The Age of Romance

Magazines that, if I'm honest, I wouldn't ordinarily buy.

You know the kind; they take no effort of concentration whatsoever.

Flicking through the pages, mindlessly staring at the pictures as the minutes tick by, you try not to contemplate the pain which the mad evil dentist with the pneumatic drill, standing in a room seven feet away, is planning to inflict on you before the afternoon is out.

So, there I am, in my car returning home from one of these appointments, which happened to be just before Valentines day, listening to Sonny & Cher blasting out, 'I got You Babe', on the radio, and I got to thinking about an article in one of the magazines that I'd read - agog I might add - a short while before, and wondered '“ is the age of romance completely dead?

Now, I think it's fair to say that I'm a great believer in, 'what goes on behind closed doors', so to speak, is none of mine or anybody else's business.

Providing no one is being hurt, that it doesn't involve children or animals, and no laws are being broken, then each to their own.

However, the article I read in this regular common or garden woman's magazine - found on the lower shelves of any newsagent or supermarket '“ has, even to my open mind, well, frankly left me dumbfounded.

What I read was, an article on certain heterosexual couples, and to be clear, couples as in allegedly, 'happy' relationships '“ who are, well, there's no easy way to put this (so anyone with a weak disposition, or who is easily offended, should look away now) are filming live, their all action 'love' lives, and then putting these delightful home movies on the internet for all to see.

And, if that's not bad enough '“ I mean it is'¦ isn't it? '“ there is apparently some sort of contest whereby all these couples try to outdo themselves in the indoor Olympic stakes; as in, 'look at us we're better at 'it' than you'.

I suppose my initial surprise was seeing this article in the magazine in the first place.

There was a time when you'd pick up a woman's magazine and find something along the lines of the latest nuggets of celebrity gossip, a hunky man dotted here and there, fashion, make-up and beauty tips, a romantic bit of fiction, a letters page, horoscopes, a knitting pattern to give to your mum...topped off with the latest quick fix recipe that you'd tear out and stick in a drawer - with every intention of trying'¦you know, this week, next week, sometime...never.

So, here's the thing, I'm certainly no shrinking violet but, having read this article I have to ask, has the world gone completely barking mad?

Because, for the life of me I cannot comprehend why anyone, who claims to be in a 'loving relationship', would want the whole world to see them performing their intimate acts.

Frankly it beggars belief - and call me an old fashioned Barbara Cartland kind of girl if you must - that not only is this happening, but that these couples have so little respect, not just for themselves, but for their other halves, their families and friends.

Imagine what a shock seeing, or even just hearing about something like that, would do to Granny or Granddad!

Do young couples really no longer care; are they so blas about sex that they have somehow distanced themselves mentally from the intimacy?

It's called an intimate act for a reason, and those who are in so called 'happy' realtionships really ought to consider the implications of opening their bedroom door to let the whole world in.

Don't human emotions come into any of their brazen 'look at me' displays; emotions that encompass cherishing and caring about, and for, each other. And what about the green eyed monster... jealousy?

Are they so turned off to love, passion and all the romantic emotions that go with it that sex is something that, for them, really is just an 'act', something to brag about and to be viewed live via web-cam as 'it' happens?

Where will the line be drawn, and how long will it be before it's OK for people to do ' it' out in the open - bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase, 'airing ones dirty laundry in public'.

Honestly, how the other half live is mind-boggling, and frankly I think it's shocking that this sort of behaviour is not only happening, but that it appears to be totally acceptable in this day and age.

Anyway - as I climb off my soapbox '“ all that's left to say is, with all this malarkey going on it's little wonder that there are more single people now than at any other time.

Commitment appears to be waning fast because, apparently not since Victorian times, when women who dared to bare an ankle were labled brazen hussies, have so few people tied the knot

According to figures released from the Office for National Statistics, marriages began a steady rate of decline in 1997.

In 2006 (the last year for which details are available) there were only 236,000 weddings in England and Wales '“ the lowest number since 1895.