Same Sex Couples Creating Households in Old Regime France: The Uses of the Affrèrement
Author(s)
Tulchin, Allan A.
Abstract
In recent years, the issue of gay marriage has provoked acrimonious debate in France, as well as in other countries in Western Europe and in the United States. This issue is, however, part of a much wider phenomenon: Western societies are becoming more and more diverse in their household arrangements. “Normal” households are becoming less and less typical. According to the last U.S. census, nuclear families with children dropped to below one quarter of all households, while “nonfamily households” (a rather pejorative term) consisting of single people or people who are not related to each other climbed to one third of all households People continue to debate how society should respond to these changes, and in particular whether the law should be changed to recognize these nontraditional families. Most recent proponents of gay marriage and civil unions have tended to avoid historical arguments, apparently because they feel that the weight of historical tradition is against them. As noted above, they tend to use the language of rights, of liberty and equality. But, in fact, Western family structures have been much more varied than many people today seem to realize, and Western legal systems have in the past made provisions for a variety of household structures.
