Love in Sociological Contents

Introduction

This essay will try to answer the question: “Can there be a sociology of love?”. For a proper analysis of the topic, it is essential to have a basic understanding of the concepts of Sociology and Love.

Love in Sociological Contexts

Sociology helps individuals to understand the development, structure, and function of human society. It is also important for individuals because it sheds light on their problems. As a matter of fact, sociology itself is difficult to comprehend even for sociology students. Some commentators have suggested that sociology should not be included in the nursing curriculum, arguing that it adds no value to nursing education and training. The relevance of this study to nursing is not very clear, and it poses a major concern to nursing students.

The Nature of Love

Love, on the other hand, means true affection which should include the following characteristics: Love is patient, kind, does not envy, and does not boast. It is not proud, does not dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, and keeps no records of wrongs. Love is interesting sociologically for many reasons. We have: sexual love, intimate love, companionate love, romantic love, parental love, friendship love, inter-species love, love for places, belonging, and views. It is a word that is used prolifically to mean so much, which makes it very hard to define and study love; but intimate love between a couple is different. This is an emotion that gained prominence and significance over the past 100 years and has led to a legitimate range of instructions, ideologies, and policies. In the United Kingdom, we are structured by the norm of the loving couple, which is seen as keeping families and societies together and stable.

Love and Social Structures

Love played an important part in women’s emancipation. The rise of romantic love and its link with marriage meant women increasingly had more choice in their future partners. When we talk of parental love, sometimes in failing marriages and troubled adult relationships, a parent does love their children more than their partner. And children don’t want their parent to favor them over their partner. It makes them feel comfortable because they feel secure when their parents are secure with each other.

Understanding Love Through Sociological Perspectives

To have a good understanding of this subject of love and sociology, an evaluation of contrasting sociological perspectives is very important. The term sociological perspective refers to an overview of human behavior and its connection to society as a whole. There are many subjects to be studied and discussed in the field of sociology, and the approach chosen to study a subject is called a perspective. Perspective involves thinking about something, especially one which is influenced by the type of person you are or by your experiences. Different people in society from different cultural backgrounds have different behaviors and different ways of seeing things. A good knowledge of perspective will enable someone to manage and maintain love.

Variety in Approaches

When studying in the field of sociology, everyone is going to approach topics in a different manner. No two people are going to have the exact same view on a subject. This also affects the way people express their love and admiration. Just as the saying goes, beauty is only found in the eye of the beholder. These approaches are known as sociological perspectives. These perspectives name diverse ways in which different people choose to analyze a subject, and how they look at society. The functionalist perspective, for example, is a sociological approach that emphasizes the way that parts of society are structured to maintain its stability. These perspectives look at society in a positive manner and see it as stable, with all the parts working together. Under the functionalist view, every social aspect of a society contributes to the society's survival, and if not, the aspect is not passed to the next generation.

Enduring Love in Sociology

In some surveys, they spoke about enduring love that makes us study the following factors: relationship qualities, relationship with a partner, and relationship maintenance. There are different types of love, and for love to exist and flourish, it takes place in relationships between one another. To look at love in sociological contexts, we need to look at love in their institution. There is a saying which says: love is blind, Marriage is an institution for the blind. Marriage is called an institution because you ‘learn’ here – you learn to let go of your ego for the sake of your relationship by being loving, caring, and affectionate; you learn to be a family man/woman, make mistakes, be a role model to your children, learn to be together, and motivate your partner to do better in life.

The Texture of Long-Term Relationships

Gabb and Finch say that everyday moments and ordinary gestures create the texture of long-term couple relationships. They stated that the proposed ‘moments approach’ provides a lens through which a focus on couples’ everyday experiences gains insight into processes, meanings, and cross-cutting analytical themes, while still making sure that feelings and emotionality remain firmly rooted. In the analysis of specific social institutions, different researches show that relationships include pragmatics and emotions, choices and lack of choice, contentment and disenchantment – and all the spectrum of feelings and experiences in-between. Research has added significant insight into the range of effective attachments that comprise intimate life, but there remains a particular absence of sociologically informed studies of couples in long-term relationships, with regards to both the influence of culture, biography, and socio-economic factors on their relationship experience and the interiority of their personal lives.

Romantic Love

Romantic love, or attractive love, is the obsessive thinking about and craving for a particular person—evolved to enable you to focus your mating energy on just one individual at a time. As Kabir, the Indian poet, puts it: “The lane of love is narrow; there is room for only one.”

References

Gabb, J., & Finch, J. (Year). Title of Work. Publisher.

Kabir, Author. (Year). Title of Poem. Publisher.

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of Book. Publisher.

Author, B. B. (Year). Title of Article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages.