This national symbol for "romance" is not what it seems!!!

RadicalB3ars · 2020-05-04T15:38:27+00:00

Notice how his arm is locked around her neck

villagefunambulist · 2020-05-04T19:12:04+00:00

This picture always made me extremely uneasy. It doesn't look romantic at all. This is not the body language of a woman who missed her man and is happy to see him back from war and alive. This is the body language of a woman being assaulted.

coolestgirlyoueverme · 2020-05-04T15:06:34+00:00

I did not know this.

Now the guy smiling on the left is giving me the chills.

_boring_daven_ · 2020-05-04T16:28:23+00:00

Wow. I really just thought this picture was of two lovers reuniting. I also thought it arm was like that because he didn’t want to mess up her hair?

gabydrt · 2020-05-04T16:29:53+00:00

And it even became a statue...

rgs735 · 2020-05-04T16:08:27+00:00

I know this was a different time in history, but I've never liked this picture. It seems too aggressive and possibly painful for her.

azngirl7689 · 2020-05-04T18:27:01+00:00

Honestly I’d suspected this. That’s not a normal way to hold a woman.

TriSarahFlops · 2020-05-04T17:13:05+00:00

Drunk military men in port cities were a nuisance during the war. They were like marauders who got a pass. Women hid in fear.

ThatsWhat__I__Said · 2020-05-04T21:50:08+00:00

My friend's dad used to make the creepiest comments to me all the time. Right in front of people (including kids). About my ass and my tits and betting I was "wet" (gag) and all kinds of highly inappropriate shit.

One Christmas I finally had enough and I yelled at him to stop it and to never speak to me like that again.

OH MY GOD THE POUTING.

He hid in the basement and said he wouldn't come back to the party unless I apologized or left.

Everyone was mad at me.

I left, and pretty much got kicked out of the friendship because "that's just how he is" (weirdly they blamed it on him being diabetic - it was his stock excuse for everything).

I still miss my friend.

meecy166 · 2020-05-04T16:05:19+00:00

That’s so sad I didn’t know that, poor thing

Kindly_Strain · 2020-05-04T17:02:05+00:00

She even has her hand between him to push him away

invenereveritas · 2020-05-04T23:35:50+00:00

This image is what started me down this road

Future-Positive · 2020-05-04T22:55:52+00:00

Holy shit! Now I see! Look at her mouth. Look at her legs. Her neck! She isn't kissing him! Omfg. The things media sells to us about that romantic bullshit is just disgusting for me to see nowadays.

Skittleschild02 · 2020-05-04T22:24:02+00:00

I always thought this pic was kind of weird. Everybody would always complain I was being negative but there’s no passion in that kiss. I always thought it was forced.

Blackgirlwanders · 2020-05-05T00:27:33+00:00

Everytime I come to this sub I wonder how tf Im still heterosexual. Just proves you cant choose your sexuality. If I could, I would stay tf away from men at all times.

Logical-Influence · 2020-05-04T16:50:12+00:00

The photographer didn’t know what was going on. This is what sucks. Through the eyes of a bystander it doesn’t look like assault until you dig deeper.

If it was a man finding his woman in a crowd that would be romantic AF. I choose to think that was the intention of spreading this message. It was a different time. It was a different stage.

I don’t want to get outraged over something so old and so misinterpreted and misunderstood.

Can we focus on modern examples? There are a lot of YouTube videos and other am posts illustrating the modern version of behavior to look out for. Shitty YouTube relationships and other toxic messes that are more applicable.

Fitncurly · 2020-05-04T20:28:01+00:00

This image is a symbol for so much that’s messed up in our misogynistic culture. A photo of a sexual assault as a symbol of man’s romance—I guess the bitter truth is that most of them ARE rapey, and that IS romance to these depraved males. We have to change the narrative to even hope to change their behavior—this photo needs to be rebranded as what it exactly is—ASSAULT.

curious_cat123456 · 2020-05-04T22:26:16+00:00

Holy cow. Thank you for opening my eyes. This photo looks more and more creepy to me now. Look at how she can't even move because his arm is locked tight around her head. Who holds a partner's head like that in a romantic kiss?
Eww, his breath was probably horrid from the drinking. Poor lady.

Harriett- · 2020-05-05T06:54:02+00:00

Looking at her body language, it’s kind of obvious that she is not into it. She just looks shocked.

Warrior-Kai · 2020-05-04T23:03:13+00:00

Wow, the ultimate fake news.

alittlemelondramatic · 2020-05-04T16:47:38+00:00

I remember seeing this at a World War II exhibition when I was eight or something and asking my parents why the man was grabbing her. The way his arm is positioned and how she is trying to cringe away from him made me so queasy. How do you look at this picture and go 'ah, yes, romance'?

queencarter · 2020-05-04T17:57:05+00:00

Is this surprising? Males have been sexually assaulting and raping women for our entire existence and will never stop.

TypeHeauxNegative · 2020-05-05T03:47:17+00:00

Jesus this exploded even watchmen covered this in 2008 regarding rape culture

Title	This national symbol for "romance" is not what it seems!!!
Author	shine_flower
Upvotes	1553
Comments	74
Date	May 4, 2020 2:33 PM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/gdcob1/this_national_symbol_for_romance_is_not_what_it/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/this-national-symbol-for-romance-is-not-what-it.676960 https://theredarchive.com/post/676960

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