Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con

Chapter One
For the First Time Ever?
SAME-SEX NARRUAGE IN HISTORY

One of the recurring clichés of the same-sex marriage debate is that the very notion of such a thing is a radical departure from anything entertained before in human history. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. In many cultures and in many eras, the issue has emerged-and the themes of the arguments are quirkily similar. Same-sex love, as Plato's Symposium shows, is as ancient as human love, and the question of how it is recognized and understood has bedeviled every human civilization. In most, it has never taken the form of the modern institution of marriage, but in some, surprisingly, it has. In seventeenth-century China and nineteenth-century Africa, for example, the institution seems identical to opposite-sex marriage. In other cultures (see the debate between Brent Shaw and Ralph Hexter) the meaning of same-sex unions remains opaque and complex. In Native American society, marriage between two men was commonplace, but its similarity to contemporary lesbian and gay marriages is far from evident. And today in a number of foreign countries, laws extending civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples have been or will soon be enacted. Judge for yourself what this might mean for our current convulsion. One thing emerges clearly: this issue is not a modern invention. The need to balance human dignity and social norms is as old as civilization itself. Although much of the past history of this debate has been buried until recently, it has begun to emerge again with all the passion that now crackles through modern Western culture.

The Speech of Aristophanes
PLATO
From the Symposium, by Plato, translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff, 1989

In a dialogue on the meaning of love, Plato writes a masterpiece for his sometime sparring partner, the playwright Aristophanes, to explain the mystery of our desire for one other person. This passage follows Aristophanes's myth about the origins of human beings. In the beginning, Aristophanes conjectures, humans were essentially two people combined, each with two heads, four feet and four arms. There were three sexes: those with two male halves, those with two female halves, and those with one of each (the "androgynous" sort). At one point, however, Zeus, to punish humans for misbehaving, cut each human in two. Since then, each half wanders the earth in search of its lost other half, creating homosexual men, lesbians, and heterosexuals. Notice how same-sex love is put on the same plane as opposite-sex love, but also see how marriage is not identified with it.

Each of us, then, is a "matching half" of a human whole, because each was sliced like a flatfish, two out of one, and each of us is always seeking the half that matches him. That's why a man who is split from the double sort (which used to be called "androgynous") runs after women. Many lecherous men have come from this class, and so do the lecherous women who run after men. Women who are split from a woman, however, pay no attention at all to men; they are oriented more towards women, and lesbians come from this class. People who are split from a male are male-oriented. While they are boys, because they are chips off the male block, they love men and enjoy lying with men and being embraced by men; t

Share your thoughts on the Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con ebook with other internet viewers!

Title of ebook: Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con
ISBN: 9780307490421
parent-ISBN: 9781400078660
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Pages: 416
Published: 12-2008
Released online for download: 12-16-2008
Author of eBook: Sullivan, Andrew

Format

Encrypted

Sku

ISBN

File size

Security

Printing

Copying

Read aloud

Devices

Mobipocket

Yes

9780307490421

516 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirements

Download reader

ePub

Yes

0307490424

9780307490421

1967 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirments

Download reader

eReader

Yes

5551973298

9780307490421

368 KB

n/a

Not allowed

No

Sys Requirments

Download reader

Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con

Chapter One

Chapter One
For the First Time Ever?
SAME-SEX NARRUAGE IN HISTORY

One of the recurring clichés of the same-sex marriage debate is that the very notion of such a thing is a radical departure from anything entertained before in human history. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. In many cultures and in many eras, the issue has emerged-and the themes of the arguments are quirkily similar. Same-sex love, as Plato's Symposium shows, is as ancient as human love, and the question of how it is recognized and understood has bedeviled every human civilization. In most, it has never taken the form of the modern institution of marriage, but in some, surprisingly, it has. In seventeenth-century China and nineteenth-century Africa, for example, the institution seems identical to opposite-sex marriage. In other cultures (see the debate between Brent Shaw and Ralph Hexter) the meaning of same-sex unions remains opaque and complex. In Native American society, marriage between two men was commonplace, but its similarity to contemporary lesbian and gay marriages is far from evident. And today in a number of foreign countrie ... read full excerpt from: Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con ebook

Other Andrew Sullivan ebooks:

receive alert on new Andrew Sullivan ebooks

Conservative Soul, The

what does it mean to be a conservative anymore? With the Iraq war, the rise of Christian fundamentalism, exploding government spending, soaring debt, insecure ...more

Best price: $11.99

Top eBooks in "Marriage"

Why Men Won't Commit: Getting What You Both Want Without Playing Games

by Weinberg, George

Dr. George Weinberg has been a therapist for over twenty-five years. In that time, he has worked with a great range of men, and he has discovered that deep down, men actually ...more

Best price: $12.29

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work

by Gottman, John M.

John Gottman has revolutionized the study of marriage by using rigorous scientific procedures to observe the habits of married couples in unprecedented detail over ...more

Best price: $13.16

Relationship Rescue: A Seven-Step Strategy for Reconnecting with Your Pa

by McGraw, Phillip C.

Dr. Phil McGraw, whose first book, Life Strategies, was a number one New York Times national bestseller, now turns his expertise to the primary area of concern ...more

Best price: $9.95

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

by Adams, Douglas

"DOUGLAS ADAMS IS A TeRRIFIC SATIRIST."--The Washington Post Book WorldFacing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons is a curious time to have a craving for tea. It ...more

Best price: $7.00

Street Chronicles Girls in the Game

by Turner, Nikki

Nikki Turner has truly brought the female hustlers to light. Fellas betta watch out, because the Girls in the Game are taking over!''LaJill Hunt, author of Drama Queen and No...more

Best price: $12.24

A Caress of Twilight

by Hamilton, Laurell K.

I am Princess Meredith, heir to a throne'if I can stay alive long enough to claim it.' After eluding relentless assassination attempts by Prince Cel, her cousin and rival for...more

Best price: $7.00

FOR MEN ONLY

by Feldhahn, Shaunti, Feldhahn, Jeff

Finally—You Can Understand Her!
Women: complicated and impossible to understand? Do you love and want to please the woman in your life, but...more

Best price: $13.15

Getting the Love You Want Workbook: The New Couples' Study Guide

by Hendrix, Harville, Hunt, Helen

A companion workbook to the enormously successful New York Times bestselling relationship book, Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples. In 1988, Harville Hendrix in ...more

Best price: $15.75

El hombre llamado Noon

by L'Amour, Louis

en un breve instante, una caída borró su memoria. Ahora, de lo único que estaba seguro era de que alguien lo quería muerto… y que era mejor que ...more

Best price: $4.37

Other Family & Relationships eBooks Categories

Family & Relationships General (527)

Abuse (26)

Adolescence (37)

Aging (45)

Child Care (58)

Child Development (37)

Children with Special Needs (72)

Death, Grief, Bereavement (42)

Divorce (43)

Emotions (29)