries and assistants and fact-checkers rather than executive-type women. Online dating patterns suggest that men are more likely to initiate online exchanges (over 75%) and extrapolate that men are less "choosy", seek younger women, and "cast a wide net". In a similar vein, the stereotype for heterosexual women is that they seek well-educated men who are their age or older with high-paying jobs. Evolutionary psychology suggests that "women are the choosier of the genders" since "reproduction is a much larger investment for women" who have "more to lose by making bad choices."


title: Dating

text: For example, some have noted that educated women in many countries including Italy and Russia, and the United States find it difficult to have a career as well as raise a family, prompting a number of writers to suggest how women should approach dating and how to time their careers and personal life. The advice comes with the assumption that the work-life balance is inherently a "woman's problem." In many societies, there is a view that women should fulfill the role of primary caregivers, with little to no spousal support and with few services by employers or government such as parental leave or child care. Accordingly, an issue regarding dating is the subject of career timing which generates controversy. Some views reflect a traditional notion of gender roles. For example, Danielle Crittenden in "What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us" argued that having both a career and family at the same time was taxing and stressful for a woman; as a result, she suggested that women should date in their early twenties with a seriousness of purpose, marry when their relative beauty permitted them to find a reliable partner, have children, then return to work in their early thirties with kids in school; Crittenden acknowledged that splitting a career path with a ten-year baby-raising hiatus posed difficulties. There are contrasting views which suggest that women should focus on careers in their twenties and thirties.


title: Dating

text: In studies comparing children with heterosexual families and children with homosexual families, there have been no major differences noted; though some claims suggest that kids with homosexual parents end up more well adjusted than their peers with heterosexual parents, purportedly due to the lack of marginalizing gender roles in same-sex families.


title: Dating

text: It is increasingly common today, however, with new generations and in a growing number of countries, to frame the work-life balance issue as a social problem rather than a gender problem. With the advent of a changing workplace, the increased participation of women in the labor force, an increasing number of men who are picking up their share of parenting and housework, and more governments and industries committing themselves to achieving gender equality, the question of whether or not, or when to start a family is slowly being recognized as an issue that touches (or should touch) both genders.


title: Dating

text: The prospect of love often entails anxiety, sometimes with a fear of commitment and a fear of intimacy for persons of both sexes. One woman said "being really intimate with someone in a committed sense is kind of threatening" and described love as "the most terrifying thing." In her Psychology Today column, research scientist, columnist, and author Debby Herbenick compared it to a roller coaster:


title: Dating

text: One dating adviser agreed that love is risky, and wrote that "There is truly only one real danger that we must concern ourselves with and that is closing our hearts to the possibility that love exists."


title: Dating

text: What happens in the dating world can reflect larger currents within popular culture. For example, when the 1995 book "The Rules" appeared, it touched off media controversy about how men and women should relate to each other, with different positions taken by columnist Maureen Dowd of "The New York Times" and British writer Kira Cochrane of "The Guardian" and others. It has even caused anthropologists such as Helen Fisher to suggest that dating is a game designed to "impress and capture" which is not about "honesty" but "novelty", "excitement" and even "danger", which can boost dopamine levels in the brain. The subject of dating has spun off popular culture terms such as the "friend zone" which refers to a situation in which a dating relation evolves into a platonic non-sexual union.


title: Dating

text: Since people dating often do not know each other well, there is the risk of violence, including date rape. According to one report, there was a 10% chance of violence between students happening between a boyfriend and girlfriend, sometimes described as "intimate partner violence", over a 12–month period. A 2004 estimate was that 20% of U.S. high school girls aged 14–18 were "hit, slapped, shoved or forced into sexual activity". Violence while dating isn't limited to any one culture or group or religion, but remains an issue in different countries. (It is usually the female who is the victim, but there have been cases where males have been hurt as well.) Sara McCorquodale suggests that women meeting strangers on dates meet initially in busy public places, share details of upcoming dates with friends or family so they know where they'll be and who they'll be with, avoid revealing one's surname or address, and conduct searches on them on the Internet prior to the date. One advisor suggested: Don't leave drinks unattended; have an exit plan if things go badly; and ask a friend to call you on your cell phone an hour into the date to ask how it's going.


title: Dating

text: The Internet is shaping the way new generations date. Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, and other applications have made remote connections possible. Particularly for the LGBTQ+ community, where the dating pool can be more difficult to navigate due to discrimination and having a 'minority' status in society.


title: Dating

text: Online dating tools are an alternate way to meet potential dates. Many people use smartphone apps such as Tinder, Grindr, or Bumble which allow a user to accept or reject another user with a single swipe of a finger. Some critics have suggested that matchmaking algorithms are imperfect and are "no better than chance" for the task of identifying acceptable partners. Others have suggested that the speed and availability of emerging technologies may be undermining the possibility for couples to have long-term meaningful relationships when finding a replacement partner has potentially become too easy.


title: Dating

text: Dating customs and habits vary considerably throughout the world. The average duration of courtship before proceeding to engagement or marriage varies considerably throughout the world.


title: Dating

text: According to one source, there are four ways that marriage can happen among the Nyangatom people: (1) arranged marriage, when well-respected elders are sent to the girl's family on behalf of the boy's family; (2) courtship or dating after a friendly meeting between boy and girl such as at a market place or holiday where there's dancing; (3) abduction, such as during a blood feud between families; (4) inheritance.


title: Dating

text: In North Africa like in many parts of the Middle East, sex without marriage is considered unacceptable. Dating in North Africa is predominantly done under family supervision, usually in a public place.


title: Dating

text: Asia is a mix of traditional approaches with involvement by parents and extended families such as arranged marriages as well as modern dating. In many cultural traditions, including some in South Asia, and the Middle East and to some extent East Asia, as in the case of Omiai in Japan and the similar "Xiangqin" (相親) practiced in the Greater China Area, a date may be arranged by a third party, who may be a family member, acquaintance, or professional matchmaker.


title: Dating

text: Patterns of dating are changing in China, with increased modernization bumping into traditional ways.


title: Dating

text: A 2003 report in "China Daily" suggested that dating for most Chinese university women was "difficult", required work, stole time away from academic advancement, and placed women in a precarious position of having to balance personal success against traditional Chinese relationships. Many women were reported to have high standards for men they sought, but also worried that their academic credentials could "scare away more traditional Chinese men." It was reportedly difficult finding places to have privacy, since many dormitory rooms had eight or more pupils in one suite, while dating in restaurants tended to be expensive. One student remarked: "American couples drink and dance together. But in China, we study together."


title: Dating

text: Romantic love is more difficult during times of financial stress, and economic forces can encourage singles, particularly women, to select a partner primarily on financial considerations. Some men postpone marriage until their financial position is more secure and use wealth to help attract women. One trend is towards exclusive matchmaking events for the 'rich and powerful'; for example, an annual June event in Wuhan with expensive entry-ticket prices for men (99,999 RMB) lets financially secure men choose so-called "bikini brides" based on their beauty and education, and the financial exclusivity of the event was criticized by the official news outlet "China Daily". Surveys though from 2015 to 2018 suggest that the majority of Chinese respondents (especially college students) would place the character and personality of their partners above material assets, with also increasing acceptance towards evenly splitting bills or going Dutch.


title: Dating

text: There have been conflicting reports on expatriate dating in China's capital city. One account in 2006 suggested the dating scene in Beijing to be "sad" with particular difficulties for foreign women hoping to find romance. It was reportedly due to the cold, uninterested, or unappealing attitudes of the male expats and the shyness and cultural differences of the Chinese men, and another account in 2010 documented similar, if slightly improved results. A different report in 2010, though, suggested that some Chinese men preferred Western women, viewing them as less girlish and materialistic, and also more independent and straightforward than Chinese women. A 2016 survey of Chinese students abroad, however, imply there have been significant barriers to foreign dating, and the intermarriage rate of Chinese women in Shanghai has been decreasing.


title: Dating

text: A new format of Internet "QQ" chat rooms is gaining ground against so-called "traditional dating agencies" in Changsha (Hunan Province); the QQ rooms have 20,000 members, and service is much less expensive than dating agencies which can charge 100 to 200 yuan ($13 to US$26) per introduction. Internet dating, with computer-assisted matchmaking, is becoming more prevalent; one site supposedly has 23 million registered users. Speed dating has come to Shanghai and other cities. Worldwide online matchmakers have explored entering the Chinese market via partnerships or acquisitions.


title: Dating

text: Each year, November 11 has become an unofficial holiday known as China's Singles' Day when singles are encouraged to make an extra effort to find a partner. Worried parents of unmarried children often arrange dates for their offspring on this day as well as others. Before the day approaches, thousands of college students and young workers post messages describing their plans for this day. In Arabic numerals, the day looks like "1111", that is, "like four single people standing together", and there was speculation that it originated in the late 1990s when college students celebrated being single with "a little self-mockery" but a differing explanation dates it back to events in the Roman Empire. For many, Singles' Day offers people a way to "demonstrate their stance on love and marriage". In 2005, a government-sponsored agency called Shanghai Women's Activities Centre (Chinese: Jinguoyuan) organized periodic matchmaking events often attended by parents.


title: Dating

text: There has been concern that young people's views of marriage have changed because of economic opportunities, with many choosing deliberately not to get married, as well as young marrieds who have decided not to have children, or to postpone having them. Cohabiting relationships are tolerated more often. Communities where people live but do not know each other well are becoming more common in China like elsewhere, leading to fewer opportunities to meet somebody locally without assistance. Divorce rates are rising in cities such as Shanghai, which recorded 27,376 divorces in 2004, an increase of 30% from 2003.


title: Dating

text: Relationships between students preparing for college are frowned upon by many parents in China. There was a report that sexual relations among middle schoolers in Guangzhou sometimes resulted in abortions. There have been reports of scams involving get-rich-quick schemes; a forty-year-old migrant worker was one of a thousand seduced by an advertisement which read "Rich woman willing to pay 3 million yuan for sperm donor" but the worker was cheated out of his savings of 190,000 yuan (US$27,500).


title: Dating

text: The dating game show "If You Are the One", titled after Chinese personal ads, featured some provocative contestants making sexual allusions and the show reportedly ran afoul of authorities and had to change its approach. The two-host format involves a panel of 24 single women questioning a man to decide if he'll remain on the show; if he survives, he can choose a girl to date; the show gained notoriety for controversial remarks and opinions such as model Ma Nuo saying she'd prefer to "weep in a BMW than laugh on a bike", who was later banned from making appearances.


title: Dating

text: Indian dating is heavily influenced by the custom of arranged marriages which require little dating, although there are strong indications that the institution is undergoing change, and that "love marriages" are becoming more accepted as India becomes more intertwined with the rest of the world. In the cities at least, it is becoming more accepted for two people to meet and try to find if there is compatibility.


title: Dating

text: The majority of Indian marriages are arranged by parents and relatives, and one estimate is that 7 of every 10 marriages are arranged. Sometimes the bride and groom don't meet until the wedding, and there is no courtship or wooing before the joining. In the past, it meant that couples were chosen from the same caste and religion and economic status. There is widespread support for arranged marriages generally. Writer Lavina Melwani described a happy marriage which had been arranged by the bride's father, and noted that during the engagement, the woman was allowed to go out with him before they were married on only one occasion; the couple married and found happiness. Supporters of arranged marriage suggest that there is a risk of having the marriage fall apart whether it was arranged by relatives or by the couple themselves, and that what's important is not how the marriage came to be but what the couple does after being married. Parents and relatives exert considerable influence, sometimes posting matrimonial ads in newspapers and online. Customs encourage families to put people together, and discourage sexual experimentation as well as so-called "serial courtship" in which a prospective bride or groom dates but continually rejects possible partners, since the interests of the family are seen as more important than the romantic needs of the people marrying. Indian writers, such as Mistry in his book "Family Matters", sometimes depict arranged marriages as unhappy. Writer Sarita Sarvate of "India Currents" thinks people calculate their "value" on the "Indian marriage market" according to measures such as family status, and that arranged marriages typically united spouses who often didn't love each other. She suggested "love" was out of place in this world because it risked passion and "sordid" sexual liaisons. Love, as she sees it, is "Waking up in the morning and thinking about someone." Writer Jennifer Marshall described the wife in an arranged marriage as living in a world of solitude without much happiness, and feeling pressured by relatives to conceive a son so she wouldn't be considered as "barren" by her husband's family; in this sense, the arranged marriage didn't bring "love, happiness, and companionship." Writer Vijaysree Venkatraman believes arranged marriages are unlikely to disappear soon, commenting in his book review of Shoba Narayan's "Monsoon Diary", which has a detailed description of the steps involved in a present-day arranged marriage. There are indications that even the institution of arranged marriages is changing, with marriages increasingly being arranged by "unknown, unfamiliar sources" and less based on local families who know each other. Writer Lavina Melwani in "Little India" compared Indian marriages to business deals:


title: Dating

text: Relationships in which dating is undertaken by two people, who choose their dates without parental involvement and sometimes carry on clandestine get-togethers, has become increasingly common. When this leads to a wedding, the resulting unions are sometimes called "love marriages". There are increasing instances when couples initiate contact on their own, particularly if they live in a foreign country; in one case, a couple met surreptitiously over a game of cards. Indians who move abroad to Britain or America often follow the cultural patterns of their new country: for example, one Indian woman met a white American man while skiing, and married him, and the formerly "all-important relatives" were reduced to bystanders trying to influence things ineffectively. Factors operating worldwide, such as increased affluence, the need for longer education, and greater mobility have lessened the appeal for arranged marriages, and these trends have affected criteria about which possible partners are acceptable, making it more likely that pairings will cross previously impenetrable barriers such as caste or ethnic background. Indian Americans in the U.S. sometimes participate in "Singles Meets" organized by websites which happen about once a month, with 100 participants at each event; an organizer did not have firm statistics about the success rate leading to a long-term relationship but estimated about one in every ten members finds a partner through the site.


title: Dating

text: Dating websites are gaining ground in India. Writer Rupa Dev preferred websites which emphasized authenticity and screened people before entering their names into their databases, making it a safer environment overall, so that site users can have greater trust that it is safe to date others on the site. Dev suggested that dating websites were much better than the anonymous chatrooms of the 1990s.


title: Dating

text: During the interval before marriage, whether it is an arranged or a love marriage, private detectives have been hired to check up on a prospective bride or groom, or to verify claims about a potential spouse made in newspaper advertising, and there are reports that such snooping is increasing. Detectives investigate former amorous relationships and can include fellow college students, former police officers skilled in investigations, and medical workers "with access to health records."


title: Dating

text: The practice of dating runs against some religious traditions, and one particular Hindu group Sri Ram Sena threatened to "force unwed couples" to marry, if they were discovered dating on Valentine's Day; a fundamentalist leader said "drinking and dancing in bars and celebrating this day has nothing to do with Hindu traditions." The threat sparked a protest via the Internet which resulted in cartloads of pink panties being sent to the fundamentalist leader's office. as part of the Pink Chaddi Campaign (Pink Underwear/Panties Campaign). Another group, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, threatened to do the same, for which it was severely mocked online and on the day after Valentine's Day, had protesters outside its Delhi headquarters, with people (mockingly) complaining that it did not fulfill its "promise", with some having come with materials for the wedding rituals.


title: Dating

text: There is a type of courtship called "Omiai" in which parents hire a matchmaker to give resumes and pictures to potential mates for their approval, leading to a formal meeting with parents and matchmaker attending. If the couple has a few dates, they're often pressured by the matchmaker and parents to decide whether or not to marry.


title: Dating

text: The reasons for dating in Korea are various. Research conducted by "Saegye Daily" showed that teenagers choose to date for reasons such as "to become more mature," "to gain consultation on worries, or troubles," or "to learn the difference between boys and girls," etc. Similarly, a news report in "MK Daily" showed that the primary reasons for dating for workers of around ages 20–30 are "emotional stability," "marriage," "someone to spend time with," etc. An interesting feature in the reasons for dating in Korea is that many Koreans are somewhat motivated to find a date due to the societal pressure that often views single persons as incompetent.


title: Dating

text: Present Korean dating shows a changing attitude due to the influence of tradition and modernization. There are a lot of Confucian ideas and practices that still saturate South Korean culture and daily life as traditional values. Patriarchy in Korea has been grounded on Confucian culture that postulated hierarchical social orders according to age and sex. Patriarchy is "a system of social structure and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women” which is well reflected in the ways of dating in Korea. Adding to it, there is an old saying that says a boy and a girl should not sit together after they have reached the age of seven. It is one of the old teachings of Confucianism and reveals its inclination toward conservatism.


title: Dating

text: Most Koreans tend to regard dating as a precursor to marriage. According to a survey conducted by Gyeonggi-do Family Women's Researcher on people of age 26–44, 85.7% of respondents replied as ‘willing to get married’. There is no dating agency but the market for marriage agencies are growing continuously. DUO and Gayeon are one of the major marriage agencies in Korea. Also, "Mat-sun", the blind date which is usually based on the premise of marriage, is held often among ages of late 20s to 30s. But the late trend is leaning towards the separation between dating and marriage unlike the conservative ways of the past. In the survey conducted by a marriage agency, of 300 single males and females who were asked of their opinions on marrying their lovers, about only 42% of the males and 39% of the females said yes. There are also cases of dating without the premise of marriage. However, the majority still takes getting into a relationship seriously.


title: Dating

text: Dating in Korea is also considered a necessary activity supported by society. Korean adults are constantly questioned whether or not they are dating by the people around them. During family gatherings on holidays one of the questions that people hate getting asked the most is related to marriage. According to a survey it was the highest ranked at 47.3 percent.


title: Dating

text: College students in their sophomore to junior year who have not been in a relationship feel anxious that they are falling behind amongst their peers. Most of them try "sogaeting", going out on a blind date, for the first time to get into a relationship. Dating is a duty that most people feel they must take on to not seem incompetent.


title: Dating

text: In recent trends, even dramas such as “”Shining Romance” (“빛나는 로맨스”), and “Jang Bo-ri is Here!” (“왔다 장보리”), and in a variety show called, “Dad! Where Are We Going?” (“아빠 어디가?”) there are elementary children confessing their love.


title: Dating

text: Dating has also been depicted to be an activity of fun and happiness. There are Korean TV programs that film celebrities together as married couples supporting this depiction of dating such as “We Got Married” (“우리 결혼했어요”), “With You” (“님과 함께”) and “The Man Who Gets Married Daily” (“매일 결혼 하는 남자.”)


title: Dating

text: According to a survey by wedding consulting agency, men consider a physical relation as a catalyst of love, otherwise, women regard it as a confirmation of affection. Adding to it, both 79.2% of men and 71.0% of women stated that how deep their physical relation in dating is concerned in the decision of whether to marry.


title: Dating

text: Marriages and courtship in Pakistan are influenced by traditional cultural practices similar to those elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent as well as Muslim norms and manners. Illegitimate relationships before marriage are considered a social taboo and social interaction between unmarried men and women is encouraged at a modest and healthy level. Couples are usually wedded through either an arranged marriage or love marriage. Love marriages are those in which the individuals have chosen a partner whom they like by their own choice prior to marriage, and usually occur with the consent of parents and family. Arranged marriages on the other hand are marriages which are set and agreed by the families or guardians of the two individuals where the couple may not have met before. In either cases and in consistency with traditional marital practices, individuals who marry are persuaded to meet and talk to each other for some time before considering marrying so that they can check their compatibility.