Authenticity, Respectability, and the Desire for Marriage

With marriage equality victorious, chapter 15 delves into the question of why so many on the political Left, in the gay rights movement and in academia, failed to appreciate how practical and radical marriage equality would be. Many social movement scholars and gay rights activists had claimed that same-sex couples did not really want to marry. Yet once same-sex couples had the option to marry, they voted with their feet and their hearts to get married by the hundreds of thousands. California same-sex couples chose marriage over domestic partnership by a 20-to-1 margin once they had the choice. Some critics from the Left had argued that marriage equality was not radical enough. The success of marriage equality suggests that there may be nothing as radical as a social change that is also practical and rooted in tradition.

Friendship, Marriage-Like Relationships, and Informal Marriage

This chapter discusses issues of establishing adult relationships, including friendship and informal marriage, and how individuals have attempted to regulate their upcoming marriage by entering into prenuptial agreements. The road to marriage has traditionally consisted of romantic friendship, courtship, engagement, and then formal marriage. It is during the formal or informal engagement period that a couple may think of entering into a prenuptial agreement. However, this behavior pattern has changed dramatically in the past fifty years. There may no longer be defined periods on the road to marriage, and marriage itself may no longer be the final relationship between two people. Whatever the arrangement, the relevant legal questions are the following: What relationships should be labeled “family”; who should be authorized to make such a designation, the state or the parties themselves; and should the state regulate them? At the present time, two kinds of adult relationships that are not formally recognized by the state as marriage are contract cohabitation and domestic partnership or civil union.

Cohabitation and Its Consequences in Ghana

Although largely considered an unconventional form of domestic partnership, cohabitation is a growing phenomenon in Ghana. The lived experiences of cohabiting couples have, however, received little scholarly attention. Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted with cohabiting couples in Accra, Ghana, this study focuses on the implications of cohabitation on cohabitees. The data showed that cohabitees often face pressures from their families, churches, friends, and neighbors to either convert their unions to marriage or end the relationships. The relationships are also characterized by intimate partner violence and poor relationship quality. Women, more than men, tend to suffer these consequences of cohabitation. The study’s general conclusion is that the implications of cohabitation are mostly negative, and the gendered nature of the experiences reflects the sociocultural landscape of the Ghanaian society and how men and women are viewed differently in terms of their marital status.

Family-Making and Citizenship

I draw on the voices of the mothers we interviewed to discuss the lived experience of citizenship exploring in particular, the ways a range of lesbian-headed families have been positioned in a context of inconsistent and swiftly changing laws regulating same-sex marriage and adoption. I consider citizenship and belonging through parents’ stories about interacting with social institutions (e.g., churches), government agencies (e.g., the Veteran’s Administration), state and federal laws governing marriage and domestic partnership, and the child welfare system (e.g., transracial adoption). I conclude with a structural critique of marriage as a patriarchal institution, grounded in the voices of mothers I spoke with. Through this discussion of citizenship, I explore the complexities of embracing a systemic criticism of marriage, while simultaneously desiring the legalization of same-sex marriage in order to gain access to family protections.

PROMOTING PATRIARCHAL POLITICS IN DAPHNE DU MAURIER’S REBECCA

This paper aims to analyze a patriarchal politics performed by the male antagonist named Maxim de Winter in his life of domestic partnership with a female protagonist, Rebecca, elucidated in Daphne du Maurier’s novel entitled Rebecca. The concept of promotion of patriarchal domination is done through deconstructive narration. At first, the novel constructs a narration by putting the woman in a privileged position. However, this position is later dismantled by male domination. This paper employs some methods consisting of close reading, qualitative analysis, and deconstructive analysis. The result shows that woman’s privileged position is only used as a medium for a man to prove his domination and promote patriarchal politics in the form of power struggle. Key words: patriarchal politics, power, Rebecca

Gender Socioeconomic Inequalities in Intimate Relationships

Inspired by the materialist feminist theoretical approach, this study starts from an underlying assumption that research of gender socioeconomic inequalities in intimate relationships requires the analysis of specific variables that constitute the socioeconomic status of intimate partners. Based on five indicators relevant for contemporary Croatian society, the GSEI index was constructed and applied to a representative sample of Croatian women in intimate relationships. The results showed significant gender socioeconomic inequalities between intimate partners, mostly in favour of men. The highest level of inequality between intimate partners was discovered with regard to real-estate ownership, whereas the highest level of equality between partners was found in their level of education. Although socioeconomic inequalities between intimate partners in favour of men prevail regardless of the geographic and social context, they are more pronounced in regions with more traditional values, among couples who live in rural areas, and among those who are married (in comparison with those who live in domestic partnership). A recommendation for further research and GSEI index application is to consider which are the relevant indicators for measuring gender socioeconomic inequalities in intimate relationships depending on the wider social context.

Pensión de viudedad y convivencia more uxorio: parejas de hecho “de derecho” y parejas de hecho “de hecho” (STSJ de Castilla y León de 10 de diciembre de 2018) = Widow’s pension and cohabitation more uxorio: domestic partnership and registered partnership (decision of the higher Court of Castilla y León of December 10, 2018)

Resumen: Se deniega la pensión de viudedad a una nacional uruguaya que había convivido con un compatriota como pareja de hecho durante veinticinco años y de cuya unión había nacido una hija. El motivo es la no inscripción de la pareja de hecho en el registro ad hoc, ni su formalización en escritura pública, conforme a lo exigido por el artículo 221 LGSS. Sobre la base del artículo 9.1 CC, la demandante alega su condición de extranjera para defender la aplicación de su ordenamiento de origen, que no establece dichos requisitos. El Tribunal rechaza el argumento, anteponiendo el carácter “ad solemnitatem” de las mencionadas exigencias, que las eleva a la categoría de requisitos constitutivos de la pareja de hecho. Precisamente sobre este carácter constitutivo se sustenta la distinción, a efectos de Seguridad Social, entre parejas de hecho “de derecho” y parejas de hecho “de hecho”.Palabras clave: pensión de viudedad, Derecho internacional privado, uniones/parejas de hecho, inscripción registral, documento notarial.Abstract: A Uruguayan national is denied the widow’s pension due to dead of her co-habiting partner, also Uruguayan. They have been living together during twenty five years, and they had daughter, who was born in Uruguay. The partnership was not registered neither was certified in a public deed, as required by the Spanish social security legislation in order to be entitled to a survivor’s pension. The applicant seeks the application of her national law, that doesn’t have these requirements. The Court rejects the request considering that these requirements have constitutive nature. This constitutive nature is used by the Spanish courts for distinguishing between unmarried partner formal and unmarried partner factual.Keywords: widow’s pension, private international law, unmarried couples/life partners, registration, notarial deed.

Bermuda same-sex rights reversal prompts controversy

Subject The reversal of same-sex marriage legislation. Significance On February 7, the governor of Bermuda, John Rankin, approved the Domestic Partnership Act, which banned same-sex marriage in the British Overseas Territory (OT) just months after it had been legalised through a local court ruling. The Act provides for domestic partnerships for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The legislation and the British governor’s assent to it provoked a storm of controversy, as Bermuda became the first jurisdiction to remove the legal right to marriage after it had been granted. Impacts The move may affect the business of some cruise ship companies registered in Bermuda. London will remain unwilling to interfere in the domestic affairs of autonomous OTs. The new Act will feed into rising debates over same-sex marriage and LGBT rights in Latin America and the Caribbean.