Boston Marriage

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Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein , who lived in a Boston Marriage

Boston Marriage is a term coined in New England at the end of the 19th century by Henry James in his novella The Bostonians for the union of two unmarried women who live together in a household .

There is no evidence to suggest that the Boston Marriage is a Victorian euphemism for lesbian relationships. Which of the historical relationships were sexual or platonic is controversial. The characteristics of individual relationships were just as varied as the designation was vague and, above all, was subject to shifts in meaning over time.

origin

The term Boston Marriage was first used by Henry James in his 1885 novella, The Bostonians , to describe the relationship between the main characters Olive and Verena, both feminists from Boston . James used the term generally to refer to a long-term relationship between two unmarried women living together who shared financial responsibilities and valued each other without necessarily having sexual contact with each other. In James' opinion, such relationships were common in New England ; many women in such unions were close to the women's movement and were so-called New Women . In 1984 the book was made into a film with Christopher Reeve and Vanessa Redgrave . In 1999 David Mamet picked up the term in his play Boston Marriage (Eng .: The Sisters of Boston).

If the women who live together are academics or intellectuals , then the term Wellesley Marriage is also used, alluding to the Wellesley women's college .

Meaning and use

Regardless of the formation of the term, cohabitation among unmarried, educated women was quite common and socially recognized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The fact that women lived together was accepted in Victorian times because it was assumed that women were fundamentally not connected by erotic interests. This way of life was almost only possible for women who were economically independent through an inheritance or their own wealth; Only very few were able to live financially independently of their own, paid work. In this way of life they enjoyed greater freedom for social or political engagement without the restrictions of a wife, were able to support one another, share their living expenses and were better able to pursue a job. Typically, these women were often turned towards feminism .

It is also no coincidence that there were many writers and publicists among the historical personalities who had a Boston marriage, as these activities were not subject to admission formalities. At that time there were few opportunities for upper class women to work for the purpose of livelihood. The usual “higher education for girls” did not convey any specific professional skills, university studies were not yet permitted and even formal legal equality was still a long way off.

The historical term is mainly used in the Anglo-Saxon world to this day, but has seen multiple interpretations. On the one hand, the term is generally used for two people living in a relationship with a strong emotional bond, whereby all combinations of sexes and sexual orientation are possible. On the other hand, it can also mean two lesbian women who live in a non-sexual relationship with one another.

In German usage, the term is used rather rarely and mostly in the English original, although the meaning is even less clear than in the English-speaking world.

That the women who had a Boston marriage can be viewed as early lesbians is controversial in feminist research today.

Important historical personalities who are said to have led a Boston marriage included, for example, the writers Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields , the women's rights activists Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw , but also Elsbeth Krukenberg-Conze and Lina Hilger , Helene Lange and Gertrud Bäumer , Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein , Mathilde Franziska Anneke and Mary Booth , Jane Addams with Ellen Gates Starr and later Mary Rozet Smith , Frances Willard and Kate Jackson, Elsie de Wolfe and Bessie Marbury , Frances Clayton and Audre Lorde .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Carol Brooks Gardner: Boston marriages. In: Jodi O'Brien (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Gender and Society . SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks 2009, ISBN 978-1-4129-0916-7 , p. 119 .
  2. ↑ Michelle Gibson: Lesbian Academic Couples . Routledge, New York 2011, ISBN 978-1-56023-618-4 , p. 3.
  3. ↑ Stefanie Meyer: Unmarried partnerships - a result of the change in the family? GRIN Verlag, 2008. ISBN 3-638-89915-2 . P. 15
  4. ↑ Bärbel Kuhn: Marital status single: celibate women and men in the middle class (1850-1914) . Böhlau Verlag, Cologne Weimar, 2002. ISBN 3-41211-101-5 . P. 412
  5. ↑ Angelika Schaser: Helene Lange and Gertrud Bäumer. P. 88

literature

  • Bärbel Kuhn: Marital status single: celibate women and men in the middle class (1850–1914). Böhlau Verlag, Cologne Weimar, 2002. ISBN 3-41211-101-5
  • Angelika Schaser: Helene Lange and Gertrud Bäumer. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne Weimar, 2000. ISBN 3-412-09100-6
  • Carol Brooks Gardner: Boston marriages . In Jodi O'Brien, ed., Encyclopedia of gender and society , v. 2. SAGE Publications, 2009. pp. 87-88 (Eng.)
  • Esther D. Rothblum (Ed.): Boston Marriages: Romantic but Asexual Relationships Among Contemporary Lesbians. Univ. of Massachusetts, 1993. ISBN 0-8702-387-60 (Eng.)

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