“Why would I get you flowers; we’re already together?”
“I don’t want to have to wait and hold the door for you.”
“I don’t want to look like a simp.”
“That’s embarrassing. I don’t want my friends to see us together.”
Is romance actually dead? Recently, many have felt as though nothing they do will compare to the type of love they see in movies. The effort that used to be put into relationships has begun to disappear, and things like the ‘talking stage’ are ruining the way this generation views romance. The talking stage is a period of time before a relationship starts where it is clear that both parties are interested in each other, but are not yet fully committed.
There have been trends popularized by platforms like TikTok that are full of girls wishing guys would act romantic and do things as simple as bring them flowers without having to be asked. Yet somehow, no one ever gets the hint. Significant others see these videos every day of ideas that are cheap and easily doable, and yet they still do not want to take even the smallest amount of time or put in even a bit of energy. When was it decided that relationships are not about love or even commitment?
Gen Z has done a good job at avoiding real relationships, and things like the “talking stage” are just new excuses used as a reason not to commit. People can spend weeks or even months talking to each other and doing everything that a normal couple does, but when it comes down to it, putting a label on it is still too much for some people. They would rather “keep their options open” than just find someone to solely focus their attention on. The fact that it has been deemed socially acceptable and even sometimes an accomplishment to be “talking” to multiple people at once is laughable–and not at all what real love is like.
So, why is that? Why do teenagers not want real love anymore? The type of love that this generation’s grandparents had. The type of love that can survive even when phones are dead. Social media has been ruining teenagers’ perception of what romance should look like. Before times of social media, people were forced to actually talk to each other and find the time to hang out. Now, social media has created a weird situation where a user can know everything about someone without ever having met that person. While it sometimes creates positive opportunities and allows people to first see how they get along with each other, it is more harmful than hurtful towards relationships. Because they think they already know enough about someone, they don’t take the time to actually get to know them and form that deeper connection.
Not only does social media create an odd dynamic in the beginning stages of a relationship, but it can also cause issues in existing relationships. Who people are following, what posts they are liking, and the jealousy that this creates in a relationship are just a few issues that would not be a problem if social media did not exist. In earlier times, the types of platforms and technology that are accessible now had never even been thought of, and it is clear that social media has influenced teenager’s current perceptions of love.
The general standard that has been created of what love looks like has changed so much, and older generations seem to frown upon some of the actions so frequently performed by teenagers now. This is not to say that people need to act the exact same as they did hundreds of years ago, or that technology should not be involved in relationships, but rather that some reflection should take place and comparisons should be made to really understand how different it is now. People used to be so romantic and now they cannot even put their phones down long enough to give each other a proper compliment.
