December 2nd, 2022
A question troubling many social scientists today is the question of whether or not romance is a part of a society that is dying out. A big factor relating to this question is technology, and how in this day and age, society is consumed by it. Many people today have easy access to an entire world of technology and social media, all within a tiny box that can fit inside their pocket. To talk to someone, you simply have to send a quick text message saying, “hey, wyd?” or “wanna H/U?”. With technology, the entire world seems to be on fast forward – constantly moving at a rapid pace. People don’t take as much time to admire the simple beauty and rarity of life anymore. It can similarly be said that we are not taking as much pleasure in the act of getting to know one another – to truly, deeply get to know one another.
So with all of this being said, in many ways, the answer to the question of whether or not romance is dying out is, yes, it really is.
It is understood that love is an essential part of the human experience. It’s something that we are all hardwired to desire. Love is something that is weaved into the fabric of our very core. From the moment we are born, we desire love – affection. We see love in many different ways. We see it in romance, yearning, affection, admiration, grief, and more. It can be found in the love we have for our grandmothers, our fathers, our siblings, that boy sitting across from us in science class, or that girl who we were partnered with for an English assignment. It can be found in the love we have for our morning coffee, the way the sun sets in the winter sky, casting rays of sunlight across our bedroom wall. It can be found between the pages of an old, worn book, or the knit blanket you were gifted last Christmas.
The ways in which people fall in love today are inconceivably different from that of 50 years ago, let alone 10 years ago. This change has happened in a variety of both positive and negative ways. For example, today’s society is much more accepting of different kinds of love between different kinds of people, or simply the desire for no romantic connections at all, but rather a familial/friendly type of love. With that being said, for those of us who do desire a romantic connection, we can see an abundance of negative changes as well. These negative changes are especially prominent in today’s media and the way that media affects the way we think. In today’s world, we have reality T.V. shows that are devoted to a fast-fashion form of dating. Shows like “Love is Blind”, “Too Hot to Handle”, “90 Day Fiance”, “Love Island”, and many more are all forms of T.V. shows that attempt to get people into a relationship within an incredibly short period of time. They even go so far as dressing up with prosthetics and going on dates with one another (as seen in the Netflix series “Sexy Beasts”). All of these shows are examples of how today’s society seems to be moving at an incredibly rapid pace, ignoring all of the beauty that can be found in a slow moving life.
Another reason as to why romance is dying out is simply because our standards have dropped. Somehow, society has been deluded into thinking that we must lower our expectations and be realistic to avoid disappointment. After all, we don’t want to appear a picky snob, right? But why should we lower our expectations? Learning to love someone means that you must first love yourself. As cheesy as it sounds, it is quite true in the broader sense of its meaning. Each and every one of us needs to understand our own individual worth, and that we should never feel the need to settle.
Overall, it can be harshly deduced that romance is dying out in our generation; that the connection that every couple once seemingly had is now only present within a few. With that being said, nothing is really ever dead, nor is anything ever really gone. To be able to bring back that lost form of love, we must go back to the very roots of love, and remember what it stands for. We must remember the way it feels to really get to know someone, and fall in love for who they are on the inside, not just who they are on the surface.
So slow down once in a while. Instead of waiting until after school to DM that student you have a crush on in math class, go up to them next period and ask to sit with them at lunch. Ask your boyfriend to go out on a date. Give your partner flowers the next time you see each other. Simply remind your significant other how much they mean to you, and how much you love them. We need these forms of physical contact to keep the human race alive. As the seemingly omniscient Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Where there is love, there is life.”
Categories: Editorials
