tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7369486672124347942024-03-06T03:28:07.528+00:00Discourses of MarriageDiscourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-90744306616273629062017-08-30T12:31:00.000+01:002017-08-30T12:31:37.393+01:00Programme now available BAAL/CUP seminarThere are only a few weeks to go until our two-day seminar on Discourses of Marriage to be held in conjunction with BAAL and CUP at the University of Liverpool (14-15th September).<br />
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The event includes a plenary by <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/people/lucy.jones" target="_blank">Dr Lucy Jones</a> from the University of Nottingham titled '<i><span style="background: white;">But think of the children! </span></i><span style="background: white;">The ongoing salience of heteronormativity in UK discourses of marriage</span>'.<br />
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<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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We also have a film screening of <i>Growing Up Married: A Documentary About
Forced Marriage In Turkey </i>followed by a Q&A session hosted by the film's director <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/film-television-media/people/profile/e-atakav" target="_blank">Dr Eylem Atakav</a> from the University of East Anglia.<br />
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There are also ten papers from scholars around the globe looking at discourses of marriage in a range of national and international contexts. A full copy of the conference programme is included below.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Don't forget to register for the conference here:</b></span> <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/discourses-of-marriage-baalcup-seminar-tickets-36402138777" target="_blank">Discourses of Marriage Seminar Booking</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Day
1<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">10:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Opening & BAAL welcome<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">10:45<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 1: François Labatut, Sorbonne-Nouvelle
University<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Is marriage really the gold standard?
Contrasting metaphorical representations of ‘marriage’ during Obergefell v.
Hodges in the US.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">11:15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 2: Ursula Kania, University
of Liverpool<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Marriage for all (‘Ehe fuer alle’)?! A
corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the equal marriage debate in Germany.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">11:45<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 3: Eric Ku, National Taiwan
Normal University<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">“First in Asia”: A Linguistic
Landscape Study of Marriage Equality Protest Signage in Taiwan.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">12:15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Lunch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">13:00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 4: Mark McGlashan, Birmingham
City University<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">"Very well, Mother. I'll marry. I
must say, though, I've never cared much for princesses": Negotiating
discourses of sexuality and same-sex marriage in children’s literature.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">13:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 5: Jai Mackenzie, University
of Birmingham<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">“Darling” husbands and partners in
Mumsnet Talk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">14:00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 6 [Skype]: Mieke
Vandenbroucke, University of California, Berkley<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Legal-discursive constructions of
genuine cross-border love in Belgian marriage fraud investigations.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">14:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Coffee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">15:00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Film screening (followed by Q&A):
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Dr Eylem Atakav, Senior Lecturer in
Film and Television Studies, University of East Anglia<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Growing Up Married: A Documentary
About Forced Marriage In Turkey<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">16:15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Approx.
finish<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Day
2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">10:00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Plenary: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Dr Lucy Jones, Assistant Professor in
Sociolinguistics, University of Nottingham<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">But think of the children! </span></i><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">The ongoing salience of
heteronormativity in UK discourses of marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">11:00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Coffee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">11:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 7: Xing Wang, Loughborough
University<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">How Neoliberal Self Encounters
Marriage: Transformation and Discourses of Chinese Dating Shows.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.2pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">12:00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 15.0cm;" valign="top" width="567">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 8: Pia Pitchler, Goldsmiths,
University of London<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">I want it to be lively - like a white
person’s wedding where everyone is laughing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.2pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">12:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 15.0cm;" valign="top" width="567">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Lunch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td rowspan="2" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.2pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">13:15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td rowspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 15.0cm;" valign="top" width="567">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 9: Sergio Silvero, Edge Hill
University<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">A feminist poststructuralist discourse
analysis of older never married women’s definitions of marital status and identity:
The “Spinsters”, the “Singletons”, and the “Superheroes”.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td rowspan="2" style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.2pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">13:45<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td rowspan="2" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 15.0cm;" valign="top" width="567">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Session 10: Clement Akran, Canterbury
Christ Church University<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">‘Everything Has Changed Except Our Way
of Thinking’: An analysis on reporting of non-monogamous relationships in British
Newspapers.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<td height="20" style="border: none; height: 15.0pt;" width="0"></td>
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<tr style="height: 17.45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
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<td height="23" style="border: none; height: 17.45pt;" width="0"></td>
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<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.2pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">14:15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 15.0cm;" valign="top" width="567">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Coffee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 8.85pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.2pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">14:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 8.85pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 15.0cm;" valign="top" width="567">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Round Table<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; height: 8.8pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 35.2pt;" valign="top" width="47">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">15:30<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 8.8pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 15.0cm;" valign="top" width="567">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Close<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-27252082266318357472017-08-08T12:27:00.003+01:002017-08-08T12:27:47.422+01:00Registration now open!Registration is now open for the BAAL/CUP seminar on Discourses of Marriage!<br />
<br />
More details <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/discourses-of-marriage-baalcup-seminar-tickets-36402138777" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACODlfmPQRTyYhMLEyqCgHHO2V8BqJyY4hrtnvRqP4iwJ0L_hkkjzc9aGpRd5XOpx3l3A8Vch_wIOh_t4SDodgx_T9lIuKgb8z1Ns0HjaPE9Erv9pdwfCrjpTNK2N4AjqWU-w-Xk714X8/s1600/DoM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACODlfmPQRTyYhMLEyqCgHHO2V8BqJyY4hrtnvRqP4iwJ0L_hkkjzc9aGpRd5XOpx3l3A8Vch_wIOh_t4SDodgx_T9lIuKgb8z1Ns0HjaPE9Erv9pdwfCrjpTNK2N4AjqWU-w-Xk714X8/s640/DoM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-21832673190005883082017-05-05T10:15:00.000+01:002017-06-26T09:37:46.345+01:00<div align="center" class="paragraph" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black;"><strong><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: small;">There are just a few days left to submit your
abstracts to </span></strong><a href="https://exchange2010.lancs.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=wXwDYeF53caGv_8XC1BZDXDNUTWxGFm6jlYo4ZFJr_OKmC5UbLzUCA..&URL=mailto%3a%253cdiscoursesofmarriage%40gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: none;"><strong><span style="background-color: yellow; color: black; font-size: small;">discoursesofmarriage@gmail.com</span></strong></span></a><strong><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"> and
don't forget we have two student fee
waivers</span></span></strong></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><u><span style="color: black;"></span></u></b> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><u><span style="color: black;">BAAL/CUP Seminar Series FINAL Call
for Papers - Deadline <span style="color: red;">30th June</span></span></u></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"></span></span> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><u><span style="color: black;">Discourses of
Marriage</span></u></b><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><u><span style="color: black;">University of Liverpool
14-15</span></u></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><u><sup><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;">th</span></sup></u></b><b><u><span style="color: black;"> September 2017</span></u></b><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black;">Due to recent legislation changes in countries around the
world, more people than ever before can now get married. Hosted in collaboration
with the Discourses of Marriage Research Group (</span><a href="https://exchange2010.lancs.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=WntCQIj0tKHkwpezWNPM-A9VhbLeyGnfKlFNtpXswtuKmC5UbLzUCA..&URL=http%3a%2f%2fdiscoursesofmarriage.blogspot.co.uk%2f" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: none;">http://discoursesofmarriage.blogspot.co.uk/</span></a><span style="color: black;">), this two-day seminar aims to encourage scholarly
interest in how marriage is conceptualised, normalised, defined, rejected,
adapted, and debated through language. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black;">We invite submissions for <b>20-minute</b> papers to
discuss any aspects of discourses of marriage in relation to language, but
particularly encourage submissions in the following areas: </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Historical and/or global perspectives on
discourses of marriage </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Marriage and religious
institutions </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span style="color: black;">The language of marriage and equal marriage
debates across cultures </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Marriage and identity </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 7pt;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Discourses of (non-heteronormative) family
structure and divorce </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black;">Abstracts should be up to <b>300 words long </b>and should
contain up to <b>five keywords</b>. Abstracts are to be submitted as Word
documents to </span><a href="https://exchange2010.lancs.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=wXwDYeF53caGv_8XC1BZDXDNUTWxGFm6jlYo4ZFJr_OKmC5UbLzUCA..&URL=mailto%3a%253cdiscoursesofmarriage%40gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: none;">discoursesofmarriage@gmail.com</span></a><span style="color: black;"> by the <b>30</b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><sup><span style="color: black; font-size: 8.5pt;">th</span></sup></b><b><span style="color: black;"> June 2017</span></b><span style="color: black;">. Submissions will be anonymised before review. Authors
will be notified of the organisers’ decisions by mid-July 2017. We encourage
applications from scholars at all career stages and there will be two fee-waived
places for student presenters. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: black;"></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">The
two-day seminar will be an opportunity to establish the state-of-the-art for
linguistic research on marriage, marriage equality, divorce, etc. by bringing
together researchers interested in this field. It is designed to spark
discussion about discourses of marriage by acting as a networking event and
<strong>we already have publishers interested in an edited collection of
papers</strong>. For more information, please contact Laura Paterson
(</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://exchange2010.lancs.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=PtPU9syLV25QsgC3uayfvGJ2fC5ZJ6VoGCE3HFyU1p-KmC5UbLzUCA..&URL=mailto%3alaura.paterson%40open.ac.uk" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: none;">laura.paterson@open.ac.uk</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">)
or Georgina Turner (</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://exchange2010.lancs.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=WXPRQ1XZ_YrBM3FsTQWh9aHLumBNtlTPSeyTA0YtRpmKmC5UbLzUCA..&URL=mailto%3ag.turner%40liverpool.ac.uk" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: none;">g.turner@liverpool.ac.uk</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">). </span></span></span></div>
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Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-44059830034853470812016-08-31T10:41:00.001+01:002016-08-31T10:41:45.806+01:00Agency and victimhood in newspaper representations of those opposing same-sex marriage<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Results of our latest study!</span></div>
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We've just submitted a manuscript to Discourse and Society journal, which contains our findings from our most recent Discourses of Marriage project. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmfX33ZteE3WLemvOYxBIEFXDe-3a6E2Yj1XchaBeeXOKxNW-iGOF28NzFA5oh_T5RaHL0ys5kas04P9lFCDZWA6D5CebSvjmEZsJQhPEZR3VvTm3Vhuwb0Q6-up4aaMD96sI-5croQ9x/s1600/6277209256_934f20da10_b+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmfX33ZteE3WLemvOYxBIEFXDe-3a6E2Yj1XchaBeeXOKxNW-iGOF28NzFA5oh_T5RaHL0ys5kas04P9lFCDZWA6D5CebSvjmEZsJQhPEZR3VvTm3Vhuwb0Q6-up4aaMD96sI-5croQ9x/s320/6277209256_934f20da10_b+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We've used corpus linguistics to work through newspaper articles from September 2011 (when the British government first announced that they would be holding a public consultation on same-sex marriage) to April 2013 (when the first ceremonies took place) - we had <span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoji,NotoColorEmoji,Segoe UI Symbol,Android Emoji,EmojiSymbols; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">2599 articles from the most popular newspapers in the UK as our data set, totalling 1,327,817 words!</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoji,NotoColorEmoji,Segoe UI Symbol,Android Emoji,EmojiSymbols; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span></span></div>
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In our analysis, we have identified the most ideologically salient keywords in our data, and then used discourse analysis to explain the impact of how these words were used in the context of some of the newspaper articles. These keywords included, for example: adjectives used to describe the proposals, such as 'controversial'; verbs used to talk about the government's behaviour, such as 'force'; and adjectives used to talk about the opponents of same-sex marriage, such as 'ordinary'. </div>
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We quickly found that there were two significant themes in the newspaper data. Firstly, marriage was treated as a delicate but essential institution which could be damaged by 'dangerous' changes to the law (i.e. the extension of marriage to same-sex couples). Secondly, those opposing same-sex marriage were often represented - or represented themselves - as victims. We found the former theme to be entirely consistent with our previous analysis of radio debates on the same subject (<a href="https://benjamins.com/#catalog/journals/jls.4.1.04mil/details" target="_blank">van der Bom et al. 2015</a>), and so focused in this paper on the theme of 'victimhood'.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrL2m_ByjcXC2rqfm-EPfomaASwtDhBMsf6Q6I5zukrWA2r41HzFa9U3ITSp_w5EBP49IwbXAsvlcJT2KRt8Z67E7uebRRi473yZrjhTNxYs6XwXHRxOAJABPTWCwiPQj8mSMI1bK2oAM/s1600/Vincent+Nichols+Gay+marriage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrL2m_ByjcXC2rqfm-EPfomaASwtDhBMsf6Q6I5zukrWA2r41HzFa9U3ITSp_w5EBP49IwbXAsvlcJT2KRt8Z67E7uebRRi473yZrjhTNxYs6XwXHRxOAJABPTWCwiPQj8mSMI1bK2oAM/s320/Vincent+Nichols+Gay+marriage.JPG" width="296" /></a>In brief, what we've discovered is that opponents to same-sex marriage were represented as victims whose moral values, traditions, and civil liberties were being threatened by a ‘politically correct’ minority. This was achieved in various ways, but included the explicit foregrounding of 'ordinary people' as both those not part of the political elite and, more subtly, as those not in same-sex relationships. The notion of victimhood was particularly underlined in discussions of specific <i>types</i> of 'ordinary people'; this included parents, those with religious beliefs, and teachers who would potentially be 'forced' to teach children about (<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoji,NotoColorEmoji,Segoe UI Symbol,Android Emoji,EmojiSymbols; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><i>extra</i></span></span>ordinary) same-sex marriage. </div>
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The government, along with gay rights campaigners, are positioned in our corpus as having agency and pushing ordinary people - who have no agency - into something that is potentially dangerous and which goes against their free will. Furthermore, in the latter parts of our data set, when the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill had been drafted and was being debated, this apparent victimhood was heightened through the use of language which positioned the Bill itself as 'hijacking' and 'grotesquely subverting' the institution of marriage. The Bill, in addition to the government, is therefore represented as agentive in comparison to its opponents (the victims). </div>
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In sum, then, we have found a clear 'David and Goliath' message within the newspaper data. Importantly, by representing the opponents of equal marriage as fending off a large and unyielding adversary, it becomes possible for this opposition to be constructed as motivated not by homophobia but by the rather more admirable desire to protect tradition, civil liberties, and ‘religious freedoms’. Opponents can thus avoid any accusations of being bigoted or prejudiced and, we argue, communicate homophobic ideals in a much more<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>implicit<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>way.</div>
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The members of the <a href="https://twitter.com/dis_of_marriage" target="_blank">Discourses of Marriage Research Group</a> that worked on this article are:</div>
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Georgina Turner (<a href="https://twitter.com/intweed" target="_blank">@intweed</a>)<br />Sara Mills (<a href="https://twitter.com/sara4mills" target="_blank">@sara4mills</a>)<br />Isabelle van der Bom (<a href="https://twitter.com/isabellevdbom" target="_blank">@isabellevdbom</a>)<br />Laura Coffey-Glover (<a href="https://twitter.com/drlauracoffey" target="_blank">@drlauracoffey</a>)<br />Laura. L. Paterson (<a href="https://twitter.com/langueonline" target="_blank">@langueonline</a>)<br />Lucy Jones (<a href="https://twitter.com/jones_lucy" target="_blank">@jones_lucy</a>)</div>
Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-17905698201346333312016-02-17T17:54:00.004+00:002019-03-27T10:39:40.268+00:00Surname Strategies: The Results!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>By <a href="https://queerlinglang.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Lucy Jones</a> and <a href="http://cass.lancs.ac.uk/" target="_blank">Laura L. Paterson</a> on behalf of the Discourses of Marriage research group</b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">**UPDATE**</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Our full journal article was published in 2017, and is available to download <a href="https://journals.equinoxpub.com/GL/article/view/27916" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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We're finally able to reveal a small selection of the results of our 2014 survey into the surname choices of British people who get married - the full details and qualitative analysis will be published next year in the journal Gender and Language.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: small;">THE NUMBERS</span></strong></div>
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We had 1,000 people respond to our <a href="http://discoursesofmarriage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/surname-choices-survey.html">survey</a> (questions reproduced below): 84% of respondents were women and 74% were heterosexual. As shown below, the majority of our participants were also in heterosexual marriages. (All tables and graphs adapted from a forthcoming paper focused on the quantitative results.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span>)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SSOagXKRAzlaUpcLMPzFh8oQuuZhEtw7OhqQChEzrydCFfgkK4h5V0P3VXeP7fz81gvdnL6ZHWwfRbtELFVeGgkksKrutny87XKwPDjqjZ_VUDWT4Qd473cktKS_5vyyjCZKUDSPsQN1/s1600/Table+1+Blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SSOagXKRAzlaUpcLMPzFh8oQuuZhEtw7OhqQChEzrydCFfgkK4h5V0P3VXeP7fz81gvdnL6ZHWwfRbtELFVeGgkksKrutny87XKwPDjqjZ_VUDWT4Qd473cktKS_5vyyjCZKUDSPsQN1/s640/Table+1+Blog.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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We were interested in whether there seemed to be a general move, amongst those who had married, towards alternative name choices (such as blending two surnames together, or double-barrelling). The majority of our participants, however, either kept their own name or took that of their partner:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCmhEZZL5fw-CSYuE1bUoi4jSO2RnUPagMO4BAShQ2ynr6a1TEtHGqEBVGW3iggVXCd3hc97NTZBYMvC0pCt78y2YUEVHtV435TNeC8chpuIZ1n4Jt0ojGDq9-ol0jLDSJ_e_fXUbeL5_/s1600/Table+2+Blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCmhEZZL5fw-CSYuE1bUoi4jSO2RnUPagMO4BAShQ2ynr6a1TEtHGqEBVGW3iggVXCd3hc97NTZBYMvC0pCt78y2YUEVHtV435TNeC8chpuIZ1n4Jt0ojGDq9-ol0jLDSJ_e_fXUbeL5_/s640/Table+2+Blog.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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When broken down according to whether respondents were in a same-sex marriage or a heterosexual one (see below), it is clear that the majority of women in heterosexual marriages took their partner’s name, though a large number of these women retained their surname. On the whole, men in heterosexual marriages kept their own name; none took their wife’s surname, though three double-barrelled their name with hers. Women married to men showed a greater variety of surname choices (including double-barrelling) than the men did, whilst the majority of people in same-sex marriages or civil partnerships chose to keep their own surname. However, some of the women in same-sex marriages or civil partnerships did take their partner’s name (compared to none of the men).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsI6_f0ZFTyfzisQ3lXDsdkGGZb0mwipMxCrGJx9KV5KRq7gHqDuZ3XzZM8DDelwqiBowMnWsAuPGA8AQPseYK6TrhxM6m5R_EuOZkm6NXEO6eHRhwAehFBGb11OyLgG6sOm5FWxVMgwl8/s1600/Table+3+Blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsI6_f0ZFTyfzisQ3lXDsdkGGZb0mwipMxCrGJx9KV5KRq7gHqDuZ3XzZM8DDelwqiBowMnWsAuPGA8AQPseYK6TrhxM6m5R_EuOZkm6NXEO6eHRhwAehFBGb11OyLgG6sOm5FWxVMgwl8/s640/Table+3+Blog.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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On the whole, then, the results of our survey show that those in same-sex relationships are statistically more likely to keep their own name – as are men in heterosexual relationships – and that the most common option for women in heterosexual relationships continues to be to take their partner’s name.</div>
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<strong>THE COMMENTS</strong><br />
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Many of the women in heterosexual relationships in our study did not take their partner’s name. The most frequently cited reasons for this were a desire to show their independence as an individual, and a belief that taking a married name was problematic. For example, one woman said:</div>
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<span style="color: purple;">“I chose to keep my own surname and my individual identity after marriage. As a modern feminist I believe the social 'norm' of the woman taking her husband’s name is outdated and sexist, as it originally indicated ownership.”</span></div>
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Women in this category often contemplated double-barrelling their surname with that of their husband, but many chose not to because of a concern that it sounded ‘posh’ or simply that it would make their surname overly complex and lengthy. Similarly, many of the women who did take the name of their husband considered double-barrelling but came to the same conclusion. In such cases, many women decided it was simply easier to take on the same name as their husband. Lots of the women cited the difficulties of not having the same name as their husband as the reason why they eventually decided to change their name, as in:</div>
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<span style="color: purple;">“We had several cheques made out to ‘Mr and Mrs’, which the bank refused to cash until I changed my name.”</span></div>
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Some of our lesbian respondents, interestingly, cited the administrative burden of a name-change as a reason not to do it – though, unlike the gay men who answered this survey, many had considered it:</div>
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<span style="color: purple;">“On a practical level, changing names, ID docs, bank docs would add another level of administrative faff to life!”</span></div>
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Though many women cited admin as a reason not to change names, the cultural expectation that a woman married to a man would share his name on official documentation was clearly evident. For example, a number of mothers felt that life would be more complicated if they did not share names with their husbands and children – commonly cited reasons for this included claims that it would be difficult when travelling through airports as a family, or if a family member was in hospital. In this sense, many respondents felt somewhat constrained by these norms and chose to take their husband’s name simply to make life easier for themselves and their family.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, many women in our survey clearly explained that they were very happy to take on their husband’s name. For many women, this was to do with a desire for unity: they wanted to have the same name as their husband (and, for some, their children) because it allowed them to demonstrate to the world that they were now a family. In this sense, a name change for many women can be seen as marking a new chapter in their life, and some saw their decision as central to their identity as a wife (and mother):</div>
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<span style="color: purple;">“I feel as though the name is key to feeling a part of a new family unit of my own. I intend to have children with my husband and it is important to me that we all have the same name and feel completely a part of one another.”</span></div>
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Many of the female and male respondents to our survey commented on their perceived need for a shared name which showed their united identity and married status, and felt that this actually strengthened their marriage. It was interesting, though, that very few of the men had ever considered that they might change their name. On the other hand, plenty of the men outlined discussions they’d had with their wives whereby they felt strongly that it was her decision – many husbands were concerned about the possible pressure a woman may feel to change her name. </div>
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In fact, many of the female respondents <em>did</em> cite pressure to change their name – from family, from society, and sometimes from their religion. In a minority of cases, women stated that when they suggested keeping their own name, their husbands were upset or even ‘horrified’, so they chose to take the new name in order not to ‘rock the boat’. On the whole, though, most men completing the survey stated that it was up to the woman in the relationship whether she wanted to change her name.</div>
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For most of our heterosexual respondents who had married, a positive association with the traditions of name change were cited as the reason for the woman taking her husband’s name. Though there were some responses which suggested that it had never occurred to our participants that they would not take their husband’s name, or that they simply didn’t have strong feelings one way or the other, many of our respondents expressed that they were ‘traditional at heart’. For example:</div>
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<span style="color: purple;">“I am quite traditionalist in some respects and was perfectly happy to change my name to my husband’s without feeling that it affected my own identity/standing in society/strength as a woman”</span></div>
</blockquote>
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Responses such as these also showed that many women had considered their own identity as a feminist, or as an independent woman, and had concluded that they could retain this whilst also taking on their husband’s name. For many, taking on a new name was akin to wearing a white wedding dress – a long-standing tradition that they wanted to preserve despite their awareness of the patriarchal connotations it might hold. Overwhelmingly, respondents who identified as non-heterosexual stated that they simply didn’t see these traditions as relevant to them.</div>
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Finally, we also asked our respondents whether they thought that same-sex couples had different options to choose from compared to those in opposite-sex relationships. Those identifying as non-heterosexual typically talked of a lack of pressure to conform:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: purple;">“I think legally the options are the same, but in terms of social acceptability same-sex couples have more options simply because there is no norm or hierarchy to conform to”</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Many of our heterosexual respondents, though – particularly the women – gave answers which suggested that they felt same-sex couples had more freedom compared to heterosexuals. Many suggested that same-sex couples could ‘do whatever they like’ because no expectations are expected of – or imposed upon – them:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: purple;">“I suspect they’re the same options, but they’re not led down a particular route – e.g. there is no ‘default’ imposed on people”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Similarly, the assumption that same-sex couples are less likely to have children led to the assumption that fewer LGB people would be likely to take on a new ‘family’ name, though again this was often tied into a perception of relative freedom:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: purple;">“It seems like they do not have the same pressure. Maybe because they are less likely to have children?”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These responses demonstrated to us that, although many respondents who did change their name cited tradition and family unity as a positive reason to do so, many also recognised that there was a degree of expectation and cultural normativity attached to this. Indeed, some of the straight women who had earlier stated that they’d have happily taken on the name of their husband commented that they ‘envied the freedom’ of same-sex couples, or that they were ‘jealous’. Of even more interest (and concern), though, were a number of comments suggesting that many same-sex couples don’t change their names due to some fundamental equality existing between them:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: purple;">“Biologically, gay couples are more equal, so they are starting from a more equal position”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The assumption that same-sex couples have more flexibility because they are less tied down by cultural norms, and the idea that they are somehow more equal, is fascinating: it suggests that LGB people may actually be seen, by some, as better off than heterosexual people in this regard. The finding also suggests that, though tradition is often seen as a positive reason for name-change, many heterosexual people <em>do</em> feel somewhat constrained by expectation. Importantly, as well, it remains the woman rather than the man who may feel obliged to make a decision – to retain one’s ‘maiden’ name or change to something new – when marrying someone of the opposite sex.</div>
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In addition to questions determining participants’ demographic and marital status, we asked the following questions as part of our survey:</div>
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<li>When you married or entered into a civil partnership please state what you did with your surname/If you were to marry or enter into a civil partnership please state what you would do with your surname </li>
<li>What influenced/would influence your decision about what to do with your surname? If you are double-barrelled, whose name went/would go first? </li>
<li>[If relevant] What did/would you do with your child/children's surnames? </li>
<li>[If relevant] What influenced/would influence your decision about what to do with your child/children’s surnames? </li>
<li>Which title do you use to refer to yourself (e.g. Ms, Mr, Mrs)? Is this the same in every situation? </li>
<li>Which word/s (e.g. ‘wife’, ‘husband’, ‘partner’, etc.) would/do you use to refer to each other? </li>
<li>What have most of the married/civil-partnered people that you know done in relation to their surnames? Why do you think this is? Please state if you are referring to straight married couples or same-sex couples (and whether they have had a civil partnership or marriage). </li>
<li>Has anybody you know done anything you consider to be unusual in relation to their surname? If so, what? Please state if you are referring to straight or same-sex couples, and what their relationship status is. </li>
<li>Do you think that same-sex couples have different options when it comes to keeping or changing their names if they get married/civil-partnered? Why? </li>
<li>How important are these issues to you?</li>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[1] Jones, L., Mills, S., Paterson, L.L., Turner, G., Coffey-Glover, L. (forthcoming 2017) Identity and naming practices in British marriage and civil partnerships. Gender and Language.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> [2] Paterson, Laura L. (in prep.) But what will they call the children?: Factors affecting surname choices in marriage/civil partnerships and parenthood. Intended for Research Journal of Marriage and Family Research.</span></span></span></span></div>
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Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-30537691596339646782015-04-26T15:00:00.000+01:002015-04-26T15:00:19.102+01:00Implied sexism in UK Deed Poll procedures<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 1;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Who changes their name upon marriage/civil partnership? </span></b></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">By <a href="https://shu.academia.edu/LauraPaterson" target="_blank">Laura L. Paterson</a></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I did not change my name
upon marriage. However, it was interesting to see just how many people thought that they
could question my decision and/or change my mind. Some of the most most surprising reactions to my choice came from loose acquaintances who assumed that they had some sort of say in my decision. For example, an (unmarried, female) extended-family-member-of-a-friend lambasted
my husband for not making me change my name. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There were also logistical issues:
my husband and I had to tell our wedding guests that if they wrote us a cheque,
it had to be made out to our existing surnames otherwise the bank wouldn’t cash
it. Furthermore, when completing legal documentation for a family member’s
will, my father asked me to spell my surname. Initially thinking that he was
joking – we share the same surname and people consistently spell it wrong –
I began spelling out my surname letter by letter. He stopped me and said ‘no, no, no, how do you spell Mackintosh’? It turned out that, even though my
father knew I had kept my surname, he assumed that because I was married I was
legally ‘Mrs Mackintosh’. Based on these experiences, I decided to look at how entrenched
the idea that a woman changes her name upon marriage is within UK legal
procedures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">According to the UK Deed
Poll service (<a href="http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AWomansRightsUponMarriage.html" target="_blank">2009</a>), ‘Contrary to popular belief, a woman’s surname does not
automatically change to her husband’s surname upon marriage’. However, whilst
most surname changes in the UK are performed using a Deed Poll, for a woman to
change her name to her husband’s does not require this process to take place, as
it is seen as the woman choosing to ‘follow tradition’. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A Deed Poll is likely
to be required though when a woman chooses to double-barrel her name. But what is
extremely interesting is that, if both husband and wife are double-barrelling, it is economically sensible for the husband to pay for a Deed
Poll to change his surname before the wedding ceremony so that the wife can
take this double-barrelled name upon their union without charge/Deed Poll: ‘the
cost of a second Deed Poll (for your wife) can be avoided if you change your
surname by Deed Poll to your double-barrelled surname before you marry’ (UK
Deed Poll Service </span><a href="http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AMansRightsUponMarriage.html" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;" target="_blank">2006</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">). However, this practice does not work the other way
around. If a wife-to-be double-barrels her surname before the wedding, her
husband will still need a Deed Poll to double-barrel his. Thus, the legal
system for name changes is asymmetrical. It is not set up for a husband to take
his wife’s surname. Further evidence of this asymmetry is that the UK Deed Poll Service has web pages devoted
to women changing their names upon separation/divorce/widowhood, but no
corresponding pages for men. Thus, there is a clear assumption that men don’t (wish to) change their names.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The UK Deed Poll website
harbours lots of assumptions about women and men. For example, it is stated
that ‘most women are happy to take their husband’s surname upon marriage’ and
‘you will probably want to change your title to Mrs’ (UK Deed Poll service
<a href="http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AWomansRightsUponMarriage.html" target="_blank">2009</a>). Taking the positions of ‘no I’m not happy’ and/or ‘no I don’t want to change my title’ is extremely
difficult </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">here</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"> as</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> such statements reject the status quo established on the service's website. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When discussing males changing their names,
it is suggested that a man could take his ‘wife’s surname as one of your middle
names’ (not as a surname) and that ‘Such a gesture may be greatly appreciated’
(UK Deed Poll service </span><a href="http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AMansRightsUponMarriage.html" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;" target="_blank">2006</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">). This construction of a name change as a ‘gesture’
suggests that a man would only change his name upon marriage to placate his
wife who, presumably, has changed her surname.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In terms of civil
partnerships (the UK Deed Poll Service has not yet updated its pages to address
same-sex marriage), if one person takes the other’s surname, then no Deed Poll
is needed (UK Deed Poll Service <a href="http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/ACouplesRightsUponACivilPartnership.html" target="_blank">2010</a>). When double-barrelling, it is also
advised that one person changes their name before the ceremony to avoid the
cost of two Deed Polls (<a href="http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/ACouplesRightsUponACivilPartnership.html" target="_blank">2010</a>), although, for obvious reasons, there is no
mention here of which partner is expected to change their name before the
ceremony. At least here, the laws are gender-neutral. But it is still assumed
that ‘Most female civil partners want to change their title from either Miss to
Ms or from Miss or Ms to Mrs’ although it is noted that ‘Mrs is traditionally
the title used by married women’ (UK Deed Poll service <a href="http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/ACouplesRightsUponACivilPartnership.html" target="_blank">2010</a>). This presupposes
that Mrs is not the only available title to lesbian couples, and implies that the label
Mrs may not apply to them in the same way that it applies to heterosexual
women. Again, there is no mention of men changing their names, reflecting the
asymmetry in English titles (Mr vs. Miss, Mrs or Ms). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Traditional patriarchal norms are enshrined in current UK surname change processes, with women presented as being much more likely to change their surnames and/or titles upon marriage/civil partnership than men. Such norms can lead to the assumption that all women will change their name upon union. Indeed, it was such as assumption that led to relative strangers objecting to my choice to keep my own surname, whilst not a single person asked my partner why he was not changing his. This related notion - that men do not change their surnames - is clearly reflected in the Deed Poll process. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Any men wishing to change their surnames (with the exception of those entering into civil partnerships/same-sex marriage, as discussed above) will have more administrative work to do than women.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thus, there is clearly disparity
in how the law treats men and women upon marriage/civil partnership. </span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">References</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">UK
Deed Poll Service. 2009. A woman’s name change rights and options upon
marriage. Online. Available at:
http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AWomansRightsUponMarriage.html. Accessed 10/03/2015.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -1.0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">UK
Deed Poll Service. 2006. A man’s name change rights and options upon marriage.
Online. Available at: http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/AMansRightsUponMarriage.html.
Accessed 10/03/2015.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">UK
Deed Poll Service. 2010. A couple’s name change rights and options upon a civil
partnership. Online. Available at:
http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/ACouplesRightsUponACivilPartnership.html. Accessed
10/03/2015.</span></div>
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Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-1268103795207346492015-03-18T09:26:00.000+00:002015-03-18T09:26:06.692+00:00Name change debates around Amal Clooney’s change of name<style>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">An account of below the line comments on Amal Almahuddin's name change </span></b></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">By <a href="http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/hrc/sp-sara-mills.html" target="_blank">Sara Mills</a></span></b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Clooney#/media/File:UNICEF_UK_(14281378624)_(cropped).jpg" target="_blank">Amal Clooney</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">The
Discourses of Marriage research group have been <a href="http://discoursesofmarriage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/surname-choices-hot-topic.html" target="_blank">inve<span id="goog_1955667849"></span><span id="goog_1955667850"></span>stigating</a> the views that
are expressed about women’s surname changes on marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This blog post examines the range of comments
around the surname change of lawyer and activist <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Clooney" target="_blank">Amal Almahuddin</a>, who changed her name to Amal
Clooney when she married the actor George Clooney in October 2014. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>We gathered together the below the line comments from articles in the <i>Mail Online</i>, <i>theguardian.com </i>and <i>Huffington Post</i><b> </b>(links below)<i> </i>and have grouped them under the following
themes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: black;">Themes</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">This
issue of surname change generated a great number of below the line comments,
largely because Clooney stated that she would use her new surname at work,
whereas many professional women retain their own surname within the context of
work. The debates were fairly aggressive, particularly on the <i>Guardian</i> story,
where the issue of a woman’s right to choose was debated and became an attack
on feminists. Fraser (2009) has argued that feminism has split into <i>feminism as
a social movement</i> and <i>feminism as discourse</i>, with the latter having 'gone
rogue'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The feminist movement now is 'increasingly confronted with a strange shadowy version of itself, an uncanny
double that it can neither simply embrace nor wholly disavow' (Fraser, cited in
Carter, et al, 2015: 27). This is particularly true of this data where the
feminist slogan 'a woman’s right to choose' is used against feminists who
are questioning why Amalhuddin took Clooney’s surname.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, rather than being an issue of patriarchy, taking
his surname is framed as a question of free choice.</span></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Surname
change is a feminist issue</span></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Some posts framed this as a feminist issue, however, saying
that it would be more newsworthy if men’s surname changes on marriage were
reported. One said: '</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Victoria Coren is now
Victoria Coren Mitchell, but David is still just "Mitchell". Why?
This is a feminist issue'.</span></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">This
is a trivial issue</span></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Others, however, commented that there were too many
articles about this issue and that it was not important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They accused her of turning into another Kim
Kardashian.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"> One stated sarcastically: 'Please, please do keep us updated on
every trivial thing these incredibly brave people do'.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Mockery/humour</span></u><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Some posters stated that she should change her first
name or that he should change his name to hers. There were some posts which stated
that they would use the name Clooney all of the time if they were married to
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">One post stated
they 'would like to live in a society where couples can choose a third party
name when they get married like "divisionator", "skelebomb' or "wheeled-deathmachine".' There were quite a number of mocking posts like this.</span></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">A
woman’s right to change her surname</span></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">The main focus of the below the line comments seemed
to be those who posed it as about a woman’s right to choose her surname
(viewing this as part of a feminist history, whilst at the same time attacking
feminists), and those who asked questions about whether that choice was in fact
feminist at all, in that it was a tradition. In the <i>Guardian</i> piece '</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Amal Alamuddin took George Clooney's name? Oh please – put your torches
and pitchforks away', there was an indirect attack on feminists for bringing up
the issue of surname change. And one poster said: '</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">why would she not take his name? leave her in peace now to do her job
and get on with her life'.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"> Posing this as an issue of
simple choice, one poster said 'I don't get why people would go nuts because
she took his last name. Surely the point is that it was her choice whether to
or not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">' </span>Another post said 'I thought
the business of naming was entirely a personal choice? And if it is somehow
'offensive' to keep referring to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning" target="_blank">[Chelsea] Manning</a> by a male name, why is it not
similarly offensive to fail to acknowledge the woman's right to change her
name?'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One post drew attention to gay
friends: 'I'm friends with a gay couple who recently married and they decided
that one of them would adopt the other's name purely because it was a much
nicer sounding name. No angst, no guilt'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other posts argued that the change of a surname should not be subject to
scrutiny: 'Some of the most successful women I know changed their name when
they married without, as far as I could tell, giving much thought at all to it.
I believe to them it is simply a practical matter. I guess that's the thing
about successful women (and people): they can make their own decisions and get
on with things without viewing everything in life as an attempt to victimise
them'.</span></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Indirect attacks on feminists</span></span></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Several posters took this as an opportunity to attack
feminists:<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">So much hate from feminists when women do things that they disagree
with. Such bullying. People have the right to do what they wish, and you have
no right to comment on it. The world is full of different people with different
needs than the hard core feminists. The hatred spewed by feminist groups
against women who live their lives in ways they disagree with is disgusting. A
woman taking a man's name, or staying home to raise children, is not weak,
subjugated or backward. Just as the feminists are, these women are well thought
out and making decisions they should be respected for, regardless of what other
think about it. Feminists need to stop the hate.'</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span> </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Other posters defended a feminist position: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">You do realise that by telling feminists (as if they're some homogeneous group)
to focus their attention on "more important things" you're doing
precisely the thing you're railing against: telling women what they should do.
I'm quite entitled to see Amal Clooney's adoption of her husband's name as a really
strange thing for an educated, "liberal, middle class" (your words),
respected professional woman to do. It strikes me as a coy buying into of
romance, a stroke to the male's ego. Given that full equality still doesn't
exist, it would've been more interesting if you'd interrogated why women still
feel the need to turn their husbands into protectors and themselves into
damsels enfolded in their men's last names. Could it be that <i>women</i> are
the final stumbling block to full equality, because they cannot let go of those
final bastions of male privilege?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Another post stated: 'Yes funny that, what
an amazing array of choices that women have, and how most of them still seem to
choose the option invented for them by men'. To counter the notion that it is a
woman’s right to choose, another poster stated: 'I think the debate here
refers not to women's right to change their names, but to their tendency to
stick to the patriarchal status quo rather than asserting their individuality'. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Thus, overall, the issue of a
celebrity woman changing her surname to that of her husband seemed to be viewed
as fairly trivial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The debate in the
below the line comments largely seemed to construct the issue in terms of 'a
woman’s right to choose'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(a feminist
slogan) as being under threat from feminists.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">We are considering these perspectives, and more, in our analysis of responses to our <a href="http://discoursesofmarriage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/surname-choices-hot-topic.html" target="_blank">survey</a> on surname choices following marriage. We'll report back with our findings when we have them! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Sources</span></b></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2791458/george-clooney-s-wife-amal-changes-law-firm-s-website-arrives-greece-case-getting-married.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Mail Online</span></i></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"> 15th October 2014</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/amal-alamuddin-took-george-clooneys-name-oh-please-put-your-torches-and-pitchforks-away" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">theguardian.com</span></i></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"> 14th October 2014</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/14/amal-alamuddin-changes-profile-name-to-amal-clooney-after-marrying-actor" target="_blank"><i>theguardian.com</i></a> 15th
October 2014</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/14/amal-alamuddin-name-change-amal-clooney_n_5981988.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Huffington Post</span></i></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"> 14th October 2014</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">References</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Carter, C., Steiner L., McLaughlin L. (eds) 2015. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender</i>,
Routledge: London</span></span></div>
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</span>Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-39142873475108527892015-01-28T11:37:00.000+00:002015-01-28T11:37:05.457+00:00“She’s not my friend anymore”The Discourses of Marriage group is delighted to be able to share this piece by <a href="http://www.ntu.ac.uk/apps/staff_profiles/staff_directory/125929-0/26/Liz_Morrish.aspx" target="_blank">Dr Liz Morrish</a> (Nottingham Trent University), which shows some of the complexities associated with language choice and marriage for same-sex couples.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, our work exploring the data from our surnames survey continues...watch this space (or see <a href="http://discoursesofmarriage.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/surname-choices-hot-topic.html" target="_blank">our previous post</a>) for more information!<br />
<br />
Thanks to Liz for sharing this piece with us. <br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u>She's not my friend anymore</u></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> “Those pants suit you” I said to the woman in Athleta on 5<sup>th</sup>
Avenue, New York. “My friend is in there trying on the same ones”. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sender would like to recall message. I am appalled at my
betrayal. Hardly has the ink dried on our marriage certificate, and I have
already repudiated my spouse. If discourse brings about identity, then mine is
still stuck in that queer limbo of illegitimacy that she and I have inhabited
for the last 25 years. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Too much information. The woman in the store didn’t need to
know all of this. But then again, why not? How easy it would have been to
announce a husband to the most casual of acquaintances. So why not my, my, my
wwwwww. No. I still can’t say the ‘w’ word. It’s a bit too Susan Calman. She is
my partner in marriage, my trouble-and-strife, her-indoors, my spouse. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Shame is the eternal companion to the queer subject, even decades
after decriminalization. Shame at the non-normativity of being queer. Shame at
never quite fully accepting myself. Shame at finding it so difficult to lay
claim to the legitimacy now offered to me. Because the day before, I had got
married, hitched, wedded, espoused. To my ‘friend’ in the changing booth behind
us. We arrived at City Hall, in Wall Street with our two witnesses. We took a
numbered ticket and sat down to wait on the green benches until we went into
the small chapel, and there, stumbling and trembling on the words, I was
married to the love of my life. I have thought about that moment every day
since. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If you are wondering what all the equivocation is about,
just consider this. Shame is not a singular event; it accrues over a lifetime,
undermining like a degenerative disease. From earliest childhood, all we have
known are anxieties about being feminine enough, straight enough, respectable
enough. As we emerge from the family we encounter an immersive queering as
school firmly establishes our outsider status when we are found desiring sports
or activities deemed the provenance of the so-called opposite ‘sex’. Our world
falls into a preserve of binaries that seems to have forgotten to give us an
entry pass. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So when Section 28 came along in the United Kingdom in 1988,
gay subjectivity was already complicit in its own illegitimacy. Forbidden:
"the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of
homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So there you have it. My relationship is a mere simulation
of the real thing. Maybe that is why my marriage seemed rather like a mirage. I
think back to that brief ceremony. Brief, but not perfunctory. The Clerk had it
all right. She must have met bashful queers before. So habitually circumspect
about public displays of affection, we had to be prompted twice to take each
other’s hands. We hesitated on the permissive ‘you may kiss your spouse’. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So it is still sinking in, what marriage means to someone
who has never thought it would be a possibility. What it will mean for us as a
couple. But now that we have done it, I need to step up and take a stand of
visibility. No more covering with euphemisms, or letting false assumptions
persist. I am claiming the right that heterosexuals have to ‘flaunt it’ in the
simple avowal of their relationships. I’m going to celebrate the joy that has
come in the authoring, and authorisation of our new connection. She’s not ‘my
friend’ anymore. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Liz Morrish</span></span></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span></i></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #073763;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">January, 2015</span></span></i></span></div>
Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-56224629766220476162014-11-06T10:49:00.000+00:002014-11-06T11:31:34.479+00:00Surname choices - a hot topic!We had an incredible response to our survey on the choices that people make in relation to their surnames and marriage. Over 1,000 people completed our survey in just four weeks, meaning that we've now got plenty of data to go through in order to learn more about how people feel about changing their name (or not) if or when they marry. Of course, the survey doesn't reflect the whole opinion of the UK, but it can certainly tell us about some popular ideas. Some of the things we hope to learn from our data include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>How do many women in heterosexual relationships feel about the tradition of women taking their husband's surname upon marriage?</li>
<li>How do many men in heterosexual relationships feel about the same tradition?</li>
<li>What are the views of those in same-sex relationships, and what decisions would they take/have they taken? </li>
<li>Can we see any trends in our data in terms of what women in same-sex relationships would do/have done upon marriage or civil partnership, compared to men in same-sex relationships?</li>
<li>What about bisexual people who are in either same-sex or opposite-sex marriages? Does their sexual identity have an impact on their views?</li>
<li>What alternative options have those in heterosexual marriages chosen from? For example, how common is it to find a man that has take his wife's name, or a couple who have both double-barreled their surnames?</li>
<li>What impact does it have on people's choices if they have children?</li>
<li>How common is it for a couple or an individual to change their name <i>without</i> getting married/civil partnered? </li>
<li>Do the views of younger respondents seem to differ to those of older respondents? </li>
<li>Do those who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual typically articulate different feelings about marriage and surnames to those who identify as straight?</li>
<li>What relevance does a person's gender identity (whether transgender or cisgender) have on their views about naming strategies?</li>
</ul>
<br />
What we know already, judging by the huge response we've had, is that lots of people have an opinion about this issue! When we've talked about the survey on <a href="https://twitter.com/dis_of_marriage" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, it's prompted a lot of discussion and debate - it seems that everybody has something to say! Even before we're able to share any results, the survey has also been discussed elsewhere in the media - we've been on BBC Radio Sheffield to talk to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7gs" target="_blank">Rony Robinson</a> about the study, as well as on Liverpool City Talk FM to discuss the issues with <a href="http://www.citytalk.fm/on-air/city-talks-politics/" target="_blank">Larry Neild</a>. We've been mentioned in a fantastic essay on marriage and identity by Sophie Coulombeau (<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29804450" target="_blank">'Why should women change their names on getting married?'</a>) as well as in a feature on a Chinese news blog (<a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-10/31/c_133756344.htm" target="_blank">'What's in a name?'</a>).<br />
<br />
We're delighted that the issue of married names has sparked debate and discussion, and look forward to reviewing our data and reporting on our findings. Thanks again to all those who took part!<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-63971022281435935432014-10-28T15:18:00.002+00:002015-01-28T11:26:44.937+00:00The surnames choices survey is now closed!Our surnames choices survey is now CLOSED! We'd like to say an enormous thank you to all the people who completed it and told us about their views and experiences. We've got a lot to work our way through (with just over 1,000 people completing the survey) but will report back via this blog as soon as we've got some facts and figures we can share. We're delighted with the positive response and can see that the question of surname choices is of concern to lots of people - whether gay or straight, old or young, unmarried or married, female or male....we can't wait to delve deep into the data!<br />
<br />
Thank you to all who completed, shared, and promoted the survey: watch this space!<br />
<br />
Lucy Jones<br />
Georgina Turner<br />
Laura Paterson<br />
Laura Coffey-Glover<br />
Sara Mills<br />
<br />Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-39502335616053429612014-09-30T14:31:00.000+01:002014-10-09T16:50:58.796+01:00Surname choices survey<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Discourses of Marriage research group have now embarked on an additional project, in which we hope to investigate the choices a range of people in a variety of situations have made (or would make) in relation to their surnames if/when they marry. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With same-sex marriages now recognised in England, Wales and Scotland, marriage traditions appear less one-size-fits-all than ever, so we'd like to know what impact this might have on our names. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've got a survey *out now!*, in which we hope</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to find out how widespread various practices are, and what sorts of things - such as putting children into the equation - might influence the decision.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please complete our survey! It's available at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/surnames">https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/surnames</a>. We'll be back to share our findings soon....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Discourses of Marriage Research Group</span><br />
<br />Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-21285296121585290532014-05-12T08:55:00.002+01:002014-05-12T08:55:55.324+01:00Thank you!<div class="MsoNormal">
We would just like to say thank you to the great audience
at the <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/organisations/galsig/events.htm" target="_blank">BAAL Gender and Language Special Interest Group conference last week</a>. Three members of the
Discourses of Marriage Research group presented our first article on implicit
homophobia at the end of a very long day full of interesting research papers.
It was great that the audience, many of whom had been up since the crack of
dawn, were so receptive to our work and engaged in a thought-provoking debate! The feedback we got on our paper was very useful to us and we’ve tried to
incorporate much of it into our final article. Furthermore, as our work on discourses
of marriage is ongoing, you gave us lots to think about for the future...watch this space!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u1:p></u1:p></div>
Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-41426026526243872032014-03-28T12:37:00.000+00:002014-03-28T12:53:27.984+00:00Our transcriptions of the Moral Maze<h4>
The Discourses of Marriage group have now prepared and submitted a full write-up of our analysis into equal-marriage discourses in the <i>Moral Maze. </i>The abstract for this paper, now submitted for review to the <i>Journal of Language and Sexuality</i>, is below.</h4>
<h4>
<br />We're also pleased to be able share the full transcripts of the three <i>Moral Maze </i>broadcasts. These can be downloaded from Google Drive by clicking <a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3Ebeu1Wm1H_YWFNRUtHYWE1TVE&usp=sharing" target="_blank">here</a>. </h4>
<br />
<u>'Implicit Homophobic Argument Structure: Equal Marriage Discourse in the <i>Moral Maze</i></u><br />
<i><br /></i>This article analyses the linguistic and discursive elements which contribute to the production of implicit homophobia. Explicit homophobia has been well documented and strategies for countering discriminatory language have been developed (Baker, 2014; Leap, 2012). However, our interest here is in documenting implicit homophobia, where homophobic beliefs are only hinted at, are disassociated from the speaker, or are embedded within discursive and argument structures.<br />
<br />
We decided to analyse the debate in the media around the introduction of equal or same-sex marriage legislation in the UK. We focused our analysis on a series of radio programmes on BBC Radio 4, The Moral Maze, where the issue of same-sex marriage was debated with a team of panellists and invited guests from a range of different organisations. Different perspectives on same sex marriage were discussed, in a seemingly objective and dispassionate way, where the interactants distanced themselves from homophobic beliefs and yet, implicitly subscribed to implicit homophobia. We used an analysis drawing on argumentation structure (Fairclough and Fairclough, 2012) and through focusing on stance, recontextualisation, imaginaries, and metaphor, we developed an analysis which made the way that implicit homophobia works more visible. In this way, we hope to foreground implicit homophobia, and develop a linguistic and discursive `toolkit’ which will enable it to be challenged and countered.<br />
<div>
<div id="ftn1">
</div>
</div>
Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-56493570820157326432013-11-12T09:11:00.001+00:002013-11-12T09:19:31.314+00:00Implicit homophobia in the Moral MazeSince our last post, we have continued to work on the analysis of three episodes of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qk11" target="_blank"><i>Moral Maze</i></a>, in which the question of same-sex marriage is debated. This is our current focus, though future strands to the Discourses of Marriage project will include the analysis of how the debate has been represented in the print media.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.back2stonewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gay-Wedding-Rings.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://www.back2stonewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gay-Wedding-Rings.png" width="200" /></a>From the <i>Moral Maze</i> broadcasts that we have analysed, we have concentrated to date on the strategies which are used by speakers taking an anti-same-sex marriage position to justify this stance without being explicitly homophobic. However, we have found that, typically, these strategies lead to <i>implicitly </i>homophobic discourse; the argument against equal marriage for gay and straight people is based, in these broadcasts, on the assumption that gay and straight relationships are <i>different</i>. Indeed, the arguments put forwards by those opposing same-sex marriage tend to rely on discursive strategies which position same-sex couples as deviant when compared to heterosexual couples; though words such as 'deviant' and 'normal' are not used, heterosexual relationships are defined in terms of biological complementarity, social cohesion and historical normalcy. Through these strategies, it is implied that same-sex relationships do not fit a 'natural' model, pose a threat to social order, and are 'other'. Importantly, this rhetoric enables marriage between same-sex couples to be defined as illogical, dangerous, risky and with unknown consequences - allowing marriage to be extended to same-sex couples is presented as being a slippery slope, based on the argument that the law would <i>redefine </i>marriage and thus could potentially <i>endanger </i>it.<br />
<br />
Our current work is focused on the development of a clear framework for the analysis of implicit homophobic argument structure. This will focus on linguistic strategies but consider them in relation to the level of discourse, in order to understand how they may, in a given context, serve to position homosexuality as deviant or 'other'. We hope that this work will emphasise the fact that homophobia exists in often hidden ways; strategies which imply that same-sex relationships are not equal to opposite-sex ones are less visible or <em>obvious</em> than those which overtly demonize lesbian, gay and bisexual people, but they play an equally important role in the reproduction of homophobic discourse.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Discourses of Marriage research group are:</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Isabelle van der Bom
(Sheffield), Laura Coffey-Glover (Huddersfield), Lucy Jones (Hull), Laura
Paterson (Leeds) and Sara Mills (Sheffield Hallam).</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-72695253213192968072013-07-30T11:02:00.000+01:002013-11-11T15:40:08.206+00:00Time to celebrate!<img alt="Equal Marriage - Thank You" src="http://www.stonewall.org.uk/images/cm_images/banner/eqmar-webpage.jpg" /><br />
(image from <a href="http://www.stonewall.org.uk/">http://www.stonewall.org.uk</a>)<br />
<br />
<div>
<h3>
On Wednesday 17th July 2013, the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill was officially made law when it received Royal Assent from the Queen. We're delighted to be able to carry out our discourse analysis of the equal marriage debate from this perspective, though remain as motivated as ever to reveal the linguistic strategies of homophobia used by many opponents of the Bill during their discussions in the media.</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
Key issues that we're focusing on, in our analysis of the <i>Moral Maze </i>broadcasts, include the following:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- How is indirectness used as a strategy to produce 'disembodied' arguments? Opponents of the Bill are often reluctant to speak directly about the nature of same-sex relationships or why same-sex couples shouldn't have the same rights as heterosexuals, and so make quite significant use of imaginaries and imagery in order to produce what appears to be a more <i>objective</i> stance. In doing so, explicitly anti-gay statements can be avoided, though the <i>implicit </i>message remains clearly homophobic. For example, the likening of same-sex relationships to incest or bestiality.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- How is metaphor used to define marriage as fundamentally heterosexual, thus 'simply not an option for gay couples'? Marriage is represented as a frail, vulnerable object which is at risk of being 'unravelled' or 'eroded'; what weight does this offer to the argument that straight marriage should be 'protected' from homosexuals?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
- What argumentation structures and tactics are employed by those who are anti-marriage equality? We believe stance-taking to be central to this, and that indirectly homophobic stances in particular are enabled by the use of imaginaries and metaphor. By investigating these stances via discourse analysis, we hope to show the means by which implicitly homophobic messages are presented as logical, moral, and normal. In turn, we hope to examine how such messages continue to carry weight in our society.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h2>
</h2>
</div>
Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-38269609635406062752013-03-13T11:50:00.003+00:002013-03-13T11:55:36.014+00:00A moral maze...The UK government is a significant step closer to marriage equality for same-sex couples, now that the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill has passed through Parliament. It now has to be passed by the Lords to become law. The day after the Bill was overwhelmingly won in Parliament, there was a second edition of the BBC panel show <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qdzcb" target="_blank"><i>The Moral Maze</i></a> . We're now beginning to analyse this, as we've already been looking at the first <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01d2h6s" target="_blank">edition</a>, broadcast in February 2012 when the government put out a public consultation on the matter. In particular, we're hoping to find whether the themes that emerged in the 2012 debate are strengthened or modified in the 2013 one, particularly given that it is now apparent that there is significant public and political support for the change.<br />
<br />
The case against same-sex marriage can largely be characterised, in the 2012 edition of <i>The Moral Maze</i>, by the following arguments:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>It's risky to try to <b>redefine </b>marriage - we don't know what it will lead to, and it could be a 'slippery slope'</li>
<li>Marriage is fundamentally about biological complementarity, i.e. two people who are of the opposite sex to one another</li>
<li>Marriage is the sacrosanct place where children are created</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In contrast, the case <i>for </i>same-sex marriage 2012 debate can be characterised by the following:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Society has changed, and so should the institution of marriage - we ought to <b>extend </b>it to same-sex couples to be a truly equal society</li>
<li>Marriage is fundamentally about love and commitment</li>
<li>Civil partnerships do not represent true equality</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is noteworthy that overtly homophobic discourses are avoided by those who oppose same-sex marriage in the 2012 debate - at no point is language used which characterises gay people as 'unnatural' or 'deviant'. Similarly, though religious discourses are consistently drawn upon throughout the debate, biblical language is never used and 'God's will' is never referred to. This is in quite a stark contrast to some of the discussions that were reported in the media at the time, such as <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2109982/Cardinal-Keith-OBrien-brands-Camerons-gay-marriage-plans-grotesque.html" target="_blank">the attack on the plans</a> by Cardinal Keith O'Brien. In order to draw solid arguments from a logical, defendable standpoint, those against marriage equality in the first debate evidently avoid rhetoric that could be interpreted as extreme, archaic or bigoted.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We look forward to analysing the latest debate to see how the argument might have shifted, and are hoping to employ aspects of <a href="http://www.routledge.com/articles/political_discourse_analysis_-_new_from_isabela_and_norman_fairclough/" target="_blank">Fairclough and Fairclough's</a> approach to assist us in doing this.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In other news...we're continuing to compile news articles since the debates surrounding marriage equality began, and will eventually be employing corpus analysis to analyse these.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-70052567279723393032012-12-14T10:31:00.000+00:002013-03-13T11:54:27.439+00:00Work in progress...It's an exciting time for those interested in how marriage equality is being discussed in the media; the coalition government have <a href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage/consultation-response?view=Binary" target="_blank">recently announced</a> that they are preparing a Bill which would allow same-sex couples the same marriage rights as straight couples. Importantly, religious institutions <b>won't</b> be forced to marry same-sex couples if the Bill is successful.<br />
<br />
As one might expect, there are arguments being made very loudly for and against the proposal. We're currently collecting data from British newspapers as the story develops, and will be building a corpus to enable us to analyse these coherently. We think it might be interesting to see which authors refer to 'gay marriage' as opposed to 'marriage equality', for example, and to see how religious discourses are used both in favour of equality and against it. The sorts of articles we're interested in include <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2173202/Why-gay-marriage-bigoted.html" target="_blank">'Why to be against gay marriage is not bigoted'</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/these-equal-marriage-reforms-are-historic-because-in-21st-century-britain-the-meaning-of-family-goes-beyond-man-woman-and-child-8406498.html?origin=internalSearch" target="_blank">'These equal marriage reforms are historic, because in 21st century Britain the meaning of family goes beyond man, woman and child'</a>.<br />
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We're also currently analysing an edition of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qk11" target="_blank">The Moral Maze</a> which was broadcast in March 2012, when the government first put out a <a href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage/" target="_blank">public consultation on equal marriage</a>, using Evaluation framework (Thompson and Huntson 1999) to establish how contributors on both sides of the marriage equality argument use language to frame same-sex marriage as healthy, deviant, positive, dangerous, natural or immoral (amongst other things!). We'll be updating this blog as we get further on with our research.<br />
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If any readers come across articles, blogs or other material that they think we should include in our analysis, do let us know!<br />
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Thompson, G. and Huntson, S. (1999) 'Evaluation: An Introduction' in Huntson, S. and Thompson, G. (Eds.) <i>Evaluation in Tests: Authorial Stance and the Construction of Discourse. </i>Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1-26.Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-736948667212434794.post-90890033796582832192012-07-19T18:45:00.000+01:002013-03-07T09:48:14.512+00:00Welcome to our blog!This is the blog for the Discourses of Marriage research group. We are <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">a sub-group of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/languagegendergroup">North and Midlands Language and Gender Research Group</a>, and are</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"> based at a number of universities across England. We are: Laura Coffey (Huddersfield), Lucy Jones (Hull), Sara Mills (Sheffield Hallam), Laura Paterson (Leeds) and Isabelle van der Bom (Sheffield).</span></span><br />
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We're particularly interested in the media discussion and debate surrounding the UK government's current proposals to change the civil marriage laws to include same-sex couples. At the moment, 'civil partnerships' exist for same-sex couples. Heterosexual couples may not have a civil partnership and, crucially, same-sex couples may not have a 'marriage'. The two partnerships are equal in most legal senses, yet remain distinct from one another. There is considerable debate at the moment around whether marriage should be available for same-sex couples as well as heterosexual couples, and we are interested in discovering how the language used within these debates positions gay and lesbian relationships in contrast to heterosexual ones.<br />
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In this blog, we will post about the approach we're taking towards the analysis of discourses which surround the issue of marriage equality. We hope that this blog will be of use to other linguists and academic researchers, but also to anybody who is interested in how the debate is unfolding and how the language used in the media and by social commentators is impacting on how gay and lesbian people are being represented.Discourses of Marriagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09679714466040675035noreply@blogger.com0