What is your Love Language?

What is most important to you in a relationship?

a. words of affirmation

b. acts of service

c. receiving gifts

d. quality time

e. physical touch

These are the 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. Chapman’s New York Times best seller, The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, caught the attention of couples around the US. My top result was quality time. Go ahead and take the quiz if you’re intrigued.

The online quiz states that,

“The 5 Love Languages® profile will give you a thorough analysis of your emotional communication preference. It will single out your primary love language, what it means, and how you can use it to connect with your loved one with intimacy and fulfillment.”

Chapman is ingenious. Not only does he provide relationship insight, but his quiz caters to our society’s obsession with love.

Television can’t get enough of it. According to IMDb, at least 1,048 romance movies were produced in 2015 alone. Here are several popular others.

We’ve heard all the stories. Essentially, every romantic comedy centers around boy meets girl, they fall in love, boom, happily ever after. Honestly, how many more love triangles can we take?! Apparently, at least 1000 a year. Is there something wrong with us?

Science shows that love is addicting. AsapSCIENCE even states that the brain of someone in love looks similar to one cocaine. Check it out!

We love being in love! But what is love?

The Greeks separated love into six categories,

1. Eros- sexual passion and desire
2. Philia-deep friendship
3. Ludus-playful love
4. Agape-selfless love or love for everyone
5. Pragma-long lasting love
6. Philautia-self love

In one relationship, can you really have all these types of love?

Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss by Antonio Canova

Media tends to focus on Philia, Agape, and Eros. Especially, Eros, namely because sex sells. For example, Friends with Benefits, No Strings Attached, Love Actually, The Ugly Truth, and even Marvel’s new superhero, Deadpool embraces Eros to the full.

However, is the promotion of Eros healthy? Even in the article, The Ancient Greeks’ 6 Words for Love , deemed Eros as potentially dangerous. Feeding society mass amounts of passionate sex might not be the best thing.

Overall is ‘love’ being affected by this? We all know relationships don’t last very long these days. We’ve heard the statistic of 50% of marriages end in divorce. Yet here we are still craving love.

Personally, I’m a sucker for romantic comedies. I read all the Twilights. And I watched every Disney princess movie.

Am I effected? Probably. What about you?

How the Media Portrays Pregnancy

This week I would like to look at how the media portrays pregnancy. A few weeks ago, I watched “What to Except When You’re Expecting.” Hilarious and moving, the movie essentially shows how women progress through pregnancy. The movie centers around these five women.

Jennifer Lopez is adopting. Elizabeth Banks is not having her fairy tale pregnancy. Cameron Diaz is trying to balance work, love, and a baby. Anna Kendrick faces a miscarriage. Brooklyn Decker has the perfect pregnancy. “What to Expect When Expecting” tries to capture numerous topics involving pregnancy including, miscarriage, c-sections, family, infertility, and the pains of pregnancy.

My favorite scene is when Elizabeth Banks has her meltdown.

Elizabeth Banks calls the ‘pregnancy glow’ total crap.

A different perspective of pregnancy is seen in “Juno.” I think Juno is fascinating and entertaining. Juno tells the classic tale of the dreaded, ‘high school pregnancy.’

Juno did not plan her pregnancy. She did not want a kid in high school. However, as she walks into the a abortion clinic a friend changes her mind.

Fingernails capture Juno’s attention. Fingernails make Juno second guess her decision.

Juno decides to give her baby up for adoption which puts her into contact with Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. The movie also goes into how Jason is not ready to be a father. The struggles of Juno, even though she is nonchalant, displays how pregnancy can affect the modern American teen.

In conclusion, pregnancy is a terrifying yet rewarding experience. Some women greatly desire a child while others like Juno were not even expecting it. Through these movies we see the general ideas of the public portrayed through media. And in the end, these movies teach us, can you really expect the unexpected?