He discredits the argument that, ”marriage is fundamentally a procreative unit” (Stoddard 738). The government tries to rectify not allowing same sex marriage to be legal because marriage is supposed to be a procreative unit. People should be entitled to love and marry whomever it is that they choose. The government tries to justify their standing on gay marriage by acknowledging the fact that same sex couples would not be able to birth a child together. If this is in fact a valuable reason to prevent someone from marrying, then why doesn’t the government create a law banning all women and men who cannot or will not have children from being able to legally marry.
Because Catherine was the wife of his brother, and only gave Henry a daughter, this meant she was illegitimate. Also the French questioned Mary’s legitimacy, which meant he could not marry off Mary. This increased Henry’s desire for a legitimate son, but this would need to be from another wife. Since Henry didn’t have a son at this time to carry on the reign of the Tudors, the Royal family would be seen as weak and foolish. As during the Tudor time a queen would be seen as a weak monarch.
They think that the best and strongest family type is the nuclear family. The main functionalist who is focused on is Parsons. He came up with the functional fit, which is where pre-industrial society and the extended family changed into industrial society and the nuclear family. He also believes that the nuclear family meets all of society’s needs the best unlike any of the other diverse family types which society has to offer. Functionalists see all other family types as inadequate, abnormal or deviant.
The practice of polygamy distorts the meaning of marriage. Goodman says that "defenders argue that polygamous marriages are freely entered, freely left, well protected by law or custom" (pg 90). I believe this type of marriage is wrong for the women involved and it breaks down the institution of marriage. The women are denied the intended bond they are to have with a husband. Not being able to have this bond disables her trust and intimacy with her husband, these are meant to strengthen a relationship and marriage.
He argues that if marriage is a procreative unit then state would forbid marriage between those who cannot have children, infertility or by reason of age, as well as those who elect not to (738). Carpenter notes in his article Gay Marriage and Procreation that “individual gay persons can procreate, of course, through means such as artificial insemination and surrogacy arrangements” (para. 3). Carpenter also points out
These teachings included beliefs that God created the universe as well as controlled the universe. Therefore, when somebody started to questioning God as the cause of the universe and earth, people became flustered with anger(Kreis). The scientist that made these statements were very brave to keep studying and spreading the knowledge of the universe because some may even have been incrimminated from the church or punished in some way. The Elizabethans got most of their knowledge and theories from a past astronomer named
He talks a bit about how same sex marriage will affect children, which I completely respect. He discusses marriage being associated with civil right incorrectly for things like tax breaks, property ownership, etc. The majority of his article is based upon what he believes is the “definition” of marriage. He talks about marriage including or being based upon a number of things such as; romance, passion, the female body, spiritualism, etc. All things he obviously doesn’t think the gay community is capable of.
In doing so he states, “There are enormous differences between being a ‘husband’ or a ‘wife’ and being a ‘partner,’ a ‘friend’ or a ‘significant other’…” (684). Some people might argue, especially women, that they hate being labeled these things. Which could definitely be a reason for a woman not to marry. E. Mavis Hetherington, in Marriage and Divorce American Style, describes a traditional marriage as “…those in which the husband is the main income producer and the wife’s role is one of nurturance, support, and home and child care.” (693) The traditional view of marriage is that the husband is the “provider” while the wife is the “homemaker.” Not 80 years have passed since women’s suffrage was first put into the constitution as the 19th amendment. Since then women have come very far.
Anti-gay groups oppose gay couples adopting children because of having parents of the same sex and this is more harmful than having no parents. Just how far will legislation law go into the private and personal lives of its
The family as such cannot therefore be seen as performing any particular functions on its own in isolation from other institutions. The criticism of functionalism is that they ignore the conflict and abuse within families, rising divorce rates and family diversity. The New Right have similar views to Functionalist as they believe that nuclear family very important to society. Single parents and same sex couples are seen as bad