A few days ago, Naps, a friend of mine tweeted something like this, "Ano pa use ng pagiging in a relationship kung kayong dalawa lang naman may alam? Kung hindi binobroadcast?" I replied, "What if 'di sila legal? Or bawal maging public? Haha" Then he said he has something more to say but he's just too lazy to say it. End of conversation.

Now I'm thinking, is it really necessary for a couple to announce that they are in a relationship? I'm not pertaining to dating but to two individuals who has already mutually agreed that they are a couple. Like what I have said to Naps, there are possible reasons why a couple doesn't want or can't say they're together.

1. Public Figure. If one or both of you are public figures, there's a chance that you can't announce to the world that you are together. It's not that you don't want to but you really just can't because you have to protect the career or what not of the person. It's also possible that the both of you have agreed not to declare your relationship status because you wish to have a private relationship.

2. You're not legal to his or her family. This is mostly on the girls' part. Some parents are protective when it comes to their daughters. They have a set of rules when it comes to their daughters dating. One that is very common, I think, is that they can't have a boyfriend until they're 18 years old or until they have already graduated college. For some girls, they just find it nerve-wrecking to introduce to their family that they already have a boyfriend/girlfriend.

3. Complicated relationship. A relationship can be complicated in many ways, I guess. For a long period of time, society as well as the Catholic church has imposed in our minds that a relationship must consist of a man and a woman. Not two people of the same sex. I, personally, have no qualms when it comes to same-sex relationships. For me, if they love each other then so be it. They have the right to be in a relationship the same way two people of opposite sex has the liberty to do so. However, not everyone has the same values. Other people (most especially those who are conservative) are against same-sex relationship. It is for this reason that some couples aren't open about their relationship.

Then, it got me thinking. What if your girlfriend or your boyfriend doesn't want your relationship to be public without any valid reason? Does it automatically mean that if one or the both of you doesn't want your relationship to be "public", it's not a serious relationship anymore? By public, it can mean only a very few friends of yours know. Well, I don't know the correct answer to that one. But for me, if a girl or a guy doesn't want to declare that you are a couple and there is no legit reason behind it then it probably means:

1. S/he isn't as serious as you hope him/her to be.
2. S/he isn't proud of his/her significant other.
3. S/he has intentions of pursuing other people.
4. S/he doesn't think that the relationship will last long.
5. S/he's unsure of you.

There are a lot of reasons for such a decision and I think it's all negative. Correct me if I am wrong. It's cute to be cheesy/mushy in Twitter/Facebook though sometimes others just cross the borderline of being annoying. I, personally, prefer a relationship wherein we aren't that cheesy or mushy in social networking sites. But to completely shut the minds of other people to the idea that you are a couple? That's the time you get to think of the question, "Why?" I mean, for a relationship to be known by only the two of you? Or, say, by a number of people that you can count by hands? That's hard, actually. And it makes you question your relationship.