Image: Dynamite Imagery / FreeDigitalPhotos.netGentlemen, can you recall the last time you did something romantic for your lady? Ladies, can you remember when you’ve received something or maybe even done something romantic for your man? Well, people can chalk it up to a bad economy, others can say that there’s not enough hours in the day, and yet others can simply point out that they’ve tried, but nothing is good enough. Those are all valid reasons, and I wouldn’t fault you for those reasons, ladies and gentlemen, but really, I think there’s a bigger, more looming reason…other than laziness, which I think is the number one reason. The number two reason for me? We make it more complicated than it needs to be.
With the way everyone is connected nowadays, it’s easy to see what other people have done to show off their love. And as a result, two things happen. Women who happen to see the youtube videos or saw the pictures may now have a greater expectation from their men. People are expressing their emotions with flash mobs, modded programs, movie trailers, and so much more and I think I can report with confidence that women would expect that kind of creativity and grandeur from their significant other. This just shows that it’s hard out here for a…guy. We have a lot to live up to. On the other hand, I think it’s safe to say that men are “easy”. We don’t need much. A good meal, good sex, and some of our “toys” (ie, technology, hobbies, video games, tools, sports memorabilia, etc) and we’re pretty content. Women don’t need to go too far out of their way to show off their affections.
Its very noble and in all honesty, I believe men want to make their women happy and do romantic things for them, don’t get me wrong, but with everything being recorded on video and in pictures, it becomes difficult for men to compete with each other. “Why don’t you do that for me?” may be something guys will hear often as a result of these creative and imaginative, romantic gestures. Men often think that flowers, a nice dinner, and dancing may not be enough for their relationship anymore. Then there are reality shows that show off the wealthy doing all sorts of elaborate romantic getaways. It’s almost too much. And yes, I have heard women say, “I don’t need that.” But they still want it. And will they be disappointed if they don’t get it? Well, depends on the woman of course, but most of the time, I don’t think so.
You hear it in passing, women talking amongst themselves expressing how she wished her boyfriend or husband would do this or that and you realize, as much as women would LIKE the fancy and expensive romantic gesture, all they want is something simple like us. Expressions of affection gets so muddled amongst all the videos and the TV shows, where we guys think we need to spend our life savings to show off and impress the girl of our dreams. We save up so much cash to take them on elaborate trips or buy jewelry…wait…wait…that’s a whole other rant. Women and their obsession with diamonds and the diamond ring. The bigger the ring, the better? It’s the most expensive, useless…ugh…I’m not going to rant, I promise. But I understand how this is how the ladies compete.
I was originally going to talk about how it’s hard to be original with romance, and that it get’s harder and harder to impress a woman when dating, in a relationship, or in a marriage. But then I realized, that most of the time, women may WANT the extravagant, but from my experience and speaking with other women as well as reading articles and the like, I have found that women are okay with the simple expressions. It doesn’t have to be complex or break the bank. It can be easy, simple, creative, and fun. The more effort you put into it, the more it’s appreciated, from what I can tell. So take that for what it’s worth. It can be a copy of something you saw online, it can be a clone of a reality show, and I believe all that matters, is that you mean it, that you want to genuinely make your significant other happy. And this goes for you too ladies.
But, we still have to fight laziness, we still have to overcome our need to overdo things, and we need to be okay with things not always being original. We can’t be complacent, we need to keep things fresh, and we need to let our love/like/the person we tolerate know that we care about them. Don’t let them forget, especially if you love them. Show them, work for it, and stop thinking you can slack off once it gets comfortable. Romance needs to live on in the relationship if you want it to last.
So now I ask you what you think. Do you think that romance is needed for a relationship? Do you think it’s okay that original romance is dead? Are people just too lazy to be romantic? Is it worth it any more in the world we live in?
