Marriage

Marriage has been part of both human discourse and social organization across cultures and down the centuries. One aspect of this is the historical custom of marriage as an affair of state, undertaken for example by the royal houses of Europe to cement alliances and/or achieve political stability. More genrally, marriage has historically been linked to social cohesion. Equally, and as part of that dynamic, marriage has had a religious dimension and a sacral character, although some marriages are contracted outside religion and although some relationships fall outside the formal marital structure. Every important culture in the world has generally accepted marriage protocols that make religion and regular social interactions overlap. Only in 20th-century Western culture did marriage become significantly secular.

Marriage protocols referenced in the Holy Quran of Islam explain that men, as the stronger and more important marriage partners, should protect and maintain their "devoutly obedient" and "lawful," or chaste, women. Husbands who fear disloyalty or bad conduct may admonish wives, withhold sex, and beat them but lightly until they "return to obedience" (Quran, 4.34). Social differentials between men and women have yielded an interpretation of male authority over women not in terms of obligation to but control over them. A woman's husband "possesses her body by law, rather than by emotional bond" (Heaton, 1996, p. 43). Despite modern attempts to raise Islamic women's stat

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to heterosexuals "and stipulates that, contrary to the Constitution's 'full faith and credit' clause, if one state allows gay marriage, other states need not recognize the union" (Gillespie, 1996, p. 8). Some states have sanctioned so-called civil unions of same-sex couples, and others have proscribed them. Advocacy opinion also varies widely. According to a survey sponsored by a gay-advocacy newsletter, 43.3% strongly agree and another 35.2% agree that "gay men and women suffer emotionally from being denied the structure and social reinforcement accorded by marriage" (Barillas, 2001). On the other hand, children of homosexual parents routinely suffer social ostracism or taunting (Shapiro, 1996). Citing same-sex marriage advocacy as dominant-culture pressure for social conformity, one self-identified lesbian (Gomez, 2000) argues that loving relationships do not require the artificiality of marriage. One need not oppose gay marriage to see that its advocacy has complicated an already problematic legal environment regarding such matters as inheritance disposition, parentage, and kinship. This is a highly charged cultural issue, and opponents' views are far from reconciled. It is doubtful, however, that the state will withdraw its

Category: Psychology - M