经济学人下载:幸福婚姻在美国

Connubial bliss in America
幸福婚姻在美国

Behind the politics of gay marriage, a widening social acceptance
同性婚姻之政治因素的背后，公众对同性恋的接受程度看涨

Jul 30th 2011 | from the print edition

AMERICA is the country, said Alexis de Tocqueville, where the bonds of marriage are most respected and the concept of connubial bliss “has its highest and truest expression.” If the French aristocrat were to revisit America’s capital today, he might at first glance think his observation had withstood the test of time remarkably well. Not content with having in 1996 put a Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the statute book, Congress has now begun to hold hearings on a Respect for Marriage Act. Defended, respected: what could possibly ail marriage in America?

法国贵族托克维尔曾说，美国人最为尊重婚姻联系，夫妻美满生活的概念在美国也是达到了“最顶级最真实的境界。”今日，倘若托尔维尔能够重游华盛顿的话，乍一看也许觉得自己的评论如此经得起时间考验，历久弥新啊！美国于1996年曾经推行了一部《捍卫婚姻法案》，现今，不满足于仅此而已，国会又已着手于就出台《尊重婚姻法案》举行听证会。到底是该捍卫婚姻还是尊重尊重？到底哪个可能会“蹂躏“美国婚姻呢？

Plenty. As the revisiting Norman would swiftly discover, Americans today are better at quarrelling about what marriage is and who should be allowed to enjoy its benefits than they are at the more demanding work of getting and staying married themselves. The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia points to a widening “marriage gap”. Traditional family values are enjoying a revival among better-educated Americans, but are fraying in the lower middle class and have collapsed among the poor. As for laws “defending” and “respecting” marriage, these are merely weapons in a battle that has rolled back and forth for more than a decade between those who say that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry and those who abhor the idea.

能够“蹂躏“美国婚姻的因素还真不少呢。要是故地重游的话，托克维尔会很快发现，如今美国人更多的是争论婚姻的本质是什么，以及哪一方可以从婚姻中受益，反而没有过多谈论他们自己应该提高结婚率，压低离婚率。弗吉尼亚大学《全国婚姻计划》表明“婚姻差距”愈发扩大。受过良好教育的美国人越发崇尚“传统家庭观念”，下层中产阶级的这方面意识在变淡，而之于贫穷家庭，“传统家庭观念”干脆就已分崩离析了。十几年来，美国内部有两种声音，一种声音主张允许同性婚姻，另一种声音对此深恶痛绝，在这十几年里，两番势力反反复复斗争不断，而至于美国法律一边捍卫婚姻，一边尊重婚姻，他们也不过是斗争中的武器而已。