Rethink Marriage
We can’t deny that marriage has changed; it isn’t the same it was 10 years let alone 50 years. I would did a bit of research and found some things I had no idea about the history of marriage.
Growing up I never had a proper lesson on the history of marriage, but I do not think such a lesson is needed. We all grow up learning about marriage one way or another. Yet, there are things I recently learned that I didn’t know. Especially about same sex marriages. It would make sense though, since those who oppose same sex marriages would not want educators to be vocal on such subjects. So, I have a feeling most people wouldn’t have heard about these facts either. If you have indeed read or were taught about these I’d love to hear from where? Did you learn about them in a specific class in college? Did you come across them on your own? I would like to know because learning such things are important in our world where there is a vast openness to same sex marriages with a mirroring deep rooted hate for it.
In today’s world the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines marriage as “the state of being united as spouses in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law.” At its core marriage is a contract between two people who vow to be together for the rest of their lives. Traditionally it set the time for people to settle down and start a family. It hasn’t changed too much from when the first humans started to pair off and reproduce. We can’t deny that the humans can’t continue to be present on Earth without reproducing, and not just to give birth but to raise that child so that they can grow old enough to reproduce themselves. Yet, marriage has changed with each era, and it differs between cultures and social classes. All of this is more or less common knowledge, or at least most people would agree and understand this side of marriage.
In ancient Egyptian culture it wasn’t too different from what we know today. They used marriage as a means to keep rights to land and have legitimate heirs. There were no ceremonies to officiate the weddings in ancient Egypt. Rather the bride would come to the house of her husband with goods that had been agreed upon beforehand. Girls were married young and some would actually even marry for love. There were still all the expectations of getting married but at least some were able to marry the man they loved. During this time it wasn’t unusual for men to have affairs, but it was also not unusual for divorce to happen. These days the one huge critic of being married if how often those marriages end in divorce. Yet, it isn’t a modern problem as most people think because it was being done back in ancient Egypt. Read more about ancient Egyptian marriages here.
Marriage soon changed to be a religious and civil institution governed by the law. The oldest written law code The Code of Ur-Nammu from Mesopotamia has a few laws written in it about marriage. Some of the laws on the Ur-Nammu deal with slave marriages, and firstborn child from slaves being given to the owner of the slave. There are a few laws about men “deflowering” young wives and the consequences of such actions. If you want to read more about The Code of Ur-Nammu check out the Wikipedia page.
It was a surprise to learn that old Mesopotamia prayers actually blessed same sex relationships. Not only in this culture, but also the Native Americans had people who were known as “two spirits” who had relationships with both sexes. “Two-spirited refers to a person who has both a masculine and a feminine spirit, and is used by some First Nations people to describe their sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity.” — Two Spirited Community. The term “two-spirited” is a modern term having only being created in 1990, but the concept is as old as the Native American people. Those who were two-spirited were seen as being blessed by “the Creator" for their ability to see through both male and female eyes. Two-spirited people were active and had meaningful role in their tribes, and some were seen as the “balance keepers.” This was revolutionary for me because I never knew this. There are even photos of two-spirited people, and there is a very well known two-spirited person named We’wha. I know I’ll be doing more research on him and the Zuni people who also had a lot of documentation on two-spirited people. (Source)
From Native Americans to Ancient Rome it was a surprise to learn that some Roman Emperors married men. Emperors Nero was one Emperor who married a man, two actually. He lived with this man as “husband and wife.” Rome was tolerant of same sex relationships as long as it was slave boys but it didn’t take long for them to be accepting of adults engaging in same sex relationships, ultimately leading to same sex marriages. Another Emperor who married a man was Elagabalus. He married five women and married two men. Elagabalus was known to be very feminine, and would wear makeup. He would even “prostitute” himself in public and did a number of different things to have himself beheaded by the guards, and have his body dragged naked through the streets. Many Romans were used to Elagabalus’ behavior but others were tired of it. Eventually the Theodosian Code made same sex marriages illegal.
Today, we have more people recognize that there is nothing wrong with same sex marriages. Marriage has changed from when humans thought of it only as a means to reproduce, to find stability, and to find love. It will continue to change as society keeps changing. It will be interesting to see how much it changes in 10 to 50 years from now.
I was able to do more research on these subjects after watching this video on YouTube.
