 Multiculturalism  Obedience (Milgram and the Banality of Evil)  Violent and non-violent resistance (King, X, Gandhi)  Marriage (Kipnis) Test next week! The test is worth 25% of your mark. You will have one hour at the beginning of class. The format will be short-answer questions and possibly a short essay. Probably three short answers and one informal essay. You will have to answer at least one question on each topic.

Stephanie Coontz Professor of History and Family Studies Marriage: Then and Now

A capsule history of Western marriage Marriage: Then and Now

Before the 1600s Mostly upper class and used to transfer property and power Used to establish political alliances Keep bloodlines pure (dynasties) 1600s to 1800s (rising middle class) Marriage becomes more common and more important Men rule over women and children; women have no welfare outside of marriage Men are considered inadequate and can’t get credit unless they are married Marriage Before the 1800s

With the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, the roles that we now think of as traditional became the standard: The man goes to work (in factory, etc) The woman stays at home (raises children, tends vegetable garden, cooks, etc) Meanwhile, gradually changes begin to occur that would undermine the centrality of marriage: Social institutions such as public education, social security, etc make the family a less important factor in individual welfare Two world wars and the dissemination of progressive thought bring women into the workforce and give them more rights The “Traditional” Marriage 1800s – 1950s

Birth control TV Dinners Women’s Rights The Sexual Revolution Religious doctrine less powerful Single parents more common Divorce more acceptable Same-sex couples Emergence of common law Changes starting in the 1960s

The ideal of an intimate marriage deepened some relationships but also made unsatisfying marriages more difficult to sustain. Many people now actually demand  Courtship and Romance  Sexual compatibility  Shared goals  Personal happiness Gender roles have become less rigid (stay-at-home dads) and coupling is less about reinforcing traditional heterosexual roles. 1970s - present

Now  50% of marriages end in divorce  Alternatives to marriage are increasingly available and accepted: common law, cohabitation, single parenting  People mainly “have to” get married or stay married because of religion, their families, or “for the sake of the children”  In two-breadwinner households women as the child- bearers still often don’t get fair treatment  Half the people who get married get divorced and more than half of those who stay married say they are unhappy

“As therapist Betty Carter has commented, if any other institution in this country [the United States] was failing half the people who entered it, we would demand that the institution change to fit the people’s needs, not the other way around.” (Human Project, p. 111) Does the institution need to be overhauled?

Or should we just get rid of it? We’ve gotten rid of other social institutions that people once held dear or took for granted and that in many cases were sanctioned by religions and enforced by governments, but that now seem wrong or inhuman:  divine right of kings; the nobility exempted from taxation  forced religious conversion  child labour  women denied the right to vote  slavery (some would say marriage has often been a form)

Laura Kipnis Professor of Media Studies, Northwestern University Marriage is a form of social control that enslaves not just women, but men as well. Marriage is Made in Hell

and/or think about (not just memorize) these concepts:  Changes in Western marriage since the Middle Ages  Laura Kipnis’s arguments against marriage as an institution Make sure you understand

1.Explain the concept of satyagraha as defined in the lecture on resistance. 2.What is the difference between segregation and separation? Who was in favour of segregation and who was in favour of separation, as explained in the lecture on resistance? 3.Laura Kipnis gives three examples of how marriage is hellish. What is one of them? 4.Kipnis ultimately wants to make a point that goes beyond marriage. What is it? Quiz (2 marks)