Marriage is any consensual caring relationship, says a feminist philosopher who wants to create a new vision of an old institution

Disestablishing marriage

Scott Yenor

• Elizabeth Brake’s Minimizing Marriage (1)breaks new ground in the contemporary liberal critique of traditional arrangements.
• The object of her critique is what she calls amatonormativity—the belief that society should value two-person, amorous love relationships. 
• Even same-sex marriage (SSM) advocates are too restrictive for Brake in that they would confer benefits on two people alone; SSM advocates are unwitting amatonormativists. 
• Their defenses of marriage leave out “urban tribes, best friends, quirkyalones, polyamorists” and other diverse groups united by a common bond of caring. Brake argues for an almost complete disestablishment of marriage.

(1) "Minimizing Marriage: Marriage, Morality, and the Law" (Studies in Feminist Philosophy)

 

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