You’ll Do: a History of Marrying for Reasons Other Than Love takes a deep dive into the unromantic, but much more common than most would like to think, reasons for marrying throughout history. Join author Marcia Zug for an in-depth discussion of this fascinating book!
Laws have been designed to encourage people to marry so that certain societal benefits could be achieved: the population would increase, women would have financial security, children would be cared for, and immigrants would have familial connections. The widely overlooked problem with this tradition is that individuals and society have relied on marriage to address or dismiss a range of injustices and inequities, from gender- and race-based discrimination, sexual violence, and predation to unequal financial treatment.
Through revealing storytelling, Zug builds a compelling case that when marriage is touted as “the solution” to such problems, it absolves the government, and society, of the responsibility for directly addressing them.
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Marcia Zug is a family law professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and The Yale Law School. Her previous book, Buying A Bride, explored the history of mail-order marriage in the United States. She lives in Columbia, S.C., with her husband and two daughters.
