Is our love finite? Must we only exchange care by compulsion?
On March 9, at 10 AM, outside the Prairie Cafe (with possible remote options), the tranarchists of Middleton Hills will descend with our unbridled, unconfined, unrestrained love and desire to discuss the seminal essay of Voltairine de Cleyre on the societal harms and personal violation of marriage and monogamy. We will also discuss a short piece of biographical material on Voltairine de Cleyre written by her (totally platonic, no feral love or connection whatsoever, very straight) friend Emma Goldman as context for De Cleyre’s rhetoric and experiences.
Why is marriage a violation? It deeply restrains the resolution of interpersonal dynamics to something based on preserving a “product”–the nuptial vow–rather than the needs of people, and creates duties out of social relationships that could be a sustainment of an unsustainable joy. It encourages the patriarchal domination over birthing bodies, treating peoples’ joyous, contradictory, and vulnerable experiences as mere means to reproduction. And finally, it forces us to love finitely, rather than sharing unfathomable queer desire however is consensual and being made the closer to those we love precisely by the fact that we are not alone in loving. We do not own each other. Let that release, shatter, and satisfy you.
If you love classical anarchafeminist theory, please join us! Here are links to our readings:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-voltairine-de-cleyre
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/voltairine-de-cleyre-they-who-marry-do-ill
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