Being In Love And Lust: A Conceptual Analysis

Over the course of the semester I have learned a lot about the different disciplines of love and sexuality in America. I have recognized a lot of themes throughout the semester. However, the themes that I find most important from class are to be informed about things before you make decisions and that communication is key to a healthy relationship.
First of all, being informed is an important theme because in order to make good decisions in life, one needs to be informed about the situation. Being in Love and Lust has made me realize that we should be informed about our partners, about the biology aspects of love, and about birth control and contraceptives. After learning about what marriage entails, I think it is important to be informed

This theme is significant because in today’s world, people often text, email, Facebook, and use many other forms of communication. As a result, people can get in arguments and stop talking to each other because they don’t realize their medium is at odds with their message, or the other persons “media ideology” could be different from their own (Gershon, 2010, p.18). Additionally, communication is an important theme because if we do not have good communication people can be confused and misunderstand what you are doing or want. For instance, in Papp’s article, Papp mentions how one partner often gets jealous of the other partner if they add an unknown friend on Facebook of the opposite-sex (Papp, 2012, pg. 86). If this couple would communicate to each other before assuming, they would understand that maybe the person they added on Facebook was an old friend or a family member. Instead of assuming and becoming angry right away, people need to communicate. Also, I find the theme of communication significant because if you are able to communicate with someone, you will become closer with them. In this case, I am referring to parent/child relationships. If parents and children are able to communicate, they will get along better. For example, if parents feel comfortable talking to their children, they will be able to have “the talk” with them. Eighty one percent of parents want their children to know about abstinence, pregnancy, and STD’s, but they are afraid to communicate with them (class notes, 11/20/2014). All in all, communication is so important because if people would communicate in a correct manner, they could have a happy, healthy relationship like the couple in my visual