Boston marriage

English 2026 July 22 Etymology en, first used in late 19th century New England, and sometimes connected to The Bostonians (1885) by Henry James, which describes such a relationship.Lillian Faderman Lillian Faderman 4 Surpassing the Love of Men 1981 Quill New York 978-0-688-13330-6 190 https://archive.org/details/surpassingloveof00faderich/page/190/mode/1up The term “Boston marriage” was used in late nineteenth-century New England to describe a long-term monogamous relationship between two otherwise unmarried women. Henry James intended his novel The Bostonians (1885) , which he characterized as “a very American tale“ (the italics are James's), to be a study of just such a relationship —“one of those friendships between women which are so common in New England,“ he wrote in his Notebook. Pronunciation bŏs'tn mă'rĭj en /ˈbɒs.tən ˈmæ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/ en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Boston marriage.wav GA Noun en historical A long-term monogamous relationship between two unmarried women, especially in New England between the 18th and early 20th centuries. en Two women, as well known as Susan Channing and Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney Edna D. Cheney, have made separate appeals for this new departure of female habit. A Boston marriage is described to be a sympathetic union of two women who have not been able to make good and agreeable matches with members of the opposite sex. Vanity Fair The Argonaut 05-03-1894 9 on https://archive.org/details/argonaut341894sanf/page/n158 en Cry of the Children several times I was within an inch of coming down here and asking you out for a ride in my red convertible, but the Weird Sisters (indicating Meg and Louisa) told me not to disturb you. But I'm big enough to understand; I wasn't born yesterday. I understand this sort of menage, you know; it's called a Boston Marriage. 1952 John Horne Burns on en 2002 Marilyn Yalom; Laura L. Carstensen Inside the American Couple: New Thinking, New Challenges 81 University of California Press Often, in marked contrast to Boston marriages in previous times, these lesbians keep their asexuality hidden from the community. en 2006 Laura Castañeda; Shannon B. Campbell News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity 217 SAGE Thus, unlike in contemporary relationships, participants in a Boston marriage may or may not have considered genital activity to be an important element in their relationship. References Further reading en terms derived from toponyms en Female History of the United States LGBTQ