'Traditional Marriage' Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

[William769]

Time for a history lesson: calling marriage a union between one man and one woman is, in fact, a redefinition of the strictly 'traditional' definition of marriage.

Marriage has been thought a lot of changes over the years, and during that time it's never been as simple as "one man, one woman." Marriage is a constantly shifting, evolving institution, and over the last few thousand years it's seen radical changes to the roles of women, ages of the particiants, inclusion of different ethnicities, rules about violence and property, and even whether the spouses could expect to love each other.

But there's one quality that's always stayed the same: marriage has always been an agreement between people. So when societies change, and the people in those societies change, their marriages change along with them.

Usually that's a good thing. For example, as civil rights for women and people of color expanded, the rules of marriage became more egalitarian and fair. Now, the rules are changing again to accommodate same-sex couples. And just as conservatives predicted in the 1920s that marrying for love would destroy the institution, and racists of the 1960s argued that interracial marriages violated their religious freedom, anti-gay activists of today are using some very familiar arguments.

http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/06/24/watch-traditional-marriage-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-means

[annabanana]

1. Pretty much used to be just a business transaction

between father & husband

[BrotherIvan]

2. Yes

[William769]

3. Most definetely!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026893840

[BrotherIvan]

5. $$$$$$$$

[Cha]

6. Get over it.. Hillary has evolved as have a lot of people. Thank Goodness for Gay Rights!

Mark Knoller
✔ ‎@markknoller
TV cams at LGBT Event could barely see @POTUS and @VP for all the smartphones in the air snapping photos.
11:41 AM - 24 Jun 2015

President Obama Hosts a Reception to Observe LGBT Pride Month

http://theobamadiary.com/2015/06/24/president-obama-hosts-a-reception-to-observe-lgbt-pride-month/#comments

[BrotherIvan]

7. The country evolved first

[Cha]

8. So?

[BrotherIvan]

9. Zactly

[Cha]

11. Everyone evolves in their own time.. took Elizabeth Warren awhile to change from gop to Dem..

[BrotherIvan]

12. People were denied their rights in the meantime

So?

Get over it!

Political expediency > rights!!

Got it.

[Cha]

13. Okay.. don't get over it. Continue trying to drive it into the ground.

[pnwmom]

4. People also forget that "traditional marriage"

has always included gay people, as long as they were married to straight (usually unknowing) people. Many of the spouses in those "traditional marriages" were deeply unhappy, and they were also victims of society's insistence on only mixed-gender marriages.

[Rex]

10. A lot are people that willfully stay ignorant of history

because it might make them have to admit to being wrong about what 'normal' means in a society. Maybe their society. Maybe their family.