Our expectations for gender roles in relationships, our expectation that both members of a couple be similar to each other, and our assumptions about the indispensability of love: all of these elements come to a heady boil on 90 Day Fiancé. Further, in understanding what types of relationships we deem “authentic,” the entire premise of the show is key: as a culture, we still cling to the institution of marriage. Marriage remains the government-stamped, church-approved consecration of “legitimate” coupledom.
