Mr. Darcy, Peeta Mellark, Anthony Bridgerton. Tom Holland, ASAP Rocky, Prince Harry.
Fictional or real, all of these men have one thing in common: they yearn for the women they love and would do anything for them — one thing men seem to lack initiative for these days.
Now, I’m not saying the men of our generation are heartless bodies of meat, but it’s not like they’re Orpheus reincarnated either.
Instead of handwritten letters and holding a boombox over their heads, we get Snapchat notifications and maybe a wave in public, at most.
Even though my amazing parents met at Penn State and have been going strong ever since, growing their love and commitment to each other, I’ve already accepted that it’s not likely I’ll meet my future husband here.
Part of the reason why I think that is because my standards are as high as Old Main is.
I grew up reading novels of men professing their love, watching movies of men facing dangers and villains. I mean, Prince Philip battled a freaking dragon and us girls can’t even get a text back on time.
It’s no surprise I’m waiting for that special guy to sweep me off my feet.
We all grew up surrounded by love stories, but is that just what they are, simply stories? Will the only pure acts of love I see be on a TV screen or written in the cream-colored pages of a book?
I think we’re all in agreement that we want someone to yearn deeply for us, to know everything about us, and not shy away. But are the men of our generation even capable of that?
Now, I’m not asking a guy to handbuild a house for me like Noah in “The Notebook,” or leave their kingdom like Prince Harry.
But time and time again, I hear horror stories online and from my friends, and even my own experiences, and I’m steadily losing hope that the era of yearning men we saw in fiction and film is dying out.
I don’t know if it’s the new rise of misogyny or just thinking that “simping” for a woman is bad, but I just feel men these days find love embarrassing, which I find entirely off-putting. Before going to war, men would kiss their loved ones goodbye; they put a picture of their girlfriends and wives in their pocket.
Today, women would be lucky if they made it on their home screen or Instagram post.
I wanted to be courted like women were in the Victorian Era; I wish to be fought for like in Greek mythology, where men used to go to war over women. And if a man wouldn’t be able to love me again after their mind is hijacked like Peeta Mellark, I simply do not want him.
Again, I’m not saying love is dead and women can’t find that special fella; I just want to see more from these men.
Buy us flowers, write us letters, profess your love. It’s not hard to love, so it shouldn’t be hard to show it.