This master's thesis explores the topic of (romantic) love, focusing mainly on its expression in postmodern society. Our understanding of romantic love depends on the cultural and social circumstances in which it is studied, but in the West, it is generally understood as a strong emotional and physical attraction to an idealized other. In postmodern society, this type of love is strongly influenced by capitalism, which, through consumption and the media, tells us how to love and what gender roles we should occupy in romantic relationships. In this thesis, I utilize qualitative analysis of a case study and the focus group method to analyze an example from popular culture, the Netflix reality show Love Is Blind. I examine how the show represents romantic love and gender roles in romantic relationships, and indirectly, I examine whether this series contains dimensions that would make it stand out significantly from other dating reality TV shows. I note that the show depicts romantic love and marriage as necessary components in an individual's life; gender roles in romantic relationships are characterized primarily by the understanding of men as providers and women as mothers and housewives, and Love Is Blind, despite some relatively unique elements (mainly »blind« love and the experiment format), does not deviate significantly from other dating reality TV shows.
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