Relationship Reality and Role Playing

Some additional thoughts to Feedback Need and Meaning Part 1:

On ‘role playing’: Part of the problem is we use the word play in too many different ways.

While ‘playing at’ some thing is not to ‘be’ that thing, a ‘role played’ is attempting to fulfill a set of expected behaviors (e.g. husband and wife). Moreover, the ‘interactive play’ of many people’s ‘roles played’ (kids playing cops and robbers, or adults playing foreman and crew) require a certain ‘codependent suspension of disbelief’.

Another thought on the reality of play: A (female led) relationship cannot be real without two people attempting to fulfill each other’s expectations (no matter how varied the success), and the relationship becomes real once the two codependently suspend their disbelief in the roles.