This Valentine’s Day will definitely be one to remember, especially with the lack of romance movies, creative date ideas, and the number of people asking out their Valentine way too late. All of these are easily arguable, but seriously, it is almost “the big day”—V-day—and I have yet to see any romantic gestures from others or their partners. Is romance really “dead,” or is it the unwillingness to put in any effort?
When was the last time you saw a “yearner”? Someone who yearns is a person who has a strong passion or even a desire for something, or more importantly someone. In recent years, many have noticed a trend in which men don’t put the same amount of effort into relationships and don’t “yearn” for women anymore. This becomes quite obvious when you notice the love stories some of our parents had.
But why is this such a problem? Ever since I was little, I would watch my favorite Disney movies, and I would see how the princes would do anything and everything for their princesses. Flynn Ryder cutting off Repunzels hair, the Beast becoming a better person for Belle, and Prince Naveen giving up his ego for Tiana. It made me dream of when something like this would happen to someone like me. Even as I continued to grow, I read the stories about Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and Laurie from Little Women.
However, as I continued to grow, I realized that this expectation my childhood set up for me was completely different from the reality of teen dating. Nowadays people don’t yearn for the one, but they try to have a relationship just for the sake of it. Many people go onto Snapchat and ask random people “Wyll (what you look like)” in order to see if this person they would consider talking to was attractive enough. Along with that, a lot of people just want a partner to tell people they are dating someone and not for the actual connection that comes with it.
People do not even marry their high school sweethearts anymore. Back in the 90s, it was more common for people to stay with their high school partner until marriage, without divorcing or separating. Shocking, right?
“25 percent of people are marrying their high school sweethearts today compared with those in the 1940s,” Brandon Gaille said. “25 percent of people are marrying their high school sweethearts today compared with those in the 1940s. Today, only 2 percent of marriages are from a high school relationship, with only 25 percent of women saying that they married their first love.”
Now we have people breaking up with one another just for the sake of wanting to try something, or more accurately, someone new.
Where has the romance gone? I have noticed that, after dating someone, the rush to have a partner is not worth it. Now, I would rather wait and find someone I genuinely have a connection with, rather than rushing into a relationship just to be able to say I have a boyfriend.
Stop dating just to date, but also stop being afraid to show your feelings.
