Love and Commitment Across Distance

Abstract

This chapter examines how online cross-cultural couples maintain love and intimacy at a distance. It draws on women’s experiences of negotiating the process of moving in and out of physical co-presence with their Western partners. The chapter shows that cross-cultural partners have to enact particular behaviors in order to preserve a sense of being in a relationship given the discontinuity of physically co-present interactions. The exchange of virtual and proxy co-presences between couples can create more abstractly imagined forms of love and emotional care. It enables imaginary co-presence and allows couples to articulate their interdependence within their everyday lives. It also creates a sense of togetherness when physical co-presence is absent or non-existent.