Are Present Day Romantic Relationships Irrational?

In this salon, debut host Amit investigates modern romantic relationships.

Irrational cultural ideas are not uncommon – in fact they have been the norm throughout history. They are obvious in hindsight (e.g., slavery, treatment of women and children etc.) but can be very difficult to spot when they are active in society. This salon will explore what possible irrational ideas are active in present-day romantic relationships.

There are many different forms of modern romantic relationships. Culturally, we have certain ideas about how romantic relationships should be and what purpose should they fulfill for individuals. Granted, there are variations across cultures and even within cultures, but some of the ideas are common in all romantic relationships. Are some of these ideas irrational and do we need to examine them closely? e.g.

• Emotional dependency between parties – often masquerading as “love”. Can individuals in a romantic relationship be emotionally independent?
• Lack of individuality – “relationships are about compromise”. Can individuals in romantic relationships avoid compromises and be fully autonomous instead of suppressing their wants and desires?
• Attitude towards sex – how much of our attitude towards sex is cultural? are feelings of jealousy intrinsic or cultural and can they be changed?
• Suffering in relationships – there is an immense amount of suffering in the best of romantic relationships – including the suffering that comes when a relationship ends. But is this suffering necessary? or again there are some irrational ideas at play here?

Suggested Reading:

https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/a-short-history-of-love/
https://markmanson.net/romantic-love
https://curi.us/1539-autonomy-respecting-relationships
https://iep.utm.edu/love/
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Romantic_love

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