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Visual artist Anthony Mwangi is convinced that love in the olden days was more genuine than its modern expressions, which he calls "the White man's romance." The African way, he says, romance was communal rather than a matter between two individuals. "People loved others for who they were. They had a plan and were not in a hurry for anything. Love was more natural then," he opines.

Thespian Cosmas Bii explains that in Kalenjin culture, people would attend village dances. In these dances, when a lady impressed a man, he declared his romantic interest by tying a special grass around her ankle. This was followed by cultural gifts, which he now believes have been commercialized in modern times.

Contrary to Sharon's opinion, he says that people freely expressed love in the past, but it is now interpreted as 'simping,' meaning to be unwisely in love, thus discouraging men from it.

Journalist Okello David misses the simplicity and genuineness he finds in traditional gestures of love. He narrates how, in the past, traditions governed interactions between men and women; therefore, they couldn't spend much time together. He further notes that the over-commercialization of romantic experiences has made men believe that the only way to show love is by affording it.

"We had courtship, which was more serious compared to today's dating, which is informal. The level of genuineness has gone down because the rules have been relaxed. We have many people falling in love in the name of trial and error," he says.

Poet Prisca Njeri, whose stage name is Scar Poetry, states that traditional or Western classical expressions of love will always have a place in society. The traditional sense leaned more towards acts of service, while the Western had grand gestures of romance. "I like a mix of the two. I write letters, write and recite poems, organize birthday parties, buy flowers, and send memes and TikTok videos. I don't like cooking, but I do that for the person I love," she says. That is not all. "I gift experiences tied to him or us that he can remember for the rest of his life. I buy simple things that mean something to him."

Okello notes that these heartfelt gestures are meaningful as they make people feel special and valued. He feels that gestures of love from the past hold the same significance as they do in the present day. "When you talk about love, you talk about emotions. I believe that these same practices still hold water because we are satisfying the same emotions, quenching the same thirst," he describes.

Cosmas also reiterates that even though times have definitely changed, the traditional gestures of love will stand the test of time. "The people who are experiencing it now have never experienced it before. These are human gestures that will always be relevant and will have the same impact as they did in the past," he says.

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