29 January 2013

"Marriage Equality"? "Marital Equality"?

Marriage Equality: Are men and women equal in marriage?
Whenever I hear the term "Marriage Equality" or the term "Marital Equality", I think that it pretty plainly means having equality in marriage.  Raising the term in conversation seems to be about how equal is the husband to the wife in the marital relationship?  
     Of course, with last week's inaugural address by President Obama, that's not how it seems to be used in popular discourse.  It sounds strange to me for people to be using it that way (and, no, this is not a discursive attack on our president).  If for no other reason, marriage can be entered into by any man and woman.  But, then, that would be "Equal Access to Marriage" and not "Marital Equality".  
     Anyways, although I've been married for over five years and am good with it, I wonder what types of thoughts pop into other married people's minds about equality in marriage.  Granted, not only is everybody different, but the way (and even how far into the marriage) that people relate to each other within their own marriages matter.  Nevertheless, I wonder how often people think about or strive for "equality" within their marriages or they are fine with their status quo.

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