Citation

Ferguson A. Hypatia 2007; 22(1): 39-57.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Indiana University Press)

DOI

10.1111/j.1527-2001.2007.tb01148.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Gay marriage highlights a contradiction in American national identity: if gay marriage is supported, the normative status of the heterosexual nuclear family is undermined, while if not, the civil rights of homosexuals are undermined. This essay discusses the feminist dilemma of whether to support gay marriage to promote these individual civil rights or whether to critique marriage as a part of the patriarchal system that oppresses women.