What is love ?

Quote from: Decolonizing love

Cultivating awareness of society’s impacts on your relationships

Who are you attracted to? Whom do fall in love with? Where do you look for love? The goal of this course is to start conversations about and work towards a deeper understanding of how our relationships are influenced by colonial forces

To fall in love in our society is to meet another’s eyes, feel the spark of “chemistry,” and know you are destined for one another. Except that there’s so much more that goes into how that moment starts and unfolds. Our relationships are influenced by myriad colonial forces. Even our platonic or familial relationships follow societal scripts that dictate whom we are drawn to, who we picture ourselves as, and whom we picture ourselves with.

Rhe history and basis for these prejudices, including but not limited to: racism, capitalism, sexism, ableism, heteronormativity, and monogamy. We will interrogate these lenses in a desire for a deeper understanding of the way in which we consciously and subconsciously conceive of love, in all of its forms. We will consider where we look for love, what and whom we find attractive, and how we define commitment. How do we treat our loved ones? How do we want to be treated? What roles do we expect them to play? What roles do we feel expected to play?

What is your ‘type?’ What do you find attractive? Why do you find certain characteristics more attractive than others? In this week, we will interrogate what physical and cultural attributes we find attractive and why, along with who, we gravitate towards for friends and for romance.

Where do you look for love? What does it feel like to be in a ‘healthy’ relationship with others? How do you express your love in relationships? How has your cultural background impacted how you give and receive love? For example, how does race play a role in who and how you love?

What does commitment mean to you? Who has power in a relationship? What roles do money, gender, and gender performance play? What sacrifices are made, who makes them, and why? What indicates commitment: a bank account, meeting someone’s family, monogamy? What societal forces make you feel validated in your various relationships?