Too often when opening up Twitter, especially around holidays and prom time, we see the insane amount of “relationship goals” tweets. While it’s adorable seeing two people show how much they care for each other, most of these tweets are unrealistic and should not be anyone’s “goals.”
These tweets include boyfriend's surprising their girlfriends with Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, or Michael Kors apparel or jewelry. No girl will reject presents of course, but receiving expensive gifts so you can show it off on Instagram proves far less of a serious relationship than going on actual dates and spending quality time together. On another note, the largest group of average Twitter users are in high school or college. As a college student I would never expect my boyfriend to buy me a $200 watch just because I had a bad day. I would expect my boyfriend to spend time listening to me rant about my bad day, and if I’m really lucky he’d spend $8 on a Domino's pizza to really make me feel better. I would expect him to save his money because we're young and there's so much more to life than materialistic gifts. Understanding that love is not shown by how much money he spends is incredibly important. These “goals” show girls that relationships are built around presents and Twitter or Instagram shout outs instead of an actual in-person connection.
As women, we love to take pictures, but before you go begging your boyfriend for this picture-perfect moment, just remember this girl is a model. While these two people's relationship is beautiful, they're paid to take these pictures and they're paid to post them. A simple “woman crush Wednesday” post might be more up your alley with him exclaiming his love for you and how you're a work of art. However, showing you off does not always have to be in a grand gesture via Instagram but in the little things. It can be in the way he introduces you to his friends or the way he throws positive things about you in conversation when talking to his parents. Once again, it's all about the little things. If you find someone who tells everyone you're a work of art and every line of you is perfect, than that is an amazing relationship, but it shouldn't be beautiful all the time.
The issue with these "goals" comes down to what 15-20-year-olds expect in a relationship. If the way you show or receive love is through gifts, then keep on keeping on, but be reasonable and be open because relationships are a two-way effort. These pictures and screenshots make relationships seem all good all the time, but they are not. Your significant other should be someone who isn't afraid to give you advice contrary to what you want. They should be able to handle you at your worst and your best. They should not solve issues with expensive gifts and lovey-dovey posts on social media. Relationships are not built based on numbers of likes or whether people will react favorably to you two, but rather on your connection.
