I told my partner I wanted an orange and he just handed it to me. According to TikTok, does that mean you need to break up with him?
The internet is diagnosing love, and your relationship may be at the next crossroads.
Peeling an orange is no big deal. If you're like me, you might take it to another level. That means peeling away all the stringy pith until only the smoothest fruit remains. An act that certainly does not require any praise.
However, a current trend on TikTok says that the indicator of the health of a relationship is the way you peel an orange. Social media is no stranger to relationship trends, but are we taking it too far?
Teen magazines and hot questions
I was never allowed to buy teen magazines. You know those magazines that have Justin Bieber posters and the latest Hollywood stories? But you always make sure to turn the last few pages before leaving the bookstore. There I could find the issue's monthly quizzes and dare to say the answers to my burning teenage questions.
“What is your ideal date?”
“What does your favorite color say about your love life?”
“21 Signs He Loves You.”
It was the massive affirmation we seek on TikTok, reduced to a single page in the back of a magazine.
No matter what some people say, my answers and scores meant nothing. But I still found myself identifying with what I had arrived at. Or, let's be honest, if you don't like where you ended up, try to change your answer.
TikTok's Orange Peel Theory.Photo: TIKTOK Relationships and Social Media
A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center showed that 80 percent of American social media users frequently see other users posting about their relationships. Masu.
Similarly, in a 2022 report conducted by Statistics Canada, researchers stated that “online interactions increase the tendency to compare oneself to others.”
Therefore, if we are to live true to what we see around us, what we want to discuss is not the act of skinning or not skinning. Rather, we place far more emphasis on how each answer compares to online answers. It has become a competition linked to hashtags and trends to find the right expressions of love.
Without any context or understanding of someone's relationship, we give our social media followers the power to decide who to cut and who to keep.
What can we learn from peeling an orange?
Your partner's reaction to Orange may provide insight into unmet needs or lack of emotional communication. It may highlight their willingness to do little things or spark curiosity about how they naturally show affection.
But I think our willingness to broadcast our partners' reactions on social media needs a rethink. We must redistribute the power we give to courts of TikTok users. The comment section is not a glorified jury for orange peeling partners to sit on.
Looking back, my life would have been very different if I had let magazine quizzes dictate my actions on the topic. You know I have blonde hair, live in a different country, force myself to prefer the color purple, and wonder if my style accurately reflects my personality. You will find that
Imagine a 2010 teen magazine with a quiz titled “Can you peel an orange?” Check if your partner loves you. I'm not going to turn a blind eye. You might start walking around with an orange in your handbag, but I'm not sure that says much about love.
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