Image taken from: QuoteSurf - Mutual Understanding Quotes
IN popular Philippine culture, the "mutual understanding" or M.U. relationship is a stage wherein two people basically like each other, but have not yet set themselves and their hearts to committing into a relationship. In simpler words, this is the gray area of people before going into the "boyfriend-girlfriend" stage of love.
In a demographic sense, there are more teenagers who are in the M.U. stage, rather than the boyfriend-girlfriend stage. This is because of the fact that Filipino teenagers have not yet decided to settle into a true relationship with their present partners. When Filipinos think of the M.U. stage, they often say "parang kayo, pero 'di kayo." This means that they imagine themselves that they are true lovers, but in reality, they aren't true lovers.
For adolescent Pinoys, it's a great feeling when the person that you like, also likes you back. However, there is no certainty that the relationship will last, because of the fact that there is NO commitment between them. People who are in the M.U. stage are often seen very close to each other, and some of their posts on social media reflect their relationship. In many cases, the relationship is kept secret. This is to avoid any issues that may arise from other people knowing about it.
Next, we have this thing called the universal style of the "friendzone". You might already have an idea as to what this means. The friendzone is an area set by a boy or a girl who almost can't be bothered to go into a relationship, maybe because he/she is prioritizing her studies rather than matters of the heart. People who often get sent into this zone feel rejected by the other party. But, try to think of it! In the M.U. stage, there is not a sense of commitment involved. However, in the friendzone area, you still consider each other to be friends, which involves some kind of commitment to make the friendship last for long. What would you rather choose? Be exes after breaking up in the M.U. stage? Or still stay friends because of the friendzone?
Love amongst teenagers has evolved because of the increased usage of social networks. Nowadays, it's easy to get a girl's heart because of the common rhetoric that boys type on their keyboards. the question, however, is do they have the commitment and can they promise to do the things they just said? Teenage girls would be swooned by the "beauty and strength" of the words they see and read. They often hope that they would have their love satisfied by those boys, just because they made such a strong promise to them. Then, the relationship blossoms into the M.U. stage, and then after a month or two, they break up. Why? The promise wasn't fulfilled. In fact, it cannot be fulfilled from the very beginning, mainly because promises in the M.U. stage are too hard to keep.
I hope I was able to give you a bit of insight on how we, Filipino teenagers, make love work the way we want it.
See you in the next write-up! Xxxxxx