Hard launches. Valentine’s Day. National Boyfriend’s Day. The dreaded “three month rule.” Posting your boyfriend is risky, people either adore it, or the creator immediately gets criticized. The reasoning behind this? Women are so over girls who make boyfriends their entire identity.
Recently, Vogue sparked a debate after posting an article asking readers about the sudden change in the way women post about their relationships. The article discusses the relationship spectrum that most women are on. On one hand, there are women who revolve their entire lives around their boyfriend. On the other, women whose content reflects every aspect of their identity, not just their love life, genuinely have more positive feedback from their peers. After the article was released, it sparked the question “is having a boyfriend embarrassing?”.
My take on this is that girls who post their boyfriend 24/7 aren’t doing it for their boyfriend, but rather for attention. Everyone has seen the “sleeping on the highway tonight” comments, with others just like it, every time a relationship is posted on social media. Girls thrive off of this feedback, and for some, it can be to the point where their entire content switches so it can revolve around their boyfriend.
“I feel like they’re trying to prove that they are in a relationship and be in the spotlight instead of doing it out of love,” said Mrs. Maidman, an English teacher at our high school.
However, I think we can all agree that romance is one of the most popular genres for a reason. It’s heartwarming for others to see people fall in love with each other because it provides them with hope and happiness. When their love life is kept as just an aspect of their identity, people are able to fawn over it while still showing interest in the creator as her own entity. Although, one of the biggest heartbreaks is watching your favorite influencers account get “boyfriend-ified”, as Vogue refers to it.
“We’re not here to see what’s up with your love life, we’re here to see what’s up with you,” said Sophomore Hailey Paltos.
Diving deeper into the article, it focuses on how soft launches are becoming the norm, and that women are more hesitant to post their boyfriends. Why the sudden decline? I can only assume because of all the hate comments that influencers who post solely about their relationship get. Personally, I would never leave a hate comment on someone’s post to criticize them for posting on romance content, because if they are recently getting involved in a relationship, obviously they are going to be excited and posting constantly to cherish it. But if it gets to a point where their entire account is boyfriend central, I might take the high road and unfollow them.
“I feel like these girls aren’t the most fun to hangout with because they treat every subject besides their boyfriend as trivial,” said sophomore Jordan Salisbury.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for romance and whatnot, but I believe if you have to shove it in everyone’s faces, you’re trying to convince yourself something, not us. If it’s a birthday or valentines day, obviously you should post your boyfriend. But if every other post you have is dedicated to him, how strong can your relationship really be?
