Boston marriage

Boston marriage was a term used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for households where two women lived together, independent of any male support. These relationships were not necessarily sexual; the existence of platonic Boston marriages was used to quell fears of lesbianism following the loss of men in World War I. [Citation
last = McLaren
first = Angus
title = Twentieth-Century Sexuality: A History
year = 1999
publication-place = Oxford, United Kingdom
publisher = Blackwell Publishers Ltd
pages = 16
isbn = 0-631-20812-7 ] Today, the term is sometimes used when referring to two women living together who are not in a sexual relationship. Such a relationship may have intimacy and commitment, without sexuality.

Origins of the term

The term "Boston marriage" came to be used, apparently, after Henry James' book "The Bostonians" detailed a marriage-like relationship between two women—"New Women" in the language of the time, women who were independent, not married, self-supporting (which sometimes meant living off inherited wealth or making a living as writers or other professional, educated careers). c.1886.Less common but nonetheless used was the term "Wellesley marriage."

Modern relevance

The 1999 play "Boston Marriage" by David Mamet depicts such a marriage as having an explicitly sexual component. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to allow legal same-sex marriages.

ee also

*Romantic friendship
*Same-sex marriage

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.msmagazine.com/june01/marriage.html "So, Are You Two Together?"] —Ms. Magazine article by Pagan Kennedy.