Love. One word we hear over and over and over again but remains somewhat hard to explain or define. After all, how could we define something so abstract? How can one explain something that expresses itself in so many different forms?
With love being such an abstract thing, as emotions usually are, you can bet that most people would have different ideas of what love is. And while there might be quite a several similarities, you can also bet there would be unique ideas and preferences. This funny map displays this rather perfectly.
Image source: Atlas of Prejudice
Now, we know what you might think: “Is this map really accurate?” But then again. Sure the map is hilarious, and sure some of the tags on some countries and regions might be a LITTLE BIT extreme, but is it that far off the mark? Let’s examine the map a bit more to find out.
Let’s take Belarus, for example (the part of the map boldly labeled loveless). Does that mean Belarusians are stone-hearted individuals? Not. They love their families just as much and their partners as fiercely as the Spanish and Portuguese (rightly dubbed “Way Too Much Drama on the map”).
So why are they dubbed “Loveless,” and this map is still considered hilarious but accurate? Well, the answer is simple, the way they express love.
To most Belarusians, physical expressions of love are not a measure of how truly one loves another. To them, a person can love another and not necessarily physically show it. Some might even go as far as saying physically, showing said love is not as crucial as actually EXPERIENCING said love. And when you do think about it, can you disagree?
So imagine getting a Belarusian with such a belief and placing him or her on the emotional roller coaster of Portugal or Spain! What do you think his or her idea of Spanish and Portuguese love would be?
WAY TOO MUCH DRAMA!
Now, imagine the reverse being the case. How do you think people from regions that believe love should be very expressive, like Portugal and Spain, would react to regions like Belarus, where open expressions of love are scarce? Of course, their reaction would be: “Wow, this is a loveless community.”
However, expressing love isn’t the only thing that leads to differences in how people view love. Our idea of love also affects our idea of WHAT IS lovely.
Take, for example, the French and their love for food and women from Turkey and their thing for hairy men. This preference would obviously sip into their idea of love. Hence food is a really easy way of getting the French to fall in love with you, and being a hairy man makes you twice more likely to get your Turkish dream girl than if you had no body hair. And thus, the Love Map of Europe proves accurate (even with the more hilarious claims like “Anything For Money” and “Anal Love”). Yes, our ideas of love might be different. Yes, one might oppose the other. But does that really mean it’s not the same love we all feel?