Abstract
Couples complete a range of relationship practices to sustain their long-term partnerships. Relationship work here is more than the drudgeries of domesticity. It offers couples the opportunity to embrace their relationship – through the pleasures of physical closeness – and to nurture their relationship – emotionally, practically and symbolically through practices of togetherness which carve out shared time and create couple memories. The personal meanings of relationship work are valued more than their cultural reference points; knowing gestures and familiar relationship practices demonstrate intimate depth of understanding and investment in the long-term couple relationship. Ordinary everyday activities are often perceived as the most meaningful, for example mothers particularly valued being made a cup of tea and/or breakfast in bed.
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Gabb, J., Fink, J. (2018). Relationship Work. In: Couple Relationships in the 21st Century. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59698-3_2
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