Can You Make a Marriage More Equal?
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Did you see MAKERS on PBS, with those many Jewish women trailblazers–like Sheryl Sandberg, Tiffany Shlain, Marissa Mayer (and many Lilith authors)?
Alix Kates Shulman talked about her classic “Marriage Agreement.” It still jolts people after all these years!
Shulman’s iconic, and iconoclastic, argument — that a woman and man should share equally the responsibility for their household and children — was derided when it first appeared in 1970. Norman Mailer, Russell Baker and Joan Didion were shocked, affronted. The real shock is just how resonant Shulman’s take on family politics still is today.
Check out the Marriage Agreement, which we reprised in Lilith’s Summer 2012 issue, along with a new ritual for egalitarian marriage in the 21st century.
Judge for yourself how much progress women have made.
One comment on “Can You Make a Marriage More Equal?”
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Susan —
I agree that it’s quite incredible how much of this resonates today, how ‘shocking’ such a marriage agreement was and probably still is today.
I really loved watching Makers. Really loved. The passions and energies and courage and intelligence of so many of these women really filled me with inspiration and hope.
The hardest part for me was the Phyllis Schlafly segment. I can’t wrap my head around the whole thing. And all that sabotage… coming from a woman…. i just can’t understand it….
e