Not Just Roommates: Cohabitation after the Sexual Revolution [Hardcover]

Elizabeth H. Pleck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2012

The late twentieth century has seen a fantastic expansion of personal, sexual, and domestic liberties in the United States. In Not Just Roommates, Elizabeth H. Pleck explores the rise of cohabitation, and the changing social norms that have allowed cohabitation to become the chosen lifestyle of more than fifteen million Americans.

Despite this growing social acceptance, Pleck contends that when it comes to the law, cohabitors have been, and continue to be, treated as second-class citizens, subjected to discriminatory laws, limited privacy, a lack of political representation, and little hope for change. Because cohabitation is not a sexual identity, Pleck argues, cohabitors face the legal discrimination of a population with no group identity, no civil rights movement, no legal defense organizations, and, often, no consciousness of being discriminated against. Through in-depth research in written sources and interviews, Pleck shines a light on the emergence of cohabitation in American culture, its complex history, and its unpleasant realities in the present day.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In her thoughtful and often gripping book, Not Just Roommates, Elizabeth H. Pleck uses case studies to discuss the promotion of marriage and the often virulent discouragement of cohabitation in the US during the past half century."

(Ruth Sidel Women's Review of Books )

“This richly detailed history documents the uneven and still incomplete struggle to remove the legal penalties and social stigma against cohabitation. Pleck shows how the movement for same-sex marriage has simultaneously expanded the rights of heterosexual cohabitors and obscured some of their particular needs. Can we, she asks, find ways to protect both the right to marry and the right not to have to marry in order to enjoy equal treatment in society?”

(Stephanie Coontz author of A Strange Stirring )

“Not Just Roommates transcends conventional accounts of the dramatic upsurge in cohabitation, demonstrating that it occurred in spite of—and not because of—changes in law and social policy. Pleck deftly chronicles the sociocultural and legal history of ‘living together,’ showing us how class and race are vital to the story and effectively arguing that cohabitors remain second-class citizens in a country that privileges marriage. This is an important scholarly contribution and a book that will transform how readers think about cohabitation and the changing American family.”

(Pamela J. Smock University of Michigan, Ann Arbor )

 

 “In Not Just Roommates, Elizabeth H. Pleck explores all facets of a trend that has produced intense controversy and opposition: from college students ‘shacking up’ to common law marriages among the poor, cohabiting same-sex partners, and unmarried couples’ households among the elderly. Her book not only explains how a phenomenon that sixty years ago was derided as ‘living in sin’ became the norm, it comments forcefully and utterly convincingly about how law and public policy have failed to take account of a fundamental shift in American life.”

(Steven Mintz Columbia University )

About the Author

Elizabeth Pleck is professor emerita of history and human development and family studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has edited nine books about the history of American families. Her most recent book is Love of Freedom: Black Women in Colonial and Revolutionary New England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 15, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226671038
• ISBN-13: 978-0226671031
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,896,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Pleck lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where she is Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. NOT JUST ROOMMATES: COHABITATION AFTER THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION (#4 below) is her sixth monograph in U.S. family and women's history. She learned most about cohabitation for this book from interviewing cohabiting couples and their lawyers. What surprised her most was the large number of arrests and prosecutions for cohabitation in the late 1960s and the way that invasions of privacy continue up to the present.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Overlooked History Explored August 30, 2012

By Sue Denim

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is highly informative, well written, and accessible. It succeeds at doing just what it promises to do, exploring cohabitation since the 1960s. The author makes a good case for the fact that this topic touches the lives of many, if not most, people, including those who eventually marry as well as those who cannot or choose not to. The introduction and epilogue offer a very useful summary explanation of the issues. One of the strengths of the book is that the author does this with a refreshing avoidance of the postmodernist jargon that often bogs down books about sexual politics. The prose is clear, crisp, and unpretentious.

As I read through the book, I became increasingly angry about my second-class status as a US citizen because I fall in the category of a cohabitating adult. The author's point that there is no organized movement fighting the denial of civil liberties to people who choose to live together was enlightening and frustrating. I want full civil and human rights, regardless of my marital status. Elizabeth Pleck points out the geographic differences in acceptance of/resistance to cohabitation by non-married adults. This also raised my awareness; it is another limitation placed upon those of us who live with a significant other outside the boundaries of marriage. It is a form of social oppression to live in fear of being evicted, fired, or otherwise discriminated against, and having to carefully choose what region of the country to live in to avoid harassment and discrimination.

I highly recommend this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Unmarried Couples Getting Some Attention November 21, 2012

By Daniel G. Burke

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Good book. I am in an unmarried relationship with my girlfriend because I don't believe in marriage, nor will I marry. This book addresses something few people talk about...cohabitation and being marriage-free by choice as a valid lifestyle.