That is not a relationship. That is a rescue mission disguised as romance.
She has learned that loneliness is failure. That singleness is a problem to be solved. That her emotional energy should be primarily directed toward one person who will, eventually, complete her. That is not a relationship
We do not tell boys this. Boys get adventure stories where love is a side quest. Girls get love stories where adventure is the side quest. The most dangerous storyline is not the toxic one. It is the sweet one. The one where two nice people fall nicely in love and live nicely ever after. That singleness is a problem to be solved
We hand a little girl a fairy tale. Then a Disney movie. Then a YA novel. Then a rom-com. Then a "situationship." Boys get adventure stories where love is a side quest
In classic narrative terms, the hero’s journey involves trials, death, and rebirth. The heroine’s journey, as sold to girls, involves a makeover, a misunderstanding, and a grand gesture in the rain.
We rarely talk about this. How many girls secretly skimmed the kissing scenes? How many girls felt relief when the boy was absent from a chapter? How many girls wanted the story to just stay with her —her room, her thoughts, her weird little obsessions?