Gay Marriage: Necessary or Unnecessary?
I came across an article
in my English book one day and decided to read it. While i was reading, i
couldn't help but to get upset by the rude comments Sam Schulman, the author,
was making about gay marriage. The article i found is in Chapter 21 of Argument!, pages 381-384, and it is titled, "The Worst Thing About Gay
Marriage". Once i finished reading it, i wondered where i stood
on the issue. Are gay marriages really unnecessary just because they don't fit
within this "kinship system" like
heterosexual marriages do?
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| No Gay Marriage... |
According to Sam Schulman, the answer is yes, they
are unnecessary and later he mentions, "Gay marriage is as good as no
marriage at all." He believes there are four important effects that come
out of a heterosexual marriage, within the kinship system, that can't come out
of a gay marriage:
- "Marriage is concerned above all with female sexuality."
- "Kinship modifies marriage by imposing a set of rules that determines not only whom one may marry but, more important, whom one may not marry."
- "Marriage changes the nature of sexual relations between a man and a woman."
...Why not? - "Marriage defines the end of childhood,sets a boundary between generations within the same family and between families, and establishes the rules in any given society for crossing those boundaries."
Even though he may be right about
gay marriages' not
fitting within the kinship system, I strongly disagree
with
him about gay marriage being unnecessary. I believe gay marriage is necessary
for some homosexuals for the same reasons it is necessary for some
heterosexuals, they want or need to establish a legitimate commitment with
someone though marriage, in order to achieve happiness. There are some people
who aren't worried about whether or not their marriage fits the kinship system
for two reasons: the first being that they are more concerned about actually
loving that person, which is what marriage should be about, along with
happiness, and the second being that they just don't care about what the
kinship system is or what it represents.
According to a study
done by Inquisitr News, "75% of married people settled in
the marriage they were currently in and lost their true love by doing so." This
data might conclude that people, who didn't marry for love, aren't happy with
their choices. So my point is that the kinship system may be important, but it
doesn't always produce a happy, faithful marriage, which is why i believe we
all not only have the right, but are obligated to marry somebody we love and
cherish, whether that person is a heterosexual or homosexual, in order to live
satisfying lives. If we don't marry people that we truly love and want to make a
life with, then why even bother getting married at all?
References:
Messenger, Erica, John Gooch, and Dorothy U. Seyler. Argument! United States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2011. Print.
"75 Percent Of Married People Settled, Lost Their ‘True Love’ [Study]." Inquisitr.com. The Inquisitr News, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
The historically antiquated 'kinship' system cited by this author is practically medieval and nonsensical as he applies it to modern western society. Culture and society evolve and change, much to the chagrin of those like Schulman. While he may believe that there is no reason for gay marriage because it does not fit into the 'kinship' system, there are many legal rights associated with marriage in modern society that committed gay couples have every right to take advantage of, in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteI also believe culture and society are constantly changing. I, for example, have never heard of this "kinship system" until i read Schulman's article, which leads me to believe the majority of my generation hasn't heard of it either. This signifies that "kinship systems" are outdated and losing their importance to people of my, and other generations. I don't see any problem with gay couples getting married; in fact, i encourage them to do so once they've found somebody they truly love and want to spend the rest of their life with. Schulman sounds like an intelligent writer, and i can respect him for that, but i still disagree with him saying gay marriage is unnecessary because it doesn't fit this outdated "kinship system".
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