Author: Susan Squire
File Type: epub
A provocative survey of marriage and what it has meant for society, politics, religion, and the home.For ten thousand years, marriageand the idea of marriagehas been at the very foundation of human society. In this provocative and ambitious book, Susan Squire unravels the turbulent history and many implications of our most basic institution. Starting with the discovery, long before recorded time, that sex leads to paternity (and hence to couplehood), and leading up to the dawn of the modern love marriage, Squire delves into the many ways men and women have come together and what the state of their unions has meant for history, society, and politics especially the politics of the home.This book is the product of thirteen years of intense research, but even more than the intellectual scope, what sets it apart is Squires voice and contrarian boldness. Learned, acerbic, opinionated, and funny, she draws on everything from Sumerian mythology to Renaissance theater to Victorian housewives manuals (sometimes all at the same time) to create a vivid, kaleidoscopic view of the many things marriage has been and meant. The result is a book to provoke and fascinate readers of all ideological stripes feminists, traditionalists, conservatives, and progressives alike. Susan Squire is the author of The Slender Balance and For Better, For Worse A Candid Chronicle of Five Couples Adjusting to Parenthood. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Playboy, New York magazine, and the Washington Post, among many others. She lives in New York City with her husband of nineteen years. For ten thousand years, marriageand the idea of marriagehas been at the very foundation of human society. In this provocative and ambitious book, Susan Squire unravels the turbulent history and many implications of our most basic institution. Starting with the discovery, long before recorded time, that sex leads to paternity (and hence to couplehood), and leading up to the dawn of the modern love marriage, Squire delves into the many ways men and women have come together and what the state of their unions has meant for history, society, and politicsespecially the politics of the home.This book is the product of thirteen years of intense research, but even more than the intellectual scope, what sets it apart is Squires voice and contrarian boldness. Learned, acerbic, opinionated, and funny, she draws on everything from Sumerian mythology to Renaissance theater to Victorian housewives manuals (sometimes all at the same time) to create a vivid, kaleidoscopic view of the many things marriage has been and meant. The result is a book to provoke and fascinate readers of all ideological stripes feminists, traditionalists, conservatives, and progressives alike. Squire archly reconsiders the disobedient Biblical helpmeet Eve (Shouldnt the buck stop with the senior officer, not the assistant?), as well as witches, bitches, nymphomaniacs, concubines, clerics, cuckolds, and others . . .[P]otent [and]hugely entertaining.O, The OprahMagazineWritten with an incisive wit and an unshowy audaciousness, I Dont is an absolutely compelling reada must for anyone, man or woman, who has wondered about the war between the sexes and the truce that is marriage. Steeped as her book is in historical detail, Susan Squire proves herself to be that rare breed a scholar with a light touch, writing with a deftness and fluency that liftshercomprehensiveknowledge and closely informedreadings to the level of literature. This is a book that informs while it entertains the readera truly original take on its subject.Daphne Merkin, author of Enchantment and Dreaming of Hitler A sardonic and delightful romp through the history of conjugality, from day zero on. An illuminating book for those who want to know their history, rather than just repeat it anyone in a marriage or just contemplating the possibility will want to take notes. Also perfect for couples therapists waiting rooms, throwing at your spouse, and Valentines Day.Laura KipnisSquire begins with Genesis and works through biblical and secular history through Martin Luther, deconstructing marriage with a vengeance . . .Squire does not pretend to be unbiased in her negative view of historical marriage, especially in terms of Christian history. The subtitle describes the book as contrarian, but that is almost too mild a term to describe Squires sarcastic yet breezy style, which while very amusing, is sure to offend many readers as she gleefully surveys Western history. Squire is mainly concerned with the subjugation of women within the strictures of marriage as a social and religious convention . . .[R]ecommended for sociology and womens history collections.Elizabeth Morris, Library JournalIn breezy, irreverent prose, Squire catalogues the history and religious significance of the institution of marriage from Adam and Eve to the Renaissance and beyond. Writing as if gossiping with a girlfriend, Squire argues that marriage was developed to establish paternity by controlling the sex life of women. We learn that the men of Athens had hetaera(courtesans) to entertain them, concubines for their daily need and wives with whom to breed legitimate children the women of Rome, on the other hand, learned how to use their power to threaten male rule of society. The New Testament offers equality to husband and wife, at least in the marriage bed the association of lust with Eves original sin can be attributed to Augustine. Squire explores sixth-century penitentials on sexual sins, adultery in the Middle Ages and the intersection of wife and witch during the Renaissance inquisitions. Readers are left questioning whether our modern idea of love matches might end up as a chapter in a future book about the incarnations of marriage. Love may not be the answer, but for now, it is the story.Publishers Weekly