Conjugal Rites explores the legal shape of marriage as it has been determined by countless decisions concerning entry and exit into the ancient rite. Heather Brook examines the countless rules and protocols governing marriage that make it valid in the eyes of the law. She argues that the various sexual performatives associated with marriage can establish, reinforce, or rupture conjugal unity while exploring the historical and politcal regulations and prohibitions marriage has faced. Brook unites past and present, public and private, to investigate the changing meanings and effects of conjugality, and challenge the way we think about sex, gender and relationships.

Autorentext
HEATHER BROOK is Lecturer in Women's Studies and Sociology, Flinders University, Australia.

Inhalt
Introduction: Propositions, Proposals
Women and Wives: Stalemate?
Sex/Gender: Husbands, Wives, Spouses
Union: Sexual Performatives
Race Trouble: Marriage and the Politics of Assimilation
Consenting Adults: Sex and Crime in Marriage
Adversarial versus No-fault Divorce
Living Together
Sex and Sexualities