A romantic relationship through consummation is necessary.

My case will be as follows: 1) Though the majority of people do require sex in order to feel fully satisfied in a romantic relationship, there exist exceptions- most noticeably, in asexual individuals and those who practise polyamory. 2) If a romantic relationship is entirely dependent on sex to exist, then the relationship is inherently limited, and is unlikely to last anyway. 3) Sternberg's research indicates that those couples with close romantic connections after fifteen years are likely to have a high sexual drive, but it does not conclusively demonstrate that the latter causes the former. So, to commence arguing: 1: Exceptions to requiring sexuality to feels satisfied: An asexual person is anyone who never, or very rarely, experiences sexual attraction. This is separate from someone who is not interested in romance, who would be considered aromantic. A quote from an asexual individual named "Sophie": "I don't find sex and love to be at all connected. It just confuses me, this idea that they have to be," (See source 1). Another example: "Sexual people often equate dating and intimacy. Sometimes people assume asexual people don"t form intimate relationships. This is very wrong, and a limiting perspective, David believes. 'Intimacy is a much bigger and more beautiful thing than this box that you put it in.' " (See source 2). So, then, asexual people are an example of a group of people who do not require sexual activity in order to feel satisfied in a romantic relationship. Their existence, therefore, directly contradicts the claim that: "A romantic relationship through consummation is necessary.", in that there are those who do not require sexual consummation in order to enjoy and maintain a romantic relationship. Another community whose existence directly demonstrates the falsehood of the motion is the polyamorous community- those who either date, or sleep with (or both) multiple partners, where all partners are aware of, and comfortable with, the situation (hence polyamory is not the same as sexual infidelity). Some polyamorous people have sex primarily with an individual other than their primary romantic partner. For instance, I was once sexually involved with someone who was only romantically interested in another person, but not me. He said to his romantic partner: "I f*cking love you, and I love f*cking her*" [*i.e. me] So, as exampled by a previous sexual partner of my own, it is perfectly possible to have a purely romantic relationship with someone while satisfying one's sexual desires elsewhere. Though this might not be what most people typically do, it is, once again, a direct counterexample to the idea that "A romantic relationship through consummation is necessary." in that it allows someone with sexual desires to exist in a purely romantic relationship and still remain satisfied. 2: This point is pretty short and obvious, but if a romantic relationship can only be sustained in the presence of a sexual relationship, then it seems likely that the romance itself is flawed. If you sincerely love someone, then that love is not wholly dependent on sexual activity. Sure, sex is a nice bonus, but if your romantic relationship breaks down when sex is taken out of the equation, then the romantic relationship was itself flawed and doomed to failure anyway. 3: So, the old correlation-causation issue. It is not clear, from Sterberg's research, that having a sexual active relationship actually improves how satisfied someone is romantically with that same person. It seems likely that the reverse could be true- that being satisfied romantically with one's partner causes one to be more likely to have pleasurable and frequent sex. So, to summarise my case so far: 1) Though the majority of people do require sex in order to feel fully satisfied in a romantic relationship, there exist exceptions- most noticeably, in asexual individuals and those who practise polyamory. 2) If a romantic relationship is entirely dependent on sex to exist, then the relationship is inherently limited, and is unlikely to last anyway. 3) Sternberg's research indicates that those couples with close romantic connections after fifteen years are likely to have a high sexual drive, but it does not conclusively demonstrate that the latter causes the former. Sources: 1) http://www.bbc.co.uk... 2) http://everydayfeminism.com...