For Love

            "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) Love is by far the most special emotion a human being can feel. It is also one of the most rare emotions one could ever have. Love is something special and sacred and should be treated with respect. The abuse of love in recent times has made it lose value. It has turned into something of a need basis. Love seems to be something one can toy around with; it comes and goes. Love is something one wants to do and has no regrets doing it.

            Kipnis takes love and completely butchers the connotation. She begins to describe love as a task, but when one truly loves another, they know it as a path one has to want to take and find it an honor to commit themselves to their partner. The ideas of sacrifice or burden never come across when love is mentioned.

            Kipnis mentions the idea of mutuality. “Mutuality means recognizing that your partner has needs and being prepared to meet them” (759). Kipnis implants in the reader’s mind that caring for your partner becomes an obligation and doing your partner a favor. Kipnis states, “meeting those needs is the most effective way to become the object of another’s desire” (759). Basically, if one meets certain needs of their partner, the partner will like them. Love does not have certain requirements to meet. No one has the power or capability to express love in a concrete sense. Therefore, how is it possible to set standards for love?

            Kipnis states that love is obtained by following the cans and cannots of a relationship. She goes on to list numerous rules that couples in reality follow. By stating these rules, the partner feels like they are sacrificing themselves for the other.  Frankly, they are not feeling true love. As mentioned earlier, love has to be something that is done out of want and is not to be taken as a burden.

            Love is a very special emotion, and Kipnis has portrayed it in an erroneous way. Her love is a burden with many rules to follow. One feels they are sacrificing themselves in her love. Love is supposed to be done out of want; something that is done with care and treated delicately. Many have to remember the struggle it takes for someone to finally find that true love, and when a person does find that true love, they should realize how fortunate they are to find that special someone.