If there is one idea of love that triumphed in the West, it is the one drawn from the myth of the androgyne: split in two, condemned to the search for its other half in order to be complete. However, this conception as a way of veiling the non-existence of sexual relation, is now declining.
This year, three newspaper articles from Chile1 revealed new ways of forming a couple. The so-called Living apart together and Together in life describe how marriages and long-term relationships decide not to live together on a daily basis. Only weekend couples describe those who have decided to see each other only on weekends.
The reasons for these three trends are similar: on the one hand, not living together strengthens the bond, keeps the spark alive in the relationship, avoids everyday conflicts, and allows the relationship to thrive. On the other hand, it emphasizes a greater individual and professional focus, while preserving autonomy, habits, customs, and personal intimacy.
The common denominator of these relationships is the primacy of the individual, without loss, and the belief in a form of relationship without conflict, both under the condition of the exclusion of bodies.
Another observable trend is the decline of marriage and the increase in civil unions (AUC). This agreement was the result of the initiative of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, whose main objective was to achieve the recognition and formalization of homosexual relationships. Its detractors labelled it (dismissed it as) marriage-light and claimed that heterosexual couples would not opt for this new form. However, this has not been the case. On June 25, 20252, the National Institute of Statistics reported a 17.1% increase in AUCs, of which 88.6% corresponded to heterosexual couples. Unlike marriage, to dissolve an AUC only unilateral will is required, and the person's civil status reverts to what it was prior to the agreement, that is, single and not divorced.
These new trends bear the mark of betting on a bond that is easy to end (terminate), that leaves no inscription (record) of having passed through such a relationship, or that avoids bodily encounter.
It seems that keeping the other half as far away as possible is the new arrangement in the face of the absence of sexual relation.
[1] Cf. El mostrador (2025,02,07), "Parejas OWC, la tendencia amorosa de solo fines de semana: ¿balance de independencia y compromiso?". [Only Weekend Couples, the relationship trend toward just the weekends: a balance of indepence and compromiso?"], 7 February 2025, available online: elmostrador.cl
Poblete, V.,"Juntos, pero no revueltos: parejas TIL, la nueva tendencia en relaciones amorosas".["Together, but not living together: couples Together in Life, the new trend in romantic relationships"], Bibliochile, 2 June 2025, available online: bibliochile.cl
Alburquerque, A.,"Las parejas que se casan, pero deciden no vivir juntos: la nueva tendencia en las relaciones amorosas". ["Couples that get married, but decide not to live together: the new trend in romantic relationships"],
La tercera, 25 October 2025, available online: latercera.com.
[2] INE (2025,09,15), "Boletín Coyuntural de Estadísticas Vitales," June 2025, available online: ine.gob.cl.
