Even though same-sex marriage became legal across the U.S. in 2015, some still refer to marriage between a man and a woman as “traditional marriage.” The fact that people need to differentiate between different types of marriage makes many feel the term is disparaging to LGBTQ people.
When people refer to traditional marriage, they’re usually describing the union of a cisgender man and woman that is rooted in love and equality, where both partners have the same rights under the law. However, according to a video by Matt Baume, this notion of traditional marriage looks a lot different than marriages of the past.
Baume is a YouTuber who makes videos about pop culture history from a queer perspective.
In his video “What’s the Definition of ‘Traditional Marriage’?” Baume points out that marriage isn’t exactly the “one man, one woman” story you’ve always heard.
For example, 4,000 years ago, in Mesopotamia, marriage was akin to slavery. During the Roman Empire, public displays of affection weren’t tolerated. Baume also notes that marrying for love is a relatively recent development, and it’s only been a few decades since interracial marriage was legal and married men and women began sharing the same rights.
The video discusses what it means to be married from a historical perspective, making it evident that the institution is constantly in flux. “Look, marriage has been a lot of things. But when you get down to it, it’s always been an agreement between people,” Baume says in the video. “And as people strived to improve themselves, to become a more fair and just society, the marriages they form improve with them.”