Recognizing Ourselves: Ceremonies of Lesbian and Gay Commitment FROM THE PUBLISHER
Ellen Lewin, who has consecrated her own lesbian relationship with a commitment ceremony, decided to explore the myriad ways in which lesbians and gay men create meaningful ceremonies for themselves. She offers the first comprehensive account of lesbian and gay weddings in modern America. A series of richly detailed profiles - the result of extensive interviews and participation in the planning and realization of many of these commitment rituals - is woven together to show how new traditions, and ultimately new families, are emerging within contemporary America. Lewin explores the ceremonies themselves, which range from traditional church weddings to Wicca rituals in the countryside, with portraits of the planning, the joys, and the anxieties that led up to the weddings.
SYNOPSIS
The issue of same-sex marriage has recently come to the public´s attention as the federal government and many state legislatures have debated the rights of lesbians and gay men to obtain the legal status or benefits associated with married life. In Recognizing Ourselves, Ellen Lewin explores the intersections of kinship, community, mo
FROM THE CRITICS
Esther Newton
In the best tradition of public, thought-provoking, and accessible anthropology pioneered by Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict, this elegantly written account of gay and lesbian marriage ceremonies brings both empathy and discernment to bear on queer culture and politics in the making. Interweaving moving narratives and rituals with wide ranging cultural criticism, Lewin provides an analytic frame for understanding American culture´s evolving values about kinship, love, and commitment.
Kath Weston
A sensitive treatment of the cultural issues associated with the debate on gay marriage. Lewin does an exceptional job of conveying why weddings -those most ordinary of extraordinary rituals -should have become so compelling to a wide range of lesbians and gay men.
Choice
Lesbian and gay commitment ceremonies are shown to dramatize key issues not only in their culture but also in the wider American culture. Written in a nonscientific but professional manner, the book offers further stimulus for a change in laws to provide legal recognition for same-sex marriages.
Evan Wolfson
As gay people advance toward sharing in the freedom to marry that our non-gay brothers and sisters take for granted, this book is a rich reminder that at the heart of the civil rights struggle are the couples themselves. . . . Lewin's account helps explain why gay couples will win the freedom to marry, and the sky won't fall.
San Francisco Bay Times
Not a how-to guide, but rather profiles and portraits of same-sex marriages intertwined with the surrounding politics.
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