• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 302 0

one. But seriously, where’s the logic here? It’s a pain in the ass to change your name (legally and all that), it represents an exchange of ownership (presumably dad’s last name to hubby’s), and you don’t get to have your last name anymore! I don’t know, maybe your last name is terrible and you can’t wait to change it. Still, it irks me. Maybe because so many women still change their name without a second thought. As if we have to give in to the norms without a fight. So at the very least, please, if you get married, just think the last-name thing over. And besides, hyphenation is the new black.

To Have and to Hold (Unless You’re a Homo)

Outside of all the other problems that go along with marriage as an institution—sexist past, the insane consumerist present—there’s the small problem of not everyone being allowed to get married. I mean, if marriage is such an awesome and wonderful thing, shouldn’t we all be able to do it?

The same-sex marriage debate has been quite the controversial topic since Republicans decided to make it an issue in 2004 when (sigh) Bush got reelected. You would think that with all the effort these folks put into getting straight people to marry, they would be overjoyed that a whole other section of the population wants to join in on the fun. But alas, homophobes abound in the government—and in the U.S. voting population, unfortunately.

After some cities started performing same-sex weddings (we love you, San Francisco, Portland, and New Paltz!), Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004. That started a shitstorm of homophobia that went way beyond the presidential elections.

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund reports that thirty-eight states have since passed laws by state legislators banning same sex marriage; President Bush is even trying to push a constitutional amendment that would prevent same-sex couples from getting married (because apparently, the Constitution should be used to take away rights, not give them. Ugh.)

It’s pretty unbelievable when you think about it: How can you legislate love? Hate to sound cheesy, but it’s true.

And if you’re thinking, Well, there are always civil unions and partnerships . . . I call bullshit. Civil unions don’t carry the same legal benefits as marriage. According to NOW, same-sex couples are denied more than one thousand federal protections and rights, ranging from “the ability to file joint tax returns to the crucial responsibility of making decisions on a partner’s behalf in a medical emergency.”1 These are rights that married couples do have. You know, cause they have The Sex that makes The Babies and are therefore acceptable. There are also financial issues that same-sex couples are prohibited from obtaining—like benefits and property inheritance. Not to mention the fact that gay parents have limited parenting rights if they’re not the biological parent. You can’t tell me that’s not amazingly fucked up.

But for me, the biggest issue surrounding same-sex marriage is a pretty simple one—human rights. How can you relegate certain people (because of who they love!) to second-class citizenship because you think gays are icky? Give me a fucking break.

I think what this goes to show—outside of the unbelievable ignorance and hatred that some people have in their hearts—is that marriage isn’t only about love.

For the same reasons the government is pushing marriage on women who are on welfare, they’re trying to keep it away from same-sex couples. They see it as an ideological thing—a way to restore (enforce) their “traditional” values. Whether we like it or not. Fun fact: In the same breath, President Bush managed to talk about his Healthy Marriage Initiative (the program that tells women on welfare that they don’t need a job, they need a man) and define marriage as a heterosexual institution. In his 2003 statement on the creation of Marriage Protection Week, he said:

❂ Marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and my administration is working to support the institution of marriage by helping couples build successful marriages and