Poll: Do you have to love someone to call them your boyfriend/girlfriend?

[Random Argument Man]

Sadly, my experiences can't prove a "yes".

I only cared for my last girlfriend and we didn't stick together for long.

 

[Sonofadiddly]

Call them what you want. Words mean very little. I personally have to be seeing someone romantically for quite awhile before I fall in love, and by then it's easier to call him my boyfriend then say "Uh, he's this guy I'm seeing. Dating. You know."

I don't think I've ever known anyone who started calling someone their boyfriend/girlfriend after they fell in love.

 

[Flex_S]

I do it out of habit. If i've been seeing someone for a short time but I don't know them that well to call them my Girlfriend, I still call them my Girlfriend, only cause it is shorter than saying "This girl I have been seeing for a short time but I don't know her that well to call her my Girlfriend"

 

[SimuLord]

I don't use the word "girlfriend" until I'm dating someone exclusively, and I don't generally date someone exclusively until I've fallen in love with them.

It's not an absolute requirement. Sometimes I'm just dating one girl because the opportunity doesn't present itself for me to date around/play the field, so she's my "girlfriend" by default, but I use the term pretty loosely in that instance until/unless I fall in love.

 

[Con Carne]

That's a little bass ackwards....you usually want to be someones bf/gf for a while before saying ILY. Those are strong and scary words. I go as long as possible without saying them, that way if things go sour, I don't feel as bad. lol

 

[Burningsok]

Basically bf/gf is the stage where you are figuring out if the person really does love you. The relationship is like the big test to see if the 2 can be devoted or not, its not always accurate, but hey nothing is perfect. I have gf on WoW (don't judge me lol) that I really like and hope to one day see her in real life. She's awesome, but I have to meet her in real life and get to know her more from there, only then will I be able to tell I do love her or not, I've had this talk with her and she agrees.

so yeah you don't need to love to be bf/gf. It's what builds the 2 up to love one another. But hey not saying you can't love and be bf/gf.

 

[Dogmeat T Dingo]

No, because it's just an arbitrary name you give to someone you're in a relationship with, you can be in a loveless relationship. They rarely turn out well though, if you're in one right now my advice is to get out as soon as you can.

 

[Mcupobob]

Love is something that grows as people are dating then they slowly relize they love the person. The real world is not Romeo and Juliet with love at first sight.

 

[Luffie]

just like any other label it being there means absolutely nothing, it has no gravity of its own so in short, no of course you dont have to 'love' them. If you call a letter box a tree when it is quite clearly a letter box it doesnt have any impact on that thing, it will just sit there and be, totally regardless of such pointless speculation. If you are attracted to someone and enjoy their company then why does anything else need to be said? to be defined? why not enjoy eachother and shut up instead of doggedly gripping to these deviations of counter-instinctual religious poisonings of our perception on what 'has' to be established before people can just live together and fuck or whatever else it is they want to do

and that wasnt aimed at the original poster, just my general stance on the matter. Husband and wife is just as meaningless.

 

[BonsaiK]

who do you think is righr? can you be a couple but not love each other or do you have to love someone to be able to be able to call them your boyfriend/girlfriend?

EDIT: poll fixed. laptop a bit sucky :/

Your poll is still a bit weird. Options 2 and 4 are essentially the same and should be combined, same with options 3 and 5.

To the question, and saying "oh they're not in love so they can't be bf/gf" seems to me to be a fairly juvenile, naive way of looking at the world. People get together and even get married for all sorts of reasons, "love" is only one of them, and what constitutes "love" varies wildly from person to person anyway. The fact is that throughout history, most people got together for social status, breeding, sex and financial reasons, the idea of "love" as a commonly held value in relationships is actually a fairly recent development.

 

[Mozared]

you don't need to love them, you just need to be in a relationship with them. If you had to love them, then there would be a lot less people with boyfriends and girlfriends

That, really. The thing is that "boyfriend/girlfriend" is a term specifically used to indicate that you are in a serious relationship with somebody. Assuming that's what you mean by "love", then yes. If you don't "love" them (or don't "date" with them), you might as well call them 'friends'.

 

[SimuLord]

That's a little bass ackwards....you usually want to be someones bf/gf for a while before saying ILY. Those are strong and scary words. I go as long as possible without saying them, that way if things go sour, I don't feel as bad. lol

I'm not sure if you're a sociopath or just really immature.

I like to go on a few dates and really care about someone before I'll date them exclusively. If I'm not in love, why restrict my options? For me to use the word "girlfriend" to describe a woman (implying that having sex with someone else or even making out would be cheating), she'd damn well better be special to me, otherwise I'd be...well, off having sex with beautiful women!

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Yes you do have to love them because that is what makes you want to be in a relationship and make it last for days,weeks,months and years to come.

 

[Mr. Gency]

(they met on an internet dating site)

This is the part where it became a chore to read on.

she asked me if he was her boyfriend so i asked her if she loved him. she said 'no' so i said he couldn't be her boyfriend as she didn't love him and (as far as i know) he doesn't love her, but she said you don't have to love someone to for them to be your boyfriend/girlfriend.

Kind of makes you wonder why she asked in the first place. Also I agree with you on this.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I don't think you do. Most relationships aren't started with the phrase or feeling expressing love. That's the point of dating. To see if this person is worth loving.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Its nice to be able to say that, but it is not a requirement, the whole point of having a BF/GF is to find out if you do/can love each other, or if you are not looking for commitment, for the fun of it.

 

[thylasos]

Love is something special. Doesn't happen in every relationship. Doesn't make the relationship less valid. There're plenty of reasons apart from romantic love that people get into relationships.

 

[Maryy Mary]

For me...I must say that i cannot be in a relationship unless i love that person.Of course i don't mind going on dates and such things, but i don't LIKE kissing if i don't love that person.Yes, people like me do exist and btw im very open minded and not a dork.

So i have to go for the first option in ur poll Otherwise...What's the point in having a romantic relationship?

 

[Slaanax]

I always viewed Boyfriend/girlfriend thing just another term for someone you are dating/seeing spending time with in exclusive manner.