In high school, I learned about the different periods of literature in Spanish, which I guess also applies to English literature. One that really caught my attention was the Romantic period. It was a time when everything was romanticized, but what stood out to me the most was how emotion was valued over reason. The movement celebrated imagination, emotion and intuition more than the logic and reason of the Enlightenment, making love a central theme for emotional expression (Britannica, 2019).
There’s a lot that happened during that time, but what fascinated me the most was how intense everything was: emotion, love and heartbreak to the point where Realism came right after. Realism was born as a response, a way to paint a true portrait of contemporary society (Mazaheri, 2021). I’m not sure if this is true, but I remember reading that the heartbreak and rejection from the Romantic period were so overwhelming that society turned toward realism.
It’s crazy to me that that was even possible, so much heartbreak that people just decided to focus on reality again?
Anyway, my point is that I think we’re currently living through a similar kind of period, but instead of literature and art, it’s happening through social media. Social media is such a big part of our generation that we can open TikTok and instantly see other people’s daily routines. A lot of users share their lives with music and filters that make everything look perfect. Couples post their love stories, create couple trends, share proposal videos and wedding planning and turn their relationships into fairy tales.
I think all this exposure has made us normalize things that don’t necessarily fit everyone’s lives. I see a lot of young people moving in together after just a few months of dating, or even getting married at 18. Of course, that’s their choice and maybe they’ve thought it through and are ready for it (which is totally fine; this is just my opinion). But I do think that for many, these decisions are influenced by how “normal” and romantic things seem on social media or in movies.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a boyfriend whom I love very much and truly enjoy spending time with. But we also have boundaries and things we would never do, even though we’re dating. Personally, I would never move in with a partner unless we’re married. I want to experience life on my own first. I want to learn, grow and enjoy independence before having to share everything with someone else. For me, dating is the time to figure out if this person is someone I could eventually share a life with, not to already start living that life.
I think college is the time when we’re supposed to enjoy and explore things independently. Living on our own, having interests that are just for us, traveling and doing things without feeling tied down to a place or a person.
Maybe, we’ll reach a point where a modern version of Realism appears. I really want to see how that turns out. Will people start to reject romanticized lifestyles? Will being single and independent become the new “normal”? I think it’ll be interesting to watch how this modern Romantic period evolves and how we move past this.
