on marriage &c.

[saucypunk]

I've been feeling particularly anti-establishment today. So I thought I'd take a minute to vomit out some thoughts on the marriage thing, and what the hell I think I'm going to be doing on August 11.

I have no interest in the concept of Marriage as an institution. My good feminist predecessors have been over this; it's all about ownership.

Comments

[junquegrrl]

I think that the fight for same-sex marriage, rather than "civil union" or simply being able to sign PoA over to someone , is important to some because they (the legal brainiacs) have identified some 200-odd rights and privileges that come along with a marriage certificate. there are whole fuckload of hidden rights that automatically get put in place. please don't ask me what they are, it's just what i've read.
that being said, i hope when you overthrow the patriarchy, i get a party invite!!!

[saucypunk]

I'm not saying that those rights shouldn't be available to everyone, I'm just saying they shouldn't be tied up with the concept of patriarchal marriage. If (hypothetically speaking) I had chosen to stay single, shouldn't I be able to grant some rights/privileges to my best friend, especially if she's closer to me than my parents?

[christychristy]

Yes, of course it would be nice to be able to separate marriage from its history and from its remaining legal baggage. And perhaps to separate some of those rights from marriage all together. But on a practical level, right now, all people need marriage rights

[saucypunk]

i agree, same sex marriage should be legal right now. i'm just not going to spend my time fighting for it; i have other battles.

[christychristy]

It's just that it seems to me marriage equality is not only an immediate imperative, but also one of the more effectives tools we have when it comes to cutting out the patriarchal elements and reshaping the institution of marriage-- and therefore part & parcel with your master plan.

[saucypunk]

I don't deny that the right to same-sex marriage is important -- I'm mostly upset that it has hijacked "the gay agenda" and is now pretty much the only cause getting any attention. Um, what about AIDS? what about every other health issue? what about hate crimes? what about the million other ways queers are marginalized?

I'm not sure I agree about same-sex marriage being a tool against the patriarchy... just like same-sex marriage won't "destroy the fabric of our society" as the conservatives seem to fear, i'm not sure that assimilation ever did anything useful in terms of overthrowing anything.

[junquegrrl]

"I'm just saying they shouldn't be tied up with the concept of patriarchal marriage."
Oh, god, no argument here. I just meant, that's probably the reason people are fighting for it, even tho it is saddled with all that unfortunate history and baggage...