Andrea Dworkin said that marriage as an institution, developed from rape, as a practice. Sheila Cronan claimed that the freedom for women 'cannot be won without the abolition of marriage.' 'The institution of marriage – wrote Marlene Dixon of the Democratic Workers Party – is the chief vehicle for the perpetuation of the oppression of women it is through the role of wife that the subjugation of women is maintained'. Feminist activists often point to historical, legal and social inequalities of wedding, family life and divorce in their criticism of marriage. Ĭriticism of marriage comes from various cultural movements, including branches of feminism, anarchism, Marxism and queer theory. These have included the effects that marriage has on individual liberty, equality between the sexes, the relation between marriage and violence, philosophical questions about how much control can a government have over its population, the amount of control a person has over another, the financial risk when measured against the divorce rate, and questioning of the necessity to have a relationship sanctioned by government or religious authorities. I've also written on philosophical aspects of literary works (Henry James's novels and Bob Dylan's lyrics) and would someday like to return to those topics.Criticisms of marriage are arguments against the practical or moral value of the institution of matrimony or particular forms of matrimony. I've written on the importance of place as a reason for the state's role in rebuilding after disasters, and am currently writing on the ethics of price gouging. My second ongoing area of research is disaster ethics - especially, the state's role in disaster response. In a new project, I'm focusing on the 'bads' of caring relationships - such as emotional abuse, stalking, and harassment. As well as arguing for the value of caring relationships, I've also analyzed the wrongs of inequality within them and of privileging some caring relationships over others. In later work, I've broadened my analysis to look at care for the elderly and at domestic workers as family members. I'm particularly interested in relationships which are excluded or marginalized by marriage law, and how legal protections can be extended to them. In my book, Minimizing Marriage, I argue that common reasons for thinking marriage has special moral value are misguided the value of relationships lies in interpersonal care. My largest body of research focuses on the ethics and politics of marriage and the family. Andrews in 1999, and a BA in Classics and English at Oxford University in 1993. I completed my PhD in Philosophy at the University of St. Prior to that, I taught at Arizona State University and the University of Calgary. I joined Rice's Philosophy Department in the Summer of 2019.

Minimizing Marriage by Elizabeth Brake