emotional or sexual?

I carried out a short online survey on whether emotional or sexual attraction were more important for romance..

CREATIVE IDEA: Use of fictional story to get people's response...the questions were:

1. Abe and Zohan are two college roommates. Abe is very sexually attracted to Aimee but doesn't feel any emotional attachment to her. Zohan has been spending time with Zindra and really admires her personality. She is clearly attractive but he can't seem to think of her as more than a good friend. Both want to do something special for their respective friends on Valentine's day. Whose activity is likely to be most romantic?

2. Abe and Zohan collaborate on their ideas for a romantic evening and agree to plan identical dates for Aimee and Zindra. Aimee and Zindra have very similar tastes (they were cloned from the same Homo Sapien). Who would enjoy their date more?

3. At the close of their dates, both Abe and Zohan feel compelled to reveal to Aimme and Zindra how they really feel. Which girl would be more disappointed (if at all)?

4. (Optional) What do you think is more important for romance - the emotional or the sexual attraction? Why?

The consensus seemed to be that someone who was solely sexually attracted to someone would be more likely to come up with a romantic evening than one who was solely emotionally attracted. However, it was also believed that one would enjoy a date with someone who was solely emotionally attracted to them more than they would with one who was solely sexually attracted to them.

Interestingly most people felt that a girl with the desire for a healthy relationship (both sexually and emotionally intimate) would be equally disappointed by the absence of either of these.

Check out the results here!

is romance sexual, emotional or both?

Looked up the definition of romantic on the internet. Wanted a non-credible source for some creative insight...

"Romantic love is a form of love that is often regarded as different from mere needs driven by sexual desire, or lust. Romantic love generally involves a mix of emotional and sexual desire, as opposed to Platonic love. There is often, initially, more emphasis on the emotions than on physical pleasure." - RAJ

Raj's definition includes both an emotional and a sexual aspect to romance. If the desire is merely sexual and devoid of emotion can it be romantic? What about if it was void of a sexual connotation? I am not sure...I wonder if I can create a thought experiment to get people's thoughts...

Yesterday's picture left me with a lot to think about...there was red but it was more like hell (especially with the dark man looming over) than romantic. Could something scary be romantic?

CREATIVE IDEA: Organize a day of scary events over halloween with the theme being "Perfect love drives away all fear" Make a list of each others fears (e.g. horrors, sky diving, roller coasters etc.) and then go do those activities together, with a free pass to scream, grab hands and hug - relying on one another for "strength" to endure

Romance is not love...it is a part of it but it can be a part of lots of other love substitutes. What kind of romance do I want to concentrate on. What makes this picture unappealing to me even though it is romantic to many. The man appears to be leering over her, almost controlling...what about yesterday;s picture? He was holding the clock? NEW IDEA: Giving his time to her? Hmmm how gendered are our ideas of romance? Could I come up with a 'non traditional gender role' idea for romance?

Creative Idea: hmmm I dunno, all I can do is have the girl do what I would imagine the guy doing? Which isn't really creative, it's just an exchange...how about she organizes a scavenger hunt to all the places that have meaning for them, and at each point there is a peice of a jigsaw puzzle and once he is at the last place he can put it together and it is a picture of the two of them with the words "I want you to always be able to count on me, my love!"

starters...colors, concepts

Color – pink, purple; how does color influence our ideas of romance? I always think of reds, purples, maybe a bright blue. Could it be anything that is that color? I wouldn’t like a red truck for example…it should be natural (plant, animal etc.) so we want natural things, perhaps things that are not man-made? Is that what we want in romance? Something that seems natural because our idea of the best kind of love is one that is not contrived or controlled by man? Also, this picture has a clock but people are looking at each other…undivided attention.

An idea is to make a pink card, that is covered in blue flowers and butterflies. On it could be a clock with wires coming out i.e. broken and the words: I want to be with you all the time