“Relationships fo also come wothout sexual obligations by the way, you’re not required to have sex with your partner.”
That I never got. Isn’t a relationship without any sexual activity just a friendship? Love can’t be the deciding factor, as plenty of people love their friends. There are different kinds of love, but the kinds that distinguish relationships from friendships are sexual in nature.
In my mind, a relationship without a sexual component is just a roommate or very close friend. What exactly is the difference between a close best friend and a relationship with no sexual component? To me those seem to have the exact same definition.
Without obligation does not mean that there is no sexual component, just that nobody can be forced to do it.
Also just because you have very strong sexual desire does not mean that everybody does, and two people that don’t might still want an intimate relationship with each other with the mutual understanding of not seeing other people. And I think that’s what makes the difference between a roommate and a relationship (unless it’s a poly relationship)
Well, you don’t want to deny asexual people romantic relationships.
But yeah it’s simply more of a gradient, and different folks put their goal posts on different parts of that gradient.
Could even comment about the inflationary usage of the word “love” in American English, where people “love” the taste of a juice, the efficiency of a corporate business process, or the smell of napalm in the morning. Ancient Greeks were on the other end of THAT scale, with different words for different loves, even for e.g. the love for your home country.
That I never got. Isn’t a relationship without any sexual activity just a friendship? Love can’t be the deciding factor, as plenty of people love their friends. There are different kinds of love, but the kinds that distinguish relationships from friendships are sexual in nature.
In my mind, a relationship without a sexual component is just a roommate or very close friend. What exactly is the difference between a close best friend and a relationship with no sexual component? To me those seem to have the exact same definition.
Without obligation does not mean that there is no sexual component, just that nobody can be forced to do it. Also just because you have very strong sexual desire does not mean that everybody does, and two people that don’t might still want an intimate relationship with each other with the mutual understanding of not seeing other people. And I think that’s what makes the difference between a roommate and a relationship (unless it’s a poly relationship)
Well, you don’t want to deny asexual people romantic relationships.
But yeah it’s simply more of a gradient, and different folks put their goal posts on different parts of that gradient.
Could even comment about the inflationary usage of the word “love” in American English, where people “love” the taste of a juice, the efficiency of a corporate business process, or the smell of napalm in the morning. Ancient Greeks were on the other end of THAT scale, with different words for different loves, even for e.g. the love for your home country.