The Abolition of Marriage: How We Destroy Lasting Love [Hardcover]

Maggie Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996

A look at the critical condition of the institution of marriage in the U.S. and how the government has contributed to its decline.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895264641
• ISBN-13: 978-0895264640
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very realistic look at modern marriage, October 17, 2000

By 

Antoinette Aubert (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Abolition of Marriage: How We Destroy Lasting Love (Hardcover)

Gallagher has produced an intelligent, much needed treatise. Her hypothesis is that marriage no longer exists. With no fault divorce one person in a marriage can end it anytime they choose for any reason. The traditional social contract of mom at home and dad at work depended on the legal contract that bound dad to mom, forever. Without that legal contract the social contract was destroyed as well. A woman who stays at home with her children today is a walking a tight-rope without a net. Gallagher points out that many women choose career over home out of fear, not necessity or ambition. She defends traditional marriage not in romance novel terms, but in the very real impact family breakup has on children. Gallagher explains why marriages should be saved even when not blissful. The value of marriage lies in working through difficult times more than in idealized romantic illusions.

17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a much needed retort to divorce peddlers, April 18, 2001

By 

G W Thielman (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Abolition of Marriage: How We Destroy Lasting Love (Hardcover)

Ms Gallagher presents a compelling argument against the current "no fault" divorce laws currently in effect in America. Unilateral divorce permits one impatient and self-centered defaulting party to dissolve a sacred economic and emotional bond for no reason, or as Gallagher wrote, "we gained the right to divorce and in the process lost the right to marry." The cost of this state of affairs has been wrecked lives-of abandoned spouses and neglected children, turning partnerships into games of prisoner's dilemma. Defenders of such encouragement of irresponsibility demand to be freed of any responsibility of reflecting carefully on their choice of mates or the effort required to develop a loving relationship. Such an attitude indicates either a willful blindness to the public consequences of private actions or a callous disregard to the lives of others. Gallagher's recommendation to terminate unilateral divorce would be a welcome relief, but as she points out, the federal constitution's "full faith and credit" clause currently functions to facilitate dissolution rather than affirm marriage. Changing this dynamic (plus permitting "discrimination" on the basis of marital status) while preventing collateral damage from nationally recognized bugger unions presents an interesting challenge. Whether the real adults in society can revitalize this crumbling legal and moral institution yet remains to be seen. _Abolition_ presents a clarion call.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wondering, February 23, 2007

By 

A. Glantz "mama2evazoe" (tn) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Abolition of Marriage: How We Destroy Lasting Love (Hardcover)

Would more women want to stay home and take care of the house and kids if we respected them for it? As of right now, women who stay home(or want to) are punished by people in our society we look down on them as though it is not real work. But what work could be more valuable than to raise the next generation?