ABSTRACT
Chapter 4, ‘Modern romance’, focuses on the humorous exploration of contemporary romance by the comedian Aziz Ansari in his book Modern Romance. The book was written with the assistance of the US sociologist Eric Klinenberg, and offers an interesting exploration of how people find love in contemporary society. Issues such as meeting partners, the role of technology, and sexting, cheating and breaking up are all covered in Ansari’s book. A wide range of issues are raised by Ansari which relate to intimacy and marriage, including the following: geographical proximity and partnership; average age of first marriage; choices in marriage partners; online dating; how people met future partners; adultery and internet cheating; passionate and companionate love; and marriage and commitment. This chapter presents the socio-cultural analysis of love and intimacy outlined by Ansari and explores these issues. The Americanisation of love and intimacy is very evident in both sociological and psychosocial research on relationships, as well as on the commercialisation of intimacy. The chapter reviews some of the influences on the commercialisation of love and intimacy in an Australian context. It also, finally, reflects on whether chick lit and romance novels offer new versions of romance or confirm traditional narratives of romance through the commercialisation of intimacy.
