Marx, Marriage, and the Private Sphere.

In reading Jurgen Habermas's Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, I came across a quote each from Engels and Marx. Both are to the effect: communism would eliminate marriage as the basis of the family. Moreover, having dropped the direct link between a loving, one-on-one relationship and a larger social unit, the family, marriage could be truly private. By truly private, they mean it would not be legislated and regulated by the state.

The pieces are Engels's "Principles of Communism" and Marx's "On a Proposed Divorce Law."

Implicit to the context in which I found these quotes (I have not yet read either article) is that the family unit is legislated because it is tied up in the public sphere because it is related to the ownership of property, dependence of wife on husband, and dependence of children on both.

I found this note to be especially relevant considering my state's current consideration of a marriage amendment. The notion that it is not enough to positively legislate relationships by legalizing marriage is nuts enough, itself. Additionally, Wisconsin's assembly feels drawn to negatively legislate (to exclude from legality) relationships previously unconsidered by the law: homosexual handfasting.

I wonder if Marx and Engels would have valorized the current unnamed status of gay love as truly private, while dismissing straight marriages as overly public by virtue of their legality.

I can't help but think how far away this is from public opinion (attack of the Habermasians) here in "the northwoods." Considering the works of Marx and Engels relevant to a discussion of gay marriage in a state that, without reasonable intervention, will ban love may make this blog one weak candle in a dark, dark night.

Ah, alienation...