Comment on What is the difference between a platonic and a romantic relationship?
lath@piefed.social 4 days ago
Friendship - separate lives with limited involvement.
Romantic - shared life, fully involved.
So there are no romantic relationships where you don’t have a ”shared life”? Sounds pretty implausible to me.
An affair at a workplace can definitely be a romantic relationship. As can be a short fling, and all kinds of polyamorous relationships, where your life doesn’t revolve around a certain partner.
I feel that your examples fall more into the sexual category. In my experience, a romantic relationship must always evolve into a shared life, otherwise it will die out.
As I see it, most long romantic relationships like that die out in terms of romance.
Keep in mind that sexual intent isn't a consideration.
I'd say that if you think of romance as something ephemeral or fleeting and of friendship as something grounded or permanent, then the two states can be reversed or interchangeable.
Then romance could be seen as chasing dreams while friendship pursues realism?
However we should also consider intent. Romantic feeling towards someone elevates them beyond the ordinary. It becomes a pursuit that gives out a part of oneself, in excess one might say.
On the other hand, in order for friendship to reach that level of commitment or even higher, it's inevitable to pass through a stage of romantic idealization in the literary sense of the other person's attributes.
Complete intimacy means being a part of another's life and they being a part of yours. And to fully trust another in every aspect is something that can only be achieved through the idealistic view of romance.
If we were to joke about it... They don't call the intense, almost homoerotic friendship between men a bromance for nothing after all.
EvilEdgelord@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
I’ve been romantic with more than a few people, and not shared my entire life with them and vice versa. Not every boyfriend and girlfriend moves in immediately, y’know?
lath@piefed.social 4 days ago
Sex was excluded from the theme and my thought was using that consideration.