Undoing Marriage

Abstract

This article presents a foundational critique of marriage through a linguistic and historical analysis of this legal institution as it has developed in the Philippines. The author argues that the consequences of legalized marriage are the normalization of desire, the standardization of the lived experience for the body, and the idealiza-tion of heterosexual association as the paradigm for lifelong intimacy, goals that constrict the possibilities by which human beings can envision meaningful lives for themselves and others. The entanglement of religious beliefs and the State is accomplished through the Family Code whose main program is to privilege hetero-sexual coupling over all other forms of associations. The paper proposes to de-legitimize marriage by deregulating entry and exit mechanisms as well-as to de-criminalize marriage-related offenses such as bigamy, adultery, and concubinage. These proposals, the author argues, will not only release human beings from free-dom-restricting institutions sponsored by the State but will also allow policymakers to focus their regulatory lenses on inequality and abuse of power present in many types of human relationships.