Do you take Party A?
Posted by Julia on Oct 22, 2008. Filed under In The News, Trend Watch
Comments (4), Permalink
After the CA Supreme Court made same-sex marriages legal, the words “bride” and “groom” disappeared from marriage licenses and related legal forms.
I have to admit, this was something I didn’t even think about! Personally, I was too busy celebrating the fact that now more people had the right to get married, like the fashionable couple Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler (congrats to them, by the way!).
What do you think? Is having gender-neutral terms a huge step toward equality for couples, same sex and not? Do you wish we would go back to the traditional terms “bride” and “groom”, like recently married couple Rachel Bird and Gideon Codding do? Or do you not care if Party A marries Party B?
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Comments
“Spouse” would be fine, too, but I like the way “party” sounds both legal and enjoyable—like marriage.
thanks for posting my gay wedding on your blog, julia. i personally asked this couple your question, and they like the sound of “spouse” better. and like most couples, they also adopted a baby girl as their daughter just weeks before their wedding. they’re one happy family ... thanks to the california supreme court! although i don’t think the terms “bride & groom” nor “husband & wife” have disappeared. in fact, it’s still around. only difference is, since the overturn of the ban on gay marriage, they just added “spouses for life” as an acceptable term which really is universal for any gender. wouldn’t you agree?
I think it’s great that there are gender neutral terms, however I think that “Party A” does sound really impersonal and kind of weird. Spouse is a good word. As a wedding coordinator, I think that it is better to refer to fiancees as “partners”, “spouses”, and “significant other”. However, the habit of “Bride” and “Groom” are still there. This is a great change!
-Amy
http://www.planningelegance.com
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I generally prefer gender-neutral terms, such as Congressperson, humankind instead of mankind… Most people aren’t even aware how gender-biased most of our language is, and language has the power to shape our consciousness. However, Party A and Party B sounds SO legalistic and unromantic. How about Spouse A and Spouse B?