So back when all of the rigamarole started over whether or not gay marriage should be legal or should there be a constitutional amendment banning it I advocated an alternative solution to the problem. I said I wanted to outlaw marriage altogether. Gay, straight and otherwise. I then explained that its not so much that I want to make marriage a crime. I just want to abolish the legal concept of marriage altogether. Marriage as a social construct should still exist. Your religion should be able to bless your union, your family should give you presents (if that is their tradition) celebrating your romance, there should be a lovely ceremony with vows and drinking and dancing and whatever if you are so inclined, but there need not be any government involvement, and there shouldn’t be any special legal advantages or disadvantages to such a union. At this point, the differentiation between marriage and civil union becomes moot. If you want to contractually give another woman or man power of attorney, I feel you should totally be able to. Romantic relationships, familial ones, gender, etc. shouldn’t come into question at all.
So anyway, I had this great idea of just abolishing marriage. And they said I was crazy. They say that a lot. But now, there is a politcal party in Sweden (one of those great non-USA nations with more tha 2 viable political parties –– they are expecting to pull some 20% of the vote) that is running candidates on that platform. The Feminist Initiative has stated that “marriage is about love, not ownership”, and candidates with the no more marriage platform. Instead they are in favor of “cohabitation laws” that are gender agnostic and allow more than 2 members to a partnership (which is something else I had been advocating).
And here’s the part that I also love. Since they are serious about wanting to win, and realize that they need a little more than feminist and gay issues support to actually win, they are courting the valuable straight male vote by also promising to implement a 6 hour work day. Yeah, I can get behind that.
I love when the world comes along to recognizing my brilliance as a visionary. Today the abolishment of marriage, tomorrow the return of Cop Rock!
Am I a bad liberal for thinking the nutjob arborphile is actually kinda hot?
nah… you’re just a freak. But you knew that.
If you outlaw marriage, only outlaws will marry.
If you outlaw marriage, only outlaws will have in-laws.
Would that make every in-law an outlaw?
that’s how my uncle tends to refer to them.
there are so many obvious jokes that go with the whole inlaw and outlaw concept. I knew that someone would pick it up when I posted it.
better than your inlaws marrying…
Actually, one of the things I took away from my visit to Sweden (apart from the mind-boggling beauty of the country and attractiveness of the inhabitants (every single damn one, it became a game to try to find someone as unattractive as us), was their enlightened outlook.
One of the examples of that outlook that I remember distinctly was the fact that couples living together could register their co-habitation with the government, and gain some benefit from it. Somewhere between the whole-hog of marriage and “you’re screwed, you can’t prove nothin'” I’m fairly certain that this wasn’t limited to the Morally Correct™ pair of man & woman. But I am fairly certain it was limited to two.
But far be it from me to contradict the Lone Star Times. Then again, while I’m doing it, fuck you, the Swedes don’t make crappy cars. Or, they didn’t until they were subverted into the “Luxury Brand” for a crappy ‘Merikan overlord. (Ok, yes, I’m ignoring the 700 Series Volvos everybody makes a mistake once in a while)
how come you didn’t post all kinds of flickr pics of hot swedish chicks then?
yeah, in all seriousness, I really am fascinated by the whole idea of abolishing marriage. I think its a pipedream, but I’d really like to see them pull it off, because I really want to know how that goes.
Well, mainly because said trip was in 2001, which predates Flickr by just a few years. I do have my Sweden photos in my gallery on my homepage. Except that yesterday, reading the /. announcement about Gallery 2.0, (I’d been running an early beta) I realized I never updated the DB or checked my gallery since we upgraded the webserver. May have even lost the data in the break-in. Hmm, it’s not happy. I’ll look at it later.
Not that it would have done much good. In 2001 I was still very much in my anti-portrait phase. Most of my photos are devoid of people (or at least people as focus) because I suck at portraiture. At some point I realized that stance was a feedback loop. I still suck at portraiture, but I do try it once in a while.
</crass>portraits? who was interested in seeing their faces anyway?</crass>
France has the same kind of policy, where couples can live together and get benefits. In fact, many couples there have not been getting married in recent years.
I doubt that will work over here, especially with the high number of religious fundamentalists in our government.
Oh and that picture reminds me of a professor I had my freshman year. His name was legally changed to “Talks to Trees”. I’m completely serious. He was a total nutjob who was supposed to teach me Health and Wellness. He thinks everyone is out to ruin the environment and such. He did have a girlfriend which was odd. Oh, I almost forget that he said that he would NEVER get cancer or a bad disease because he’s so healthy. lol
yeah, you make fun of him now… but that’s because you haven’t gotten cancer yet. When you do, maybe you’ll be the first person in line for some hot tree lovin’.
(and really, aren’t you constantly complaining about men anyway? Maybe trees will alleviate some of your problems)
Ew that is just gross. I’m going to pretend that I didn’t even read that.
hey… you’re the one who pointed out your tree loving professor.
Yeah, but I didn’t say that he humped trees. Or that I wanted to hump a tree. That would probably be quite painful. No thanks, I’m only humping men.
oh… you’ve changed your mind about being a lesbian then?
oh, I know… none of my really good political ideas work over here. That’s why we need a revolution and when its over I will be king. Its really for the best.
So are the cohabitation laws in france limited to heterosexual monogamous couples, or do they allow homosexuals and/or polyamorous sets?
It allows homosexuals but not polyamorous.
And you will not be king…unless it’s how the Queen of Enlgand is queen but has no power.
I’d make a good king… i have the thrown pose down and everything… and I look great in the crown and royal robes that I wear around the house and uh… perhaps I’ve said too much.
I really could see you walking around your house in a robe and crown. And perhaps yelling at the imaginary peasants. lol
I don’t yell at them… I’m a benevolent ruler… and they’re real, not imaginary. They’re real peasants who wear white jackets and come into my room every few hours and give me a magic happy pill.
Its nice…