ABSTRACT
This chapter examines marriage as an institution that supports, legitimates, and provides benefits for some types of relationships. As an institution, marriage has undergone significant change over time. Shifts in the social structure of the economy have altered marriage in the United States. With the transition from an agricultural society to capitalism, marriage shifted from being primarily a basis for economic survival to being conceptualized as being mainly about couples choosing to share lives for the sake of love. Wage labor under capitalism enabled individuals the economic freedom to seeking partners for love, including those who desired same-sex relationships. Heterosexuality has been the ideological basis for marriage, underpinned by the idea of “natural” and “complementary” gender roles, however this may be changing as rates of marriage decline and people seek out alternative living arrangements.
