ON MARRIAGE AS A PROPERTY TRANSFER, OR WHY PROPONENTS OF “TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE” DON’T UNDERSTAND THE

[sonneillon_v]

 I apologize at the outset if I’m not very organized - I keep reminding myself I need to write about this and putting it off because I don’t have the energy.  If enough time goes by I’ll forget it entirely, so I’m going to try to hammer this out now.  Content warnings for homophobia and mention of pedophilia, bestiality, rape and rape culture,

Comments

[jadelyns_shadow]

Yay, I'm so glad you wrote this! Spot on, really, and it highlights one of the biggest (to my mind) hurdles of working toward equality (marriage equality in particular, but also various other things) - that we are literally working from two separate views of the universe. It's not that we work from the same premise but disagree on the conclusion - our premises are diametrically opposed. How are you supposed to work with that?

[sonneillon_v]

That's where we run into the issue of framing, and where I think it really becomes critical to understand how our opponents come by their worldview. (Excuse me while I blather on here.) Because they literally live by a patriarchal model, as in, Father Knows Best and the job of the children is to be obedient and learn to obey and follow the rules. Once they've grown up they are expected to apply the rules to their own lives. If anything goes wrong, the rules were obviously not followed, because when the rules are followed everything is peace and harmony all the time. The rules are not allowed to be flawed because the rules come the ultimate patriarchal authority - God the Father - who can never err or make mistakes because it is the job Father to Always Know Best.

This is a punitive system. If anyone strays from the rules, they must be punished, hence the attack on social safety nets. Those who don't follow the rules are the 'them' in the 'us vs them' dichotomy, and 'they' have no value and deserve no compassion or quarter.