Ladies, has love really been dragged through the mud so bad that we watch movies like "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days" to teach us how to break up with a man before he has the chance to do so, or read books like "He's Just Not That Into You" to make us think that in a potential partners' eyes, we are just not that good enough for them?
We've become so negative in our perception of love that instead of fighting for it, we make any excuse as to why it won't work. Even the popular TV show Glee depicts one of its characters as being so desperate to hold on to her husband that she fakes a pregnancy to prevent her husband from leaving her and to buy herself some more time to make him fall in love with her, again.
So, what if he is initially not that into you? He might be after he really gets to know you. Instead of researching tips to break up, why not research tips to keep the flame alive and keep your men by your side, where he belongs.
But does it really have to be so hard? Do we really have to go through so much to keep our man's eyes and heart on us?
Some say communication is necessary for a relationship to work and others say compromising. Saying yes to everything seemed to work for my parents. Fictional Desperate Housewives character Bree Van de Kamp said food was the key to success and Sydney author Lana Vidler couldn't agree more. After all, as the saying goes, 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach'.
The author of self-published book "Meals Men Love - How to Catch a Man in 3 Courses", Lana Vidler, thinks sometimes we need to be old fashioned to keep our men happy. No need to buy them gadgets that will not only detract from your time together but probably attract other men to your house for a boys night. Vidler believes that a nice meal on the table will not only give you time together but also allow you to catch up on your lives while enjoying your food.
Vidler said the idea of the book came to her when noticing her boyfriend's eating habits.
"There are a thousand cookbooks out there and mostly they're by professional chefs, and whenever I cooked anything from them, my boyfriend always found it too fancy. I'd do something like a schnitzel and he couldn't stop raving about it. That's where the idea came from."
The cookbook, which consists of 168 recipes, also contains tips such as ensuring a hot meal is ready on the table and the house is clean by the time your partner gets back to ensure a successful evening.
Vadler added that the book could also give a helping hand with the relationships of the other men in your life, whether it be your friend, your father or your brother.
However, not everyone is pleased with the idea of the book.
Some critics believed her view points are too old fashioned. Upon visiting vogue.com.au's forums, it was clear that the reaction to the cook book was split:
The following are excerpts of some of the comments on the site:
One writer said: "Heard about this on the radio and i just got my copy online. Last night I made my man the "Land a Man Lasagne" with the "Chocolate Mousse to the Max" and they both got 10/10s. Starting to enjoy this cooking feeling again."
Undomestic Goddess responded: "Umm, does anyone else think the marketing of this book is a wee bit sexist?? And I do all the cooking and grocery shopping in my house... I'm sure the recipes are fine, but I would hope that women cook because they enjoy cooking and eating and not just to please or catch a man."
Another writer going by the name of 'Tailormade' responded: "There is nothing sexist about a woman cooking for the man she loves. If feminism has taught us that it's wrong to be a housewife and enjoy pampering your man, what is this world coming to? I believe equality is gained when a woman is free to do anything she wants, and no woman should be ashamed of being a homemaker and loving to cook for her family if that's what she really wants.
"As for Undomestic Goddess, what is wrong with having the motive to please a man? I wouldn't cook to catch a man, but I find it really insulting that you are degrading a desire I and other women have to cook to impress, seduce, comfort, surprise, or gift a man with food. My husband and I take it in turns to do this for each other and it is no less worthy a goal than cooking just because I enjoy or feel like it. It's an unselfish act of expressing love."
However, no matter where you stand in the debate, one thing is certain: all this debating is giving Vidler free promotion and publicity and as they say, 'there is no such thing as bad publicity'.