"Wedded Wife by Rachael Lennon is a fascinating history of marriage and how it has changed over the centuries. This is a well-researched, thought-provoking read."
Wedded Wife by Rachael Lennon is a fascinating history of marriage and how it has changed over the centuries, from the original ancient customs to today's big business wedding industry. The book covers a wealth of information about marriages of convenience in the past (for status or wealth) to contemporary marriages for love and against all odds, within heterosexual, same-sex and nonbinary relationships. The book explores how gender roles, sexuality and politics influence many marriage traditions, beginning with engagements and prenuptials, through the wedding ceremony and celebrations, leading to consummation and potential parenthood, and also decisions to make when a marriage no longer seems to be working. Using examples from history, the author explores how marriage can define and affect a woman's role, in terms of her education, employment and societal rights, for example, and women's fights for sexual freedom, reproductive rights and access to divorce over the decades. Wedded Wife addresses several key questions and leads to many more: What compels women to keep making this choice and commitment? How does marriage fit in with feminist values and beliefs? And how might marriage practices evolve in the future? This is a well-researched, thought-provoking read.
In this fascinating and insightful book, feminist curator Rachael Lennon provides an intimate and accessible examination of the history of marriage, with a focus on the UK.
Wedded Wife tells a remarkable story of how this institution has developed from the ancient customs of the stone age through to the modern form it takes today.
In this eminently readable and relatable study, Lennon also explores themes such as the pressure to marry, the politics surrounding proposals, the spectacle of marriage, the business behind it, and the politics tied to consummation as well as issues such as taking a man's name, the nuances of marriage vows and obedience, 'having it all' and trying to keep up the fight to have an enduring marriage.
Having married her wife just a few years after the legalisation of same sex marriage in the United Kingdom, Lennon interweaves her own personal experiences of marriage with stories and anecdotes from throughout history to explore how marriage has transformed over the years.
In shaking off patriarchal expectations, Rachael examines marriage's troubling past and celebrates a more joyful present, celebrating the feminist activists who have fought to make marriage a pure and equitable celebration of love, open to everyone regardless of gender or sexuality.
She also asks what compels us to keep making this choice? Can we let go of the gendered baggage that we have inherited? Can we hold true to feminist values as we commit to our partners? And what does that look like? How can we build on the past to continue to redefine marriage for the future?
