A01=Jaye Cee Whitehead
activism
Author_Jaye Cee Whitehead
belonging
Category=JBSJ
Category=JPVC
choice
civil rights
commitment
distance
domestic partnership
embodiment
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
equality
gay
government
healthcare
homosexuality
immigration
insurance
intimacy
lesbian
lgbt
lgbtq
lgbtqia
love
marriage
medical care
neoliberalism
nonfiction
political science
politics
privacy
recognition
same sex
sexuality
social issues
sociology
taxes
Product details
- ISBN 9780226895284
- Weight: 454g
- Dimensions: 16 x 24mm
- Publication Date: 12 Dec 2011
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Since the 1990s, gay and lesbian civil rights organizations have increasingly focused on the right of same-sex couples to marry, which represents a major change from earlier activists' rejection of the institution. Centering on the everyday struggles, feelings, and thoughts of marriage equality activists, "The Nuptial Deal" explores this shift and its connections to the transformation of the United States from a welfare state to a neo-liberal one in which families carry the burden of facing social problems. Governance and marriage are now firmly entwined. Fighting for access to marriage means fighting for specific legal benefits, which include everything from medical decision-making and spousal immigration to lower insurance rates and taxes. As Jaye Cee Whitehead makes plain, debates over the definition and purpose of marriage indicate how thoroughly neo-liberalism has pervaded American culture. Indeed, Whitehead concludes, the federal government's resistance to same-sex marriage stems not from "traditional values" but from fear of exposing marriage as a form of governance rather than a natural expression of human intimacy.
A fresh take on the terms and stakes of the debate over same-sex marriage, "The Nuptial Deal" is also a probing look at the difficult choices and compromises faced by activists.
Jaye Cee Whitehead is assistant professor of sociology at Pacific University in Oregon.
