ABSTRACT
We are in a state of uncertainty about relationships. Never before in our history has there been more advice on who and how to love.
Online ads invite us to click for the top ten ways to fi nd our perfect match. Agony aunts and uncles pass judgement on every celebrity break-up and make-up. Reality TV shows advise on how to fi x our relationships. Pop songs tell us how to feel when falling in and out of love. Billboard advertisements confront us with images of happy couples who are somehow ‘getting it right’ as they eat their breakfast cereal, drive their car, and sit on their three piece suite. All day long we are bombarded by rules about relationships: who to be in order to get and keep one, what to want and expect from one, and how to know when it isn’t working any more.
