Support AlterNet
Do you value the information you're getting from AlterNet? Please show your support with a tax-deductible donation.
Feedback
Tell us how we're doing.
What's in a Word?
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace:
Debate Continues, but There's Little Doubt Speculators Are Adding to Pain at the Pumps
Thomas Palley
Democracy and Elections:
Seven Ways Your Vote Might Not Count This November
Steven Rosenfeld
DrugReporter:
'The Dope Craze That's Terrorizing Vancouver'
Lani Russwarm
Election 2008:
Will Obama Channel MLK in His Acceptance Speech?
Drew D. Hansen
Environment:
Manufactured Famine: How Europe Is Snatching Food from the World's Poor
George Monbiot
ForeignPolicy:
Bush Is Pouring Gas on Afghanistan's Bonfire
Chris Hedges
Health and Wellness:
U.K. and Australia Fight Breast Cancer with Free Screening for Women 50+
Alice Alech
Hurricane Katrina:
From the Bayou to Baghdad: Mission Not Accomplished
Amy Goodman
Immigration:
Immigration: Too Hot for the Dems?
Roberto Lovato
Media and Technology:
Progressive Media's New Smackdown Power: Why Swiftboat Tactics Aren't Working in '08
Eric Boehlert
Movie Mix:
Protest over Use of the Word 'Retard' in Stiller's 'Tropic Thunder' Misses the Target
Annabelle Gurwitch
Reproductive Justice and Gender:
The Christian Right's Slick Campaign to Make Abstinence Seem Trendy
Vanessa Valenti
Rights and Liberties:
Martin Luther King: 'I Have a Dream'
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sex and Relationships:
Why Young Women Delay Marriage
Erich Goode
War on Iraq:
Democrats: Don't Make Afghanistan Your War
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Water:
Will Thirsty States Get Great Lakes Water?
Dave Dempsey
What's in a word? Plenty, if the word is "marriage."
Marriage is central to our culture. Marriage legally confers over 600 benefits, but that is only its material aspect. Marriage is an institution, the public expression of lifelong commitment based on love. It is the culmination of a period of seeking a mate, and, for many, the realization of a major goal, often with a build-up of dreams, dates, gossip, anxiety, engagement, shower, wedding plans, rituals, invitations, bridal gown, bridesmaids, families coming together, vows, and a honeymoon. Marriage is the beginning of family life, commonly with the expectation of children and grandchildren, family gatherings, in-laws, little league games, graduations, and all the rest.
Marriage is also understood in terms of dozens of deep and abiding metaphors: a journey through life together, a partnership, a union, a bond, a single object of complementary parts, a haven, a means for growth, a sacrament, a home. Marriage confers a social status -- a married couple with new social roles. And for a great many people, marriage legitimizes sex. In short, marriage is a big deal.
Like most important concepts, marriage comes with a variety of prototypical cases: The ideal marriage is happy, lasting, prosperous, with children, a nice home, and friendships with other married couples. The typical marriage has its ups and downs, its joys and difficulties, typical problems with children and in-laws. The nightmare marriage ends in divorce, due perhaps to incompatibility, abuse, or betrayal. It is a rich concept with a cultural stereotype: it is between a man and a woman.
Because marriage is central to family life, it has a political dimension. As I discuss in my book Moral Politics, conservative and progressive politics are organized around two very different models of married life: a strict father family and a nurturing parent family.
The strict father is moral authority and master of the household, dominating both the mother and children and imposing needed discipline. Contemporary conservative politics turns these family values into political values: hierarchical authority, individual discipline, military might. Marriage in the strict father family must be heterosexual marriage: the father is manly, strong, decisive, dominating -- a role model for sons and a model for daughters of a man to look up to.
The nurturing parent model has two equal parents, whose job is to nurture their children and teach their children to nurture others. Nurturance has two dimensions: empathy and responsibility, for oneself and others. Responsibility requires strength and competence. The strong nurturing parent is protective and caring, builds trust and connection, promotes family happiness and fulfillment, fairness, freedom, openness, cooperation, community development. These are the values of a strong progressive politics. Though the stereotype again is heterosexual, there is nothing in the nurturing family model to rule out same-sex marriage.
In a society divided down the middle by these two family models and their politics, we can see why the issue of same-sex marriage is so volatile. What is at stake is more than the material benefits of marriage and the use of the word. At stake is one's identity and most central values. This is not just about same-sex couples. It is about which values will dominate in our society.
When conservatives speak of the "defense of marriage," liberals are baffled. After all, no individual's marriage is being threatened. It's just that more marriages are being allowed. But conservatives see the strict father family, and with it, their political values as under attack. They are right. This is a serious matter for their politics and moral values as a whole. Even civil unions are threatening, since they create families that cannot be traditional strict father families.
Progressives are of two minds. Pragmatic liberals see the issue as one of benefits -- inheritance, health care, adoption, etc. If that's all that is involved, civil unions should be sufficient -- and they certainly are an advance. Civil unions would provide equal material protection under the law. Why not leave civil unions to the state and marriage to the churches, as in Vermont?
Idealistic progressives see beyond the material benefits, important as they are. Most gay activists want more than civil unions. They want full-blown marriage, with all its cultural meanings -- a public commitment based on love, all the metaphors, all the rituals, joys, heartaches, family experiences -- and a sense of normality, on a par with all other people. The issue is one of personal freedom: the state should not dictate who should marry whom. It is also a matter of fairness and human dignity. Equality under the law includes social and cultural, as well as material benefits. The slogan here is "freedom to marry."
Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »
| More News and Analysis: | ||
|
Martin Luther King: 'I Have a Dream' Rights and Liberties: Today is the 45th anniversary of MLK's historic speech. By Martin Luther King, Jr., AlterNet. August 28, 2008. |
Will Obama Channel MLK in His Acceptance Speech? Election 2008: Obama will accept the Democratic nomination on the 45th anniversary of "I Have A Dream." By Drew D. Hansen, AlterNet. August 28, 2008. |
Debate Continues, but There's Little Doubt Speculators Are Adding to Pain at the Pumps Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: Many economists are saying that oil markets are working as they should, but their arguments are weak. By Thomas Palley, AlterNet. August 28, 2008. |