Reading through the comments on my last post (Traditional is as traditional does) I had pause to think.
My one friend, who says she is living in a traditional marriage and goes on to describe herself as "…white, live in the south, and not just the south but Texas (gasp), go to church, vote Republican, am a stay at home mom, and horror of horrors–homeschool my kids…", was offended by the video from the canadian broadcasting corp.
She has a good point. She's not crazy (as far as I know :) ) and has much to contribute to society as a whole.
But what does it mean, this phrase "Traditional Marriage"? Did you know that there's artwork from the first 100 years of Christianity that shows Jesus Himself as the pronubus over a gay marriage between St. Serge and St. Bacchus? Gasp, two men married with Christ watching over them just 100 years into this whole Christianity thing… It's true. Google it. Does that make marriage between two men traditional?
Or did you know that Abraham Lincoln was fond of sleeping in beds with men? Some people like to say it was just their way back then when there weren't enough beds to go around. But while he was president, he showed particular fondness for one of his captains, sleeping with him many times in the white house. you know the one – it's on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC. Seems like there are probably enough beds in it so the President of the United States wouldn't have to sleep with anyone if he didn't want to.
Maybe it's the word "traditional" that should be replaced. Heck, we've already started replacing marriage with civil union. What word could we use that means "traditional in recent memory, but not more than 100 years back"?
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btw, today is World AIDS Day. Please take a moment to remember that in the past 25 years the disease has killed more men, women, and children than any other disease in history.
3 Comments
Wait a sec, let me clarify something. I didn't say I live in a "traditional" marriage. I said I live what other folks would label a "traditional marriage."
I don't like labels. I especially don't like that label because it usually used by people who think that the series "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Leave it to Beaver" were documentaries. Their perfect marriage involves a man who is always working and when he is home he spends his time sitting in a chair hidden behind a newspaper. The wife is always wearing a dress and high heels to clean house, and oh, don't forget the pearl necklace. They sleep in twin beds and when they are alone all they do is talk about the children.
Needless to say, this does not describe my marriage. I guess I could come up for another name for the type of marriage I am in, but like I said, I don't like labels. :-)
well said…
Hmm… Replace "traditional"? Good idea! I suggest replacing it with "nostalgic."
I'm always amused with arguments of "getting back to traditional _____" whilst lamenting some perceived cultural slide into ruin.
Worried about "attacks" on traditional marriage? Wanna get back to the simple times? It's easy. So, so very easy. Just start repealing all of the laws regarding marriage all the way back to 1830: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Civil_Marriage_in_the_US