To me love means that you unconditionally trust, care for, rely
on, and believe in a person. I believe that you know that you have
'found' love when you are able to happily put that person ahead of yourself-
and that that other person does the same. My feelings on love are
comparable to the Corinthians verse. "Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not
dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails." However, in terms of media and
pop culture's representation of love, love and dating are taboo. Between
the fear of true communication and the mindset of needing to be the best, media
and pop culture has tainted what love is for the millennial generation.
Over the past 5-10 years media has influenced dating by bringing
about online dating sites- too many to count. There is a dating site out
there for EVERYONE. Which could be seen as a positive- bringing people
together based off of common interests that could have never met before.
But for me, these online dating sites remove the true spark of love.
Whether you believe in love in first site and destiny or think it is a
bunch of BS this online game of checking some boxes to find your soul mate is
not the type of romance I wish to tell my family or future children. My
parents grew up around the block from each other and my mom was friends with my
dad's younger sister in elementary school. The two re-met years later
when they happened to be working together. My boyfriend's parents met in
high school and have been together ever since. Today's dating age is a
mixture of wishing to have "#relationshipgoals" and wondering how
long one should wait before responding to a text message. This pop
culture has made a 100 day Snap Chat streak the equivalency of meeting your
significant other's family. This is unhealthy and not in any way a true
representation of love. This 'modern love' made by media is focused on
sex and degrades specifically women to become objectified objects. Due to
the impression medial and pop culture has on the millennial generation it is
obvious as to why their interpretation of love and dating is so tainted.
I really like how your personal examples complement your idea of love. They really go a long way to show how different dating and love are interpreted and displayed in today's society. I met my girlfriend in class and I know a lot of others who have met either at school or through work like your parents. The current idea of representing a relationship on social media and boasting really does not compare to actually getting to know each other and establishing that connection you highlighted. Online dating sites like Tinder exemplify this modern hook-up culture. Other sites like Match take into account different facets of traditional love including different hobbies and favorite activities. However, as seen by the notably higher age group of sites such as Match, the younger generation is definitely tainting the idea of love as superficial and mainly physical in nature.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post and especially love how you incorporated Corinthians 13:4-8. I think your viewpoint on what love is speaks volumes and I agree with how you define love. I also agree with how the media and pop culture have twisted the idea of love and made it into "#relationshipgoals" or"100 day snap chat streaks." It is truly sad that this is what love in this generation has come to.
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