8 Useful questions to prepare for class
1. Which materials did you read/watch/listen to? (Please list them. Include the author’s
name and the title for readings, and the title for podcasts and videos)
- From "Marrying-In" to "Marrying-Out": Changing Patterns of Aboriginal/Non-
Aboriginal Marriage in Colonial Canada by Sylvia Van Kirk
- The World Historical Transformation of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz
- Our Unspoken Discomfort with Interracial Relationships by Charmaine A. Nelson
- Kim TallBear Ideas on Indigenous thinking in relation to the Solo Poly - Video
- Think Again about Same Sex Marriage - TVO video
- What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse by Mandy Len Catron
- The New Normal Not Good Enough by Lynne Huffer
2. What was your previous knowledge on this week’s topic?
I guess I would have to say my knowledge on this week’s topic is fairly limited. I understand the
idea of marriage and what it represents historically speaking and how it was originally seen as a
more binding and almost business-related implication. Marriage used to be sort of a way for a
man to ‘own’ a woman. A man would trade livestock or land to the woman’s father for her hand
in marriage. Marriage itself is a legally binding thing that assumes responsibility to the spouses
for each other and the children they may have. Assets and income become shared unless a
prenuptial agreement is involved. These are sort of the basics I know about marriage but what I
am looking to learn about this week is how marriage can be seen culturally and its importance
over history.
3. In a short paragraph, describe what you see as the main over-arching idea that is
holding our materials together this week. What is this “package” of
reading/videos/podcasts about? How would you explain it to someone?
[This is the most important question. Weak answers to #3 are the main reason people are
asked to revise. Give this question more time than the others. Focus on the big picture.
Think about connecting ideas and themes. And write your answer as if you were actually
explaining to someone what the package of readings (not just one or two of the titles) is
about. Use my notes on OnQ and the weekly headings to help you answer this question.]
I think the main overarching idea of this week’s readings is that we should be questioning the
institution of marriage, not only for ourselves and what we chose to practice in our lives but also
in a political way. This week’s package of readings and videos looks to both educate us on the
historical and cultural value of marriage, but also looks to teach us to question the institution.
Marriage has always been framed as the natural progression in one’s life, as a sort of inevitable
, step one is supposed to take in order to have a full and happy life. The idea of this week is to
look at why we think that marriage is so important, and if it even is. Pieces like Coontz’s look at
the historical evolution of marriage and the values it is built upon, but pieces like the article by
Catron look to enlighten us to how marriage is not the most important thing in a person’s life,
and it is not a necessary step in completing a “successful” life. Catron not only tells us this, but
also shows us some of the reasons we think marriage is so important and how it is so socially
constructed and built upon ideas of status and identity rather than actual partnership. This week’s
readings try to push us to question many of the changes in history to the idea of marriage and
what these changes have done in society. These readings ask us to ask ourselves about our own
expectations towards marriage and what created these ideals. Overall, this week’s material drives
us to question the institution of marriage and look into how and why we as a society see it as
such a critical part of one’s life.
4. Which piece most influenced your learning this week? How and/or why?
The piece that most influenced me this week was, What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse by
Mandy Len Catron. I myself am a person who desires to be married one day, it is something that
I want in my life and something I have dreamed of since I was a little girl. However, I can very
easily and understandably see that marriage is not for everyone and nor should it be. I think that
this institution of marriage is a long-standing tradition that has its roots in many patriarchal
values and I can completely understand that to many people, this is not something they want to
be a part of or feel their life needs to be ‘complete’. What Catron said in her piece that really
resonated with me is that many people do not get married because they want to be married or to
benefit from the rights that come with marriage, but they simply want to be seen as having
‘succeeded’ in life. Marriage is constantly seen as an inevitable step in one’s life, you grow up,
you meet someone, get married and then have children. This is not some criteria that is to be
followed to have a happy life, it is simply what society has posed as the natural progression of
one’s life. Catron has a quote in her piece that I really love, “Love is the marrow of life, and yet,
so often people attempt to funnel it into the narrow channels prescribed by marriage and the
nuclear family”. I think that love is so important in a person’s quality of life, but not necessarily
in the traditional romantic way. I think that as humans we need to be loved, whether it is
romantically with a spouse, or through your family, or even your friends, love is something that
we as humans desire and need but it does not mean that we as humans need a marital partner. By
limiting the importance of relationships to marriage we ignore so many other valuable types of
relationships and how they can just as well, or even better value an individual.
5. What is something you need to learn so that you can understand this issue/topic better?
I think that something I need to learn to understand this topic better is how this topic really
relates to sexuality. I feel like through my reading of the course materials this week I have a
1. Which materials did you read/watch/listen to? (Please list them. Include the author’s
name and the title for readings, and the title for podcasts and videos)
- From "Marrying-In" to "Marrying-Out": Changing Patterns of Aboriginal/Non-
Aboriginal Marriage in Colonial Canada by Sylvia Van Kirk
- The World Historical Transformation of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz
- Our Unspoken Discomfort with Interracial Relationships by Charmaine A. Nelson
- Kim TallBear Ideas on Indigenous thinking in relation to the Solo Poly - Video
- Think Again about Same Sex Marriage - TVO video
- What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse by Mandy Len Catron
- The New Normal Not Good Enough by Lynne Huffer
2. What was your previous knowledge on this week’s topic?
I guess I would have to say my knowledge on this week’s topic is fairly limited. I understand the
idea of marriage and what it represents historically speaking and how it was originally seen as a
more binding and almost business-related implication. Marriage used to be sort of a way for a
man to ‘own’ a woman. A man would trade livestock or land to the woman’s father for her hand
in marriage. Marriage itself is a legally binding thing that assumes responsibility to the spouses
for each other and the children they may have. Assets and income become shared unless a
prenuptial agreement is involved. These are sort of the basics I know about marriage but what I
am looking to learn about this week is how marriage can be seen culturally and its importance
over history.
3. In a short paragraph, describe what you see as the main over-arching idea that is
holding our materials together this week. What is this “package” of
reading/videos/podcasts about? How would you explain it to someone?
[This is the most important question. Weak answers to #3 are the main reason people are
asked to revise. Give this question more time than the others. Focus on the big picture.
Think about connecting ideas and themes. And write your answer as if you were actually
explaining to someone what the package of readings (not just one or two of the titles) is
about. Use my notes on OnQ and the weekly headings to help you answer this question.]
I think the main overarching idea of this week’s readings is that we should be questioning the
institution of marriage, not only for ourselves and what we chose to practice in our lives but also
in a political way. This week’s package of readings and videos looks to both educate us on the
historical and cultural value of marriage, but also looks to teach us to question the institution.
Marriage has always been framed as the natural progression in one’s life, as a sort of inevitable
, step one is supposed to take in order to have a full and happy life. The idea of this week is to
look at why we think that marriage is so important, and if it even is. Pieces like Coontz’s look at
the historical evolution of marriage and the values it is built upon, but pieces like the article by
Catron look to enlighten us to how marriage is not the most important thing in a person’s life,
and it is not a necessary step in completing a “successful” life. Catron not only tells us this, but
also shows us some of the reasons we think marriage is so important and how it is so socially
constructed and built upon ideas of status and identity rather than actual partnership. This week’s
readings try to push us to question many of the changes in history to the idea of marriage and
what these changes have done in society. These readings ask us to ask ourselves about our own
expectations towards marriage and what created these ideals. Overall, this week’s material drives
us to question the institution of marriage and look into how and why we as a society see it as
such a critical part of one’s life.
4. Which piece most influenced your learning this week? How and/or why?
The piece that most influenced me this week was, What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse by
Mandy Len Catron. I myself am a person who desires to be married one day, it is something that
I want in my life and something I have dreamed of since I was a little girl. However, I can very
easily and understandably see that marriage is not for everyone and nor should it be. I think that
this institution of marriage is a long-standing tradition that has its roots in many patriarchal
values and I can completely understand that to many people, this is not something they want to
be a part of or feel their life needs to be ‘complete’. What Catron said in her piece that really
resonated with me is that many people do not get married because they want to be married or to
benefit from the rights that come with marriage, but they simply want to be seen as having
‘succeeded’ in life. Marriage is constantly seen as an inevitable step in one’s life, you grow up,
you meet someone, get married and then have children. This is not some criteria that is to be
followed to have a happy life, it is simply what society has posed as the natural progression of
one’s life. Catron has a quote in her piece that I really love, “Love is the marrow of life, and yet,
so often people attempt to funnel it into the narrow channels prescribed by marriage and the
nuclear family”. I think that love is so important in a person’s quality of life, but not necessarily
in the traditional romantic way. I think that as humans we need to be loved, whether it is
romantically with a spouse, or through your family, or even your friends, love is something that
we as humans desire and need but it does not mean that we as humans need a marital partner. By
limiting the importance of relationships to marriage we ignore so many other valuable types of
relationships and how they can just as well, or even better value an individual.
5. What is something you need to learn so that you can understand this issue/topic better?
I think that something I need to learn to understand this topic better is how this topic really
relates to sexuality. I feel like through my reading of the course materials this week I have a
