SOCI 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Heteronormativity
Week 4- intimate couples
Cohabitation
• Cohabitation
o Sexual relationship in which two people live together without being legally
married
• Common law union:
o Valid and legally binding marriage entered without civil or religious ceremony,
resulting from a cohabiting relationship that lasts for more than three years
• People who cohabitate
o Divorcees, young couples
o Men are more likely to push cohabitation
▪ May need someone to take care of them, less committed
o Gay people more likely to cohabit
▪ Changes in laws
▪ Marriage seen as an oppressive institution
• Cohabitation is less stable form of relationship, so why cohabit?
o When people are uncertain it is an easy step to test the relationship
o Some people just happen to slide into a cohabiting relationship
▪ Stay over longer then end up living there
o For others, it is strategic
o Replacement for dating without long term commitment
o Immigrants to opt for cohabitation
o More normative in Quebec
• According to research says that cohabitation is bad
o Married couples are happier
Older couples
• Many widows feel like if they remarry they might lose their pension
• Do’t at to take are of sik parter
• Do’t at to gie up idepedee
• Cohabit more now
o They are happier than young couples, happy as married couples
• Increasing numbers of seniors live alone, especially women
• Many older couples live with extended families
• Caring-giving places extra pressure on the relationship
o 18-65 is big enough gap to take care of each other
• have savings and assets
• more elderly people are retiring so there are gaps to fill
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