24
I don't want to form parasocial relationships with people I fap to
(sh.itjust.works)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2024
24 points (70.0% liked)
Unpopular Opinion
6216 readers
419 users here now
Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!
How voting works:
Vote the opposite of the norm.
If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.
Guidelines:
Tag your post, if possible (not required)
- If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
- If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].
Rules:
1. NO POLITICS
Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.
2. Be civil.
Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...
Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.
5. No trolling.
This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.
Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
They really aren't, before this egirl insanity began people who obsessed over some distant celebrity were considered pathetic to dangerous (when it came with stalker behavior).
The fact that it becomes more widespread is a symptom of the failing societal fabric and community.
People are so detached and lonely even amongst millions of others they seek emotional support and validation, even romantic fulfillment, in these unhealthy ways.
Hmmm. I want to push back on this a bit....
We can all recognize deeply, egregiously unhealthy parasocial relationships, so I'm not going to bother talking about those.
But there are plenty of what I would call parasocial relationships the track back quite a long time in human history that I think are completely normal.
Take, for example, the famous athlete. If you find a particular athlete to be your favorite, and you watch their interviews whenever they're available, and you get excited when they get paid a bunch of money in a trade, that's a low-key parasocial relationship. Maybe you even send them regular fan mail, cheering them on when they do well or consoling them when they do poorly. You are invested in their life without reciprocity, and find joy and value in simply observing their existence.
There are lots of actors and actress that we love to love, where many people have formed a parasocial relationship: Tom Hanks and Keanu Reeves are two that come to mind.
These are situations that go beyond "yeah I'm a fan" and into feeling some level of investment in their success. It doesn't have to be extreme.
I think, as with many things, there are healthy ways to engage in parasocial relationships in moderation. It becomes a problem when it becomes detrimental to your daily life, especially if it begins to replace other forms of human interaction. If it's just a thing you enjoy on top of other, more typical relationships, them IMO there's nothing wrong with that.
I agree. My original point was that it's okay to have a relationship like that, but it's not okay to sexualise it.
Sorry, this was pushing back on the person I replied to, not you. I generally agree with your take
Point taken. But it might be a matter of degree of how strong a relationship is.