Nature is beautiful isn't it? Imagine taking your girlfriend to this place, sitting on the rocks, and getting lost in each other's eyes. Now that is the definition of romantic. What makes this romantic though? Who is to say this is what romance is? This is romantic because it has been constructed this way for hundreds of years by couples deep in love. I need to throw a stereotype out there and say that it is mostly women that find these kinds of things romantic. Men simply go along with it because it pleases the woman. This is not true in all cases, but for the most part I believe it holds merit. For hundreds of years women have looked at scenes like this one and wish they could be there with their prince charming because they have been raised to think this way. This is evident in almost every romantic movie that has been made. Politically, this image is saying that this is romantic. It is simply restating something everybody already knows; which is that nature scenes such as this are romantic.When I look at this picture I see some trees and water and that's about it. If I were to show this picture to my girlfriend or any feminine female for that matter, she would say "awww wow that is romantic". This reaction stems from years of prior knowledge being crammed into her head from different sources such as: movies, magazines, and children's stories. This sense that nature is romantic will only continue to be passed down to other generations.
I think what makes scenes like this romantic is the situation in which one is observing it--such as what you mentioned, when you have a significant other there to share it with you. Otherwise, the image is really nothing more than serene (at best). I feel as though we've been raised to view these images as "romantic potentials". They are beautiful as independent entities, but they have the potential to be romantic depending on how you use the space.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at this picture, not just I see some trees and water, I also think that it's quite a sight and find it beautiful, but I don't sense romance at all.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right that it has been constructed this way for so long, and I think male's emotional system and female's are constructed differently. Sometimes it does seem to me that there is no such word as romantic or romance in male's dictionary. However, since males know what females think romantic, then males do what females think romantic in order to please them. Males are raised to think and do things this way.