Jaclyn Geller

Feminist Jaclyn Geller has been recognized as an expert in the field of marriage research and commentary. Her work focuses on the social and legal history of the institution, with a particular emphasis on how those who choose less conventional partnerships are marginalized in American society. While many are involved in the fight for same sex marriage so that same-sex couples can access marital benefits, Jaclyn Geller asks larger, more provocative questions: when it comes to health insurance, tax breaks, and other benefits, why should marriage be the dividing line between the "haves" and the "have nots," gay or straight? Why should couples receive so many accolades, while other equally valuable partnerships go uncelebrated? Jaclyn Geller has lectured and written on this topic since she was a graduate student. Her writing includes musings on such various subjects as the way medical forms are phrased, the cultural obsession with first ladies, commitment ceremonies between friends, and the problematic notion of unmarried men as irresponsible "Peter Pans."

Many of Jaclyn Geller’s ideas on this topic can be found in her column for the Alternatives to Marriage Project. Always in conversation with her close friends, she enjoys co-authoring some of these articles with women and men whose backgrounds and experiences differ from hers, and who bring fresh perspectives to the subject of marriage status discrimination. She has also published short pieces on the history of domestic life and contemporary wedding practices in the quarterly On the Issues and the acclaimed arts and humanities journal Salmagundi. Jaclyn Geller is also the author of Here Comes the Bride: Women, Weddings, and the Marriage Mystique, a 2001 monograph that humorously critiques the American wedding industry. Since the publication of this landmark book that forged a new path within women's studies, Jaclyn Geller has received appreciative letters and e-mails from men and women throughout the world. Some live alone happily, some enjoy unconventional and/or unlicensed partnerships, and some are in financial and emotional recovery from painful divorces. All express appreciation for her willingness to speak for the unmarried and express an unpopular point of view