Courting or trying to attract someone romantically, or exaggerating or embellishing a story to make it more interesting.
From Old French 'romaunce' (a narrative poem), which came from 'Romance' languages themselves. Originally meant a story of adventure, love evolved as the main theme of these tales.
Medieval knights going on quests to win ladies' hearts created 'romances'—actual stories written to glorify love, which is why 'romanticizing' means adding magic to reality. Language was shaped by literal storytelling!
Romance culturally coded feminine pursuit; men 'pursuing' women framed as active (desired) vs. women seeking men (desperate). Power asymmetries embedded in gendered romantic narratives.
Use to describe mutual romantic pursuit; avoid gendered scripts where one gender must initiate or one must be pursued.
Women's agency in courtship historically minimized; reclaim romance as mutual desire, not female passivity or male conquest.
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