Hopeless Romanticism

Is this a trait that's specifically attributed to women and girls, or is this something that can be avoided given the right personality type?

I'm extremely independent and never really needed to have a steady guy in my life; a boyfriend was more of a want rather than a need, and I could always live without one. I had plenty of guy friends growing up, but not boyfriends in that sort of aspect. I liked to wear clothes that made me feel comfortable, like jeans and an over-sized T-shirt because I would just buy guy shirts. I never wore make up or bought into the girly aspect of being a girl, like pedicure/manicures (I got my first pedicure for my 18th birthday because my mom wanted to surprise me). I always thought girls should be more independent and not let guys ruin the good parts about life, like food, laughs, and just the day in general (girls usually watch what they eat if there's someone they want or someone they want to keep).

But despite all of these qualities and the fact I always wanted a guy that could let me stand on my own two feet without needing that sort of crutch that's stereotypical of girls to need, I'm a hopeless romantic. The type of girl that melts at heartfelt messages, not creepy stalker messages that Edward likes to promote, but actual meaningful things that can be said in real life. The type of girl who falls easily if a guy has "all the right qualities". The type of girl that loves love stories, like the fanfics that I have bookmarked in my favorites, where I can read them multiple times and never get tired of it, even when I've memorized the plot.

One of my best friends from middle school who was in the same grade as me got engaged today to her boyfriend. I don't know how long they've been dating, but it threw me for a loop! Engaged at 18? I kept saying, "wow!" when I found out, because that's really surprising stuff. Misa was always the type of girl I least expected to be engaged at 18; if anything, I expected Lori to be engaged at 18 first given how crazy she gets over guys!

So maybe deep down inside every girl is a hopeless romantic just waiting to spring out, or maybe it's something that can be avoided. I'm not quite sure. What I do know is that love and stalking is being terribly confused with the publication of Twilight, and that the "true love" in that book series isn't actually true love and that the author has no idea what she's even talking about.

Love is a gradual process; it doesn't happen over night. It doesn't happen because you think someone will taste delicious, which just sounds wrong because it is. If a guy ever told me that he thinks I would taste delicious, I would probably laugh initially thinking it was a joke and if he was being serious, I would probably be really creeped out especially if it's someone I just met/don't know. Love isn't something you say, it's something you show. You can say you love someone and list all of these good qualities about them, but that doesn't mean you love them. It shows through your actions, your body language, the symmetry between the two. You can't just say, "oh, he's perfect - I love him, what beautiful topaz eyes. he's perfect," over and over again and expect to be taken seriously, let alone actually convince anyone that you're in love.

Steph Meyer totally took a genre and bastardized it, and I'm not even talking about the fantasy aspects of it. She bastardized love. How do I know this? Because her main couple did nothing for me except hate them when every other love story I've ever read, even ones written by middle schoolers with equally horrible grammar and writing as Stephanie Meyer, had me as a puddle of ooze from the cuteness and feelings within it.

Irony: I felt more for Stephanie Meyer's accidental pairing, Bella & Jacob, more than I ever could for her deliberate, final couple, Bella & Edward.

I guess the lesson here is make a crappy love story and someone somewhere will eat it up, I suppose. Nothing says love like an abusive relationship built on nothing substantial. Thank you, Stephanie Meyer for your outstanding contribution to society and "literature", which your book is apparently considered.

"Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly." (Rose Franken)

*edit* too many silly pictures for one silly ranting blog, so one more =P