Man, the abstinence movement rhetoric about oxytocin is weird.
Never mind that the scientific basis is pretty shaky. Never mind that it's creepy as shit to assign love to a chemical released at orgasm. Never mind that apparently marriage is so sacred that it alters your biochemistry.
I just think it's weird to A) need any scientific backing for the statement "ending relationships causes emotional pain" and B) use that as an argument against having any relationships at all. It makes them sound like cranky old divorcees. I know, going into a relationship, that it's going to end and that it's going to suck when it does. I just believe that the stuff in between is worth it.
I don't know the name of the specific neurotransmitter involved here, but I'm pretty damn sure that going to bed alone every night for goddamn years isn't entirely emotionally painless either.
"I know, going into a relationship, that it's going to end and that it's going to suck when it does. I just believe that the stuff in between is worth it."
ReplyDeleteWeird, I was saying that to a couple people last night before I got home and read this. Relationships don't have happy endings, ever. Either they end by agreement of the two people involved(or sometimes just one of the people involved, which is just extra-painful), or somebody dies. But the stuff in between, the good times and the memories you can share, as long as you can handle the fact that that's what they are is memories and not a reason why it should have lasted forever, are some of the things that make life worth living.
No, you're right, the abstinence-for-years thing isn't any nicer than a breakup (and I've done a lot more abstinence than breaking up.)
ReplyDeleteYou read some of the weirdest stuff . . . but didn't I see a new Cosmo at the IGA today? That means Cosmocking is just around the corner, right?