Puppy love
Puppy love, also known as a crush, is an informal term for feelings of romantic love, often felt during childhood and early adolescence.[1] It is an infatuation usually developed by someone's looks and attractiveness at first sight. It is named for its resemblance to the adoring, worshipful affection that may be felt by a puppy. Puppy love typically lasts between 2 months and 2 years, and is thought to be fueled by preadolescent hormones. Some scientists, however, think it is initiated as a result of the natural development of the brain at the onset of preadolescence.[2]
For other uses, see Puppy love (disambiguation) and Crush (disambiguation).The term can be used in a derogatory fashion, presuming the affair to be shallow and transient in comparison to other forms of love.[3] Sigmund Freud, however, was far from underestimating the power of early love, recognizing the validity of "the proverbial durability of first loves".[4]
Characteristics[edit]
Puppy love is a common experience in the process of maturing.[5] The object of attachment may be a peer, but the term can also describe the fondness of a child for an adult. Most often, the object of the child's infatuation is someone years older, like a teacher, friend of the family, actor, or musician, about whom the child will spend their time daydreaming or fantasizing.[6]
A crush is described as a coming-of-age experience where the child is given a sense of individualism because they feel intimate emotions for a person not part of their own family.[7]
Cultural and entertainment presentation[edit]
Western, Japanese and Thai anime, feature films and children's dramas directly depict underage relationships, as seen in Disney animation, superhero comics and many works of Hayao Miyazaki. Western films and television works also focus on the beauty of underage relationships, which also stimulates the intrinsic motivation of the protagonists to strive to become better for each other, and even achieve a two-way relationship that promotes and supports each other.[24]
Mainland Chinese film and television productions tend to avoid underage relationships, but not completely, and occasionally they end in sadness, thus "conveying to the teenage audience the value of staying away from early love".[25] In 2002, mainland China introduced the Japanese animation "Chibi Maruko-chan", deleting the single episode related to the emotional development of the male and female protagonists in their early teens, and altering the male protagonist's final "I like you" confession to "I've always thought you were nice". Underage relationships are often the result of long periods of time together and slow accumulation of feelings in mainland Chinese films and television productions, and are often presented as a distraction from important matters and detrimental to the protagonist's life, in which the parents are treated like enemies and the protagonist often gives in and gives up in the face of external obstacles.[24]
In mainland China, the current General Rules for the Production of TV Series Content, issued in late 2015, the current General Rules for Content Review of Internet Audio-Visual Programs, issued in 2017, and the current Rules for Content Review Standards for Internet Short Video, issued in 2019, all refer to "early love among minors" as " bad behavior", "adverse effects on minors" or "detrimental to the healthy growth of minors", stating that "content showing minors in early love" The content of the "expression of early love" "shall not appear." The current regulation, "Regulations on the Administration of Programs for Minors," published by order of the General Administration of Radio, Film and Television in 2019, also states that "programs for minors shall not" "affirm or approve of early romance among minors."[26]