How to get hitched as a feminist: mixed-sex civil unions to begin

[stumbledin]

This was the title of a Guardian article about the changes that have come into effect allowing heterosexual couple enter a civil partnership.

Does anyone think this is a victory for feminists?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/01/how-get-hitched-feminist-mixed-sex-civil-partnerships-begin-england-wales

I heard them on the radio during their campaign and I still couldn’t work out what their point was.

Marrriage is what you make of it - if all you want is a piece of paper which you never refer to to provide financial security - Wills / Pensions etc then fine. You don’t have to change anything else in your life if you choose not to.

Patriacal baggage doesn’t mean anything to me in my marriage.

Would I prefer the choice to have my mother’s name to be on my marriage as well as / instead of my father’s as they argued - yes of course.

To me, this is equivalent to having the father listed first on my children’s birth certificates despite me doing 99.9999999% of the work - from conception to registration. Didn’t stop me having children. (This needs to change though)

I think the government missed a trick not providing the same rights to siblings, long term friends etc.

Marriage is what you make of it

This. It's like objecting to Saturday because you don't worship the Roman god Saturn.

It is of you are a virtue signalling feminist or you think infidelity is feminist but otherwise no. There is literally no difference between the two besides the image and the grounds for dissolution.

There's nothing feminist about CPs. They are just marriages without (if you choose) the talking.
The only thing I like about them is being able to record your father's AND mother's details.

Article doesn't actually explain what the difference is.

I would appreciate clear information setting out the legal implications of marriage (or civil union).

There is no difference between being married and being in a civil partnership except you can't end a CP on grounds of adultery or STIs.
Marriage is a verbal contract, a CP is a written contract. A CP lets you record 4 parents each...a marriage only 1 each (father).

On what grounds can you end a CP?

Recording both sets of parents seems fair.

Iirc there are differences with inheritance too, but I can't remember what!

Thanks, Perspicacia. I found this, which also details some apparent differences between pension entitlement:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/marriage-and-civil-partnership-in-england-and-wales

And yes, recording mother and father seems fairer and better for posterity/information, too.

Some people think that marriage comes with too much historical baggage, which give it a sexist association. Then others say they're happy to be doing it in a way that leaves all that behind. So maybe you could say feminists don't all agree over marriage, but I wouldn't call it "feminist" to avoid it altogether and use a totally new scheme. The listing of parents on the documents needs to be made equal, though.