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Is it strange to show love to your siblings?
By Sanika Nalgirkar — Written on Apr 30, 2022
Every family has a different way of showing love for one another and while we may not all express ourselves in the same way, that doesn't mean people who show appreciation differently are wrong.
However, this man had different thoughts when his girlfriend told her brother that she loves him and thought their interaction was "weird."
He later went to Reddit to post on the AITA (Am I The A-hole?) thread to ask if he was wrong.
AITA is a place where people post their situations and ask if they’re being the A-hole.
Internet users then comment with their opinions and get to vote for the person with some of the options being YTA (Yes The A-hole), NTA (No The A-hole) or ESH (Everyone Sucks Here).
The man told his girlfriend that he thinks it’s ‘weird’ when she says ‘I love you’ to her brother.
The man started his post by explaining that he and his girlfriend live near her brother’s college so, they see him at times.
“He sometimes visits my girlfriend, and whenever he leaves from the visit, my girlfriend says that she loves him,” the man wrote.
“And he usually returns a thumbs-up (which is kind of funny), but I think it shows he’s a bit weirded out as well by her saying she loves him.”
The man further explained that he didn’t think it was weird to say "I love you" to your family and mentioned that he understood if a person says it to their parents or children.
However, saying it to a sibling seemed strange to him.
As he thought his girlfriend’s brother felt similar, he voiced his opinions to her. His girlfriend didn’t take it well and argued back with him.
The man wrote, “She said that there was no problem with what she says and that I was the one being weird.”
Internet users also relayed to the man that he was the one being weird and voted him as YTA (You're The A-hole).
Many people mentioned that it’s quite normal for family members, even siblings to say "I love you" to each other. It’s just people being affectionate and showing their love to the people they care about.
One person commented, “YTA. Expressing emotions is good, actually. Don't be the guy who, on his deathbed, wishes he'd told the people he loves how he felt.”
Another person commented, “YTA. I have 4 brothers. EVERYTIME, [without] a fail, I tell my brothers 'I love you.' You never know when you’re going to lose someone. Always say you love them before y’all depart.”
Many other people also mentioned how this reaction from the man is his problem and how he is projecting his issues on someone else.
“YTA. And it sounds like you may have some insecurities that are causing you to lash out at her. Her brother isn’t your competitor," one user commented.
"It’s a different sort of love and a very healthy and normal sort of love. Apologies if I made a wrong assumption, but it might be worth examining yourself.”
It seems everyone agreed that the only "weird" person here might be the man himself. While there may be people who show their affection in weird ways, saying "I love you" to someone definitely isn't wrong.
Sanika Nalgirkar, M.F.A. is a writer who covers entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.