Scarleteen

Hi everyone!

I had a good chat with Heather today about friendship, family and the changing definitions of "romance".

So, I'm looking for a few more perspectives. What, if anything, do you percieve to be the difference between close friendships and romantic relationships?

Have you had any of these in your life? If you've had both I'd be especially interested to hear what made them different and what was similar.

This is an interesting question, especially since the boundary between a romantic vs platonic relationship seems to be defined by whether or not there is sexual desire involved, which negates the experience of hundreds of people i.e. those who are ace-spectrum/asexual. In my personal experience (not asexual/on the ace spectrum), friendship and romance have been separated by a greater desire for intimacy (not even necessarily sexual intimacy, just more sharing i.e. moving in together, sharing possessions, sharing ideas/wishes) and a greater expectation of being able to ask for and receive what you want from your partner as opposed to a friend, as people typically have fewer partners than they do platonic friends and as such, are able to prioritize them more.

So basically prioritization + intimacy = romance in my worldview.

Anyone else have ideas?