Criticism of marriage
Encyclopedia
Criticisms of marriage
are proposed reasons arguing against the practical or moral value of the institution of matrimony or particular forms of matrimony. These may include financial risk when measured against the divorce rate, the threat posed to individual liberty and gender equality, and questioning of the necessity to have a relationship sanctioned by government or religious authorities.
and temporary marriage, the Protestant acceptance of divorce
, the abolition in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries of laws against inter-faith and inter-race marriages in western countries, etc.
According to Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian, "marriage diminishes ties to relatives, neighbors, and friends."
.
as a solution to some of the ills of the American society at large. He argues that plural marriage may serve as a potential alternative for divorce in many cases in order to obviate the damaging impact of divorce on many children. He maintains that many divorces are caused by the rampant extramarital affairs in the American society. According to Kilbride, ending an extramarital affair in a polygamous marriage, rather than in a divorce, is better for the children; "[c]hildren would be better served if family augmentation rather than only separation and dissolution were seen as options." Moreover, he suggests that other groups will also benefit from plural marriage, such as elderly women who face a chronic shortage of men.
's philosophy. His well-documented relationship with Regine Olsen
is a subject of study in existentialism
, as he called off their engagement despite mutual love. Kierkegaard seems to have loved Regine but was unable to reconcile the prospect of marriage with his vocation as a writer and his passionate and introspective Christianity.
A similar argument is found in Franz Kafka
's journal entry titled "Summary of all the arguments for and against my marriage":
As a high-profile couple, Jean-Paul Sartre
and Simone de Beauvoir
always expressed opposition to marriage. Marriage, understood existentially, proposes to join two free selves into one heading, thus denying the freedom, the complete foundation, of each self.
Some feminists
seek the end of formal marriage:
"The institution of marriage is the chief vehicle for the perpetuation of the oppression of women; it is through the role of wife that the subjugation of women is maintained."
Individuals such as Sheila Cronan claim that "[f]reedom for women cannot be won without the abolition of marriage" and point to historical, legal and social inequalities of wedding
, family life and divorce
.
Early second wave feminist literature specifically opposed to marriage include:
writers say that marriage is unfavourable to men, particularly the financial consequences of divorce. Father's rights advocates claim that there is a continuing societal bias favoring women as custodial
parents in the face of "no-fault" divorce
laws and is unjust to men when marriages fail. Some claim that this leads to men avoiding marriage, calling it a "marriage strike". Some groups, such as the Independent Women's Forum
, accept this criticism, but argue that they should not be leveled against marriage itself, but dealt with independently.
and the current controversy regarding same-sex unions in the United States
, a group of people have banded together to boycott
marriage until all people can legally marry. The argument is that since marriage is not an inclusive institution of society, the members of the boycott refuse to support the institution as it exists.
John Witte, Jr.
, Professor of Law and director of the Law and Religion Program at Emory University, warns that contemporary liberal attitudes toward marriage ultimately will produce a family that is "haphazardly bound together in the common pursuit of selfish ends".
In From Sacrament to Contract, Witte has argued that John Stuart Mill
's secular and contractarian conceptualisation of marriage, based on Enlightenment presuppositions, provided the theoretical justification for the present-day transformation of Anglo-American marriage law.
Romano Cessario, a Catholic Professor of Systematic Theology, in a review of Witte’s book (From Sacrament to Contract) in First Things
, suggests that an answer to Nietzche's pessimism (as echoed by Witte) and one that might address the current state of marriage in the West would be to revive the sacramental view of marriage among Christians.
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
are proposed reasons arguing against the practical or moral value of the institution of matrimony or particular forms of matrimony. These may include financial risk when measured against the divorce rate, the threat posed to individual liberty and gender equality, and questioning of the necessity to have a relationship sanctioned by government or religious authorities.
Love and lack
According to Dan Moller, an argument called the Bachelor's Argument is that loveless marriages (if love is a marriage's principal reason) are undesirable and many marriages starting happily eventually sour and therefore marriage should be shunned.Social planning
Commentators have often been critical of individual local practices and traditions, often leading to changes. Examples include the early Catholic Church's efforts to eliminate concubinageConcubinage
Concubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
and temporary marriage, the Protestant acceptance of divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
, the abolition in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries of laws against inter-faith and inter-race marriages in western countries, etc.
According to Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian, "marriage diminishes ties to relatives, neighbors, and friends."
Plato's Republic
A famous early critique of marriage can be found in Plato's Republic, which recommends group marriageGroup marriage
Group marriage, also known as multi-lateral marriage, is a form of polyamory in which more than two persons form a family unit, with all the members of the group marriage being considered to be married to all the other members of the group marriage, and all members of the marriage share parental...
.
Philip Kilbride
Philip Kilbride, an American anthropologist, in his book, Plural Marriage for our Time, proposes polygamyPolygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
as a solution to some of the ills of the American society at large. He argues that plural marriage may serve as a potential alternative for divorce in many cases in order to obviate the damaging impact of divorce on many children. He maintains that many divorces are caused by the rampant extramarital affairs in the American society. According to Kilbride, ending an extramarital affair in a polygamous marriage, rather than in a divorce, is better for the children; "[c]hildren would be better served if family augmentation rather than only separation and dissolution were seen as options." Moreover, he suggests that other groups will also benefit from plural marriage, such as elderly women who face a chronic shortage of men.
Individualism
The decision not to marry is a presumed consequence of Søren KierkegaardSøren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
's philosophy. His well-documented relationship with Regine Olsen
Regine Olsen
Regine Schlegel née Olsen was a Danish woman who was engaged to the philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard from September 1840 to October 1841...
is a subject of study in existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
, as he called off their engagement despite mutual love. Kierkegaard seems to have loved Regine but was unable to reconcile the prospect of marriage with his vocation as a writer and his passionate and introspective Christianity.
A similar argument is found in Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
's journal entry titled "Summary of all the arguments for and against my marriage":
I must be alone a great deal. What I accomplished was only the result of being alone.
As a high-profile couple, Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
and Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
always expressed opposition to marriage. Marriage, understood existentially, proposes to join two free selves into one heading, thus denying the freedom, the complete foundation, of each self.
Gender inequality
Feminism
According to Gerstel and Sarkisian, domestic violence, isolation, and housework increase for women.Some feminists
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
seek the end of formal marriage:
"The institution of marriage is the chief vehicle for the perpetuation of the oppression of women; it is through the role of wife that the subjugation of women is maintained."
Individuals such as Sheila Cronan claim that "[f]reedom for women cannot be won without the abolition of marriage" and point to historical, legal and social inequalities of wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
, family life and divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
.
Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice.—Andrea DworkinAndrea DworkinAndrea Rita Dworkin was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women....
Early second wave feminist literature specifically opposed to marriage include:
- Kate MillettKate MillettKate Millett is an American lesbian feminist writer and activist. A seminal influence on second-wave feminism, Millet is best known for her 1970 book Sexual Politics.-Career:...
, Sexual PoliticsSexual PoliticsSexual Politics is a classic feminist text written by Kate Millett, said to be "the first book of academic feminist literary criticism", and "one of the first feminist books of this decade to raise nationwide male ire"....
(1969) - Germaine GreerGermaine GreerGermaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
, The Female EunuchThe Female EunuchThe Female Eunuch is a book first published in 1970 that became an international bestseller and an important text in the feminist movement. The author, Germaine Greer, became well known in broadcast media of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and her home of Australia...
(1970) - Marilyn French, The Women's RoomThe Women's RoomThe Women's Room is a novel by American feminist author Marilyn French first published in 1977.French was almost unknown among feminist circles before the publication of the book. It has been described as one of the most influential novels of the modern feminist movement...
(1977) - Jessie BernardJessie BernardJessie Shirley Bernard was a sociologist and noted feminist scholar. She was a persistent forerunner of feminist thought in American sociology and her life's work is characterized as extraordinarly productive spanning several intellectual and political eras...
, The Future of Marriage (1972) - Shulamith FirestoneShulamith FirestoneShulamith Firestone , is a Jewish, Canadian-born feminist. She was a central figure in the early development of radical feminism, having been a founding member of the New York Radical Women, Redstockings, and New York Radical Feminists...
, The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970)
Men's rights
Some men's rightsMen's rights
Men's rights is an umbrella term, encompassing the political rights, entitlements, and freedoms given or denied to males within a nation or culture....
writers say that marriage is unfavourable to men, particularly the financial consequences of divorce. Father's rights advocates claim that there is a continuing societal bias favoring women as custodial
Child custody
Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...
parents in the face of "no-fault" divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
laws and is unjust to men when marriages fail. Some claim that this leads to men avoiding marriage, calling it a "marriage strike". Some groups, such as the Independent Women's Forum
Independent Women's Forum
The Independent Women's Forum is an American conservative, non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institution focused on domestic and foreign policy issues of concern to women...
, accept this criticism, but argue that they should not be leveled against marriage itself, but dealt with independently.
Economics
According to Gerstel and Sarkisian, lower income correlates with fewer benefits from marriage.Health
According to Gerstel and Sarkisian, bad marriages have worse health states, including stress, suicide, hypertension, cancer, and slower wound healing.Same-sex couples
In response to the passage of California Proposition 22California Proposition 22 (2000)
Proposition 22 was a law enacted by California voters in March 2000 to restrict marriages to only those between opposite-sex couples. In May 2008 it was struck down by the California Supreme Court as contrary to the state constitution....
and the current controversy regarding same-sex unions in the United States
Same-sex unions in the United States
Same-sex unions in the United States are legally recognized in some states and municipalities in various forms. These are same-sex marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, and reciprocal beneficiary relationships. Legally recognized same-sex unions can be formed in thirteen states and the...
, a group of people have banded together to boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
marriage until all people can legally marry. The argument is that since marriage is not an inclusive institution of society, the members of the boycott refuse to support the institution as it exists.
Criticism of contemporary views on marriage
By the 21st century, the nature of marriage in Western countries—particularly with regard to the significance of procreation and the ease of divorce—had begun to change.John Witte, Jr.
John Witte, Jr.
John Witte Jr. is the Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. He is one of the world's foremost experts on church and state relations....
, Professor of Law and director of the Law and Religion Program at Emory University, warns that contemporary liberal attitudes toward marriage ultimately will produce a family that is "haphazardly bound together in the common pursuit of selfish ends".
In From Sacrament to Contract, Witte has argued that John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
's secular and contractarian conceptualisation of marriage, based on Enlightenment presuppositions, provided the theoretical justification for the present-day transformation of Anglo-American marriage law.
Romano Cessario, a Catholic Professor of Systematic Theology, in a review of Witte’s book (From Sacrament to Contract) in First Things
First Things
First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
, suggests that an answer to Nietzche's pessimism (as echoed by Witte) and one that might address the current state of marriage in the West would be to revive the sacramental view of marriage among Christians.