European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Sid Shapiro love is .1 Many Splendore thing especially on Valentine s Day when Hal age old question a Quot will you be my Valentine Quot a is 41 ill heard. But there have been changes. The sexual revolution of the �?~60s  70s is Long gone. The fear of aids herpes  other diseases has made casual sex swinging single Hood  Quot open marriages Quot seem like forms of russian Roulette  old fashioned monogamy again seems to be the Nal Ion s preferred format for Romance. Fear in t the Only reason for the phenomenon observers say. Other factors Are More conservative social  economic trends. Quot there Are indications that the return to monogamy started even before the aids scare Quot says or. Harry Brownlee a psychiatrist. Quot it was something of a pendulum reaction in the stressful complicated situation that some people experienced with More Liberal sexual attitudes. Most people find Hal maintaining one satisfying re la Lions p is complicated enough. Multiple relationships Only multiply the difficulties Quot How much Romance do we have or need in a National Survey by parents Magazine last fall 70 percent of the respondents said they had enough Romance in their lives 23 percent said they had too Little  3 percent claimed to have More than they could handle fifty seven percent said it s a myth that marriage  children kill Romance but 39 percent said Hal when a child arrives cupid leaves. A More recent National Survey commissioned by the Magazine concludes that a caring considerate nature is More important than looks Money  Power in attracting he opposite sex. T he Siudy of 1,004 americans 21  older also revealed  h2 percent believe in love at first sight although s9 percent said a relationship based on it will mail eighty nine Pertell said society places too my h emphasis on physical Alla Clive Ness  s3 Peri ent blamed Thal on the Media  advertising. As Lor Vhal at Racis them to a member of the opposite sex. Respondents filed being caring  considerate 7h percent i Good sense of humor 68 percent compatible interests 58 percent being a Good conversationalist 57 percent intelligence 55 percent being a Good sex partner 50 percent  being to Manlic 49 percent. Observers also say there s an All new dating game these Days  Thal older women will soon find it easier to find a husband. Young people today prefer going out in groups because it makes the dating less threatening  More fun wrote 5teven Goldberg sociology chairman of City College in new York. Quot people want the support of their friends when they go out Quot Goldberg said in my Magazine. Quot it takes the confrontational aspect out of dating  makes the experience More enjoyable. The group Dale has definite advantages Over More traditional outings. The atmosphere is less intimidating so it s easier to relax  have a Good time Quot As a consequence whal once was a casual Date often is taken More seriously. Quot even one Date is now considered a More or less serious affair  two dates is a relationship Quot my said. Quot agreeing to a Date has come to imply  older women looking for husbands will have less Competition in the next decade because of a shortage of younger women. Cosmopolitan Magazine said in a recent Issue. Quot lacking enough younger women to go around More men will marry women their own age or older Quot it predicted. The latest census Bureau statistics show 121 single men for every 100 single women in the 20-24 age group. Among singles in the 25-29 category the difference is 128 men for every 100 women. Two million weddings arc performed each year according to the National Center for health statistics  22 percent Are now Between older women  younger men up from 16 percent in 1970. Nearly 40 percent of brides Ages 35-44 marry younger men. Experts pret lick the trend Wilt continue through the next decade Courno to Itan said a some sociologists say fewer Young females will mean a return to Romance a a men sending roses  proposing on bended knee Anil also increased pressure on women to return to traditional wife arid Mother roles Quot the Magazine said. Despite the changes in romantic trends Valentine s Day remains an endearing  enduring Holiday a notably in England France  the United slates. The Holiday was created when a Pagan Celebration  a Christian Celebration merged a in ancient Rome when wolves were a great menace a god called Lup Ercus corresponding somewhat to the greek god pan was said to keep the wolves away. In an annual feb. 15 festival called Lupercalia Young people Drew lots to select their game partners for the year. A Valentinus a priest in Rome was slain in about , 270. Later when he was made a Saint his feast Day was established on feb. 14, according to some sources is. Valentine s Day has been observed in England since 1446. In literature the Holiday is mentioned by Chaucer  Shakespeare it was Ophelia in Shakespeare s Hamlet who Sang Quot Good Morrow tis St. Valentine s Day All in the morning bedtime  i a maid at your window to be your  Valentine s Day cards reached a Peak of size  elegance in 18th-Century France. They were filled with Cul Oul hearts paper fountains tiny Birds cupids Flower reproductions  romantic scenes set in a framework of expensive venetian tace. Writing the verses inside was elevated to an Arl. Such handmade Valentines were indeed a labor of love. Bui by the late l h80s in America they had been supplanted by an elaborate commercial output of frilly goo  woo the mass produced Valentines of that Era were three dimensional spectaculars depicting everything from turkish harems to Lush italian Countryside scenes. Of course the Stenli mental poetry continued. Today humorous Valentine cards abound but True romantics still Send their Gree Lingon feb. 1 i with save Al talk  a lot of Rococo trimming. Sta pro. Shari  9wpm tort Bir a a ri1ie�. A i Lom nhe Al of Tiri a f Poci if on Vai Niin a to a amp strip of Jug or Rte feb mry 8, 1990