Think of the Children!

A college friend of mine (and a friend of this blog) sent us a link to Michael Gerson’s Washington Post op ed about the dangers of cohabitation.  Mr. Gerson’s logic is so tortured in so many places that I hardly know where to begin.  Since I am also under the influence of some very strong cough syrup, I will attempt to address several points here in no particular order (rather than weave my usual, byzantine tapestry of impeccable logic and flawless rhetoric).

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I’m really not obsessed with marriage

I wasn’t going to post any more on marriage and love, at least for a while, but then I saw this Newsweek article on polyamory. Polyamory (many loves) is a type of open relationship–the article defines it as “loving, intimate relationships with more than one person.” And if I can quote Wikipedia without having my PhD revoked, polyamory also involves “the full knowledge and free consent of everyone involved.” I found this and other articles interesting for several reasons. First, without deliberately doing so, they seemed to answer all the issues raised by the “traditional marriage is dooooomed!” articles I’ve seen recently. Second are the comments left by readers, and the gender anxieties they reveal.  Finally the ways in which polyamory is or might be used against the fight to legalize gay marriage

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Weekly Recap July 11-17

We love(d)…

Obama’s choice for Surgeon General–Dr. Regina Benjamin is a doctor who makes housecalls and ran a nonprofit clinic in New Orleans before and after Katrina. But she’s also the first black woman to head a state medical society and the first doctor under 40 to be elected to the AMA’s board of trustees.

The inability of the confirmation hearings to find anything of substance to question Sotomayor about. After whining that they needed more time to prepare it’s fun to watch the Republicans continually circling back to the “wise Latina woman” comment because they have nothing better to say.  It’s also heartening that Sotomayor’s gender has not been a topic for discussion in any meaningful way.

We hate(d)…

The fact that even with all of Dr. Benjamin’s credentials and passion, some people felt the need to comment on her weight. Because she can’t fight for better health care if she isn’t a size 2?

Republicans’ suggestions that Judge Sotomayor can’t be objective because she is a woman, Latina, or both.  When Justice Breyer compared the plight of a 13-year old girl who had been strip searched by school administrators to his own “hazing” experiences in middle school, the press made a joke of his comments but never accused him of bias.  No one asked any of the “Wise Causacian” men on the Court to recuse themselves, nor should they have, because it’s ridiculous to expect that a judge can only be objective when ruling on a case involving people just like him/her.   Unless she’s a woman, apparently.

The intensely irritating article Time “Is There Hope for the American Marriage?” Why are people suddenly so obsessed with the collapse of marriage (as if this time last year everything was peachy-keen), and why does everyone assume that marriage is about sacrifice, duty, and obligation, and then act surprised when people want something more fun?

We’re looking forward to…

500 Days of Summer claims it’s not a love story.  We’ll see, but the trailer shows some promise.  Could we finally have something positive to say about a new movie?

ABC’s “Dating in the Dark” looks bad, but we haven’t decided yet if it’s “good” bad or “bad” bad.  We’ll probably tell you Tuesday.

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What is love anyway? (first in a series)

I’ve been thinking a lot about love, especially the kind expressed in and around marriage, what with Mark Sanford’s love letters, an essay decrying the companionate marriage by Sandra Tsing Loh, A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the Twenty-First Century by Cristina Nehring, and, of course, the fights in various states for and against gay marriage. I haven’t gotten my thoughts all in order and I doubt any single post could do justice to the complexity of this issue. Instead, I’m going to write a series of articles on the subject.

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