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Feb 19, 2009

lindsay! rated it:

Ok. Listen up.
I was so excited to read this book. Seriously. This is evidenced by: 1. Every time I went to a bookstore, I sought it out, gently caressed it, and lamented the the fact that it cost $26 (plus tax). This behavior has many witnesses. 2. I waited on the hold list at the library for this book for eight months. EIGHT months. 3. I have managed to find the time to read no book outside of my impenetrable pile of school readings since August... except for The God of Small Thin More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2008

Jen rated it:

First off, I have to address it, the editing was pretty atrocious (I found at least 3 really glaring and embarrassing spelling mistakes/unfinished sentences); however, the information contained in the book was fascinating enough to make this Not a Big Deal. The author is witty and I found myself laughing out loud on lots of occasions. The writing style took some time to get used to, because I'm usually reading mass market type non-fiction. Susan Squire assumes you already know quite a bit about More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 01, 2008

Connie rated it:

“This is a story about the idea of marriage in the West: why it came about, what it was supposed to accomplish, who was behind it, and how was it implanted into the minds of the many - where it remains, whether the many are conscious of it or not.” This quote, from the opening A Note to the Reader, sums up the contents of the book. This book is about the history of marriage in the West starting from primal nomadic cultures to the Reformation. It is about how marriage comes to be and how it has c More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Kathleen rated it:

This book is fascinating reminder that marrying for love and companionship is a ridiculously new phenomena. Presenting a fairly comprehensive view of marriage in the West from the conception of human culture to modern times, this history reminds us that marriage has been defined and re-defined through time, religion, and culture. The idea of marriage is itself rooted in the subservience of women, and as such could use more than a little updating.

Or do we still promise to love, hono More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 24, 2009

Teresa rated it:

This is not just a history of marriage, but also a history of sex and the relationship between the sexes in the West since the beginning of civilization. It's an essential read for anyone who's wondered what marriage really means or why it began. Squire starts with some acute Biblical analysis, describes ancient Athens, Rome, medieval Europe, and ends with the influence of Martin Luther. The running theme through all this ancient literature is of the good man turned wrong by the conniving temptr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 13, 2011

Laura rated it:

Fun book. Not terribly deep. Does a survey of marriage in the western world from the Bible through Greece and Rome through Europe to Martin Luther.

Does a nice job of poking fun at the notion that there is a traditional marriage that we’re falling away from. Instead, marriage serves changing social purposes and responds to changing social conditions.

I feel weird about her suggestion that the first women’s rights protest might have been about a woman’s right to wear purp More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2009

Jessi added it

Fortunately, Susan Squire is funny as hell. Otherwise, this book would be too depressing to read. Marriage-it hasn't been so nice to the ladies, as it turns out. I recommend this book, even if you're afraid it will turn you off from the m word. And it likely will. Until you remember you don't live in ancient Greece or are Christian. (Oops, sorry. Are you Christian?)

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2009

Erin F. B. rated it:

This history of marriage (specifically western, Christian, classical marriage) spans prehistoric times up to Martin Luther and the Reformation. It traces the advent of marriage as a way to protect paternity, to it's use as a cure for lust. Squire's main focus is in debunking the idea that love and marriage have always gone hand in hand; in and of itself, not a completely original idea, but it makes for a rollicking ride through history.

The book is filled with countless excerpts fr More...

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Aug 10, 2011

Linda rated it:

“I Do: A Contrarian History of Marriage” is a feminist interpretation of the development of gender roles and sexual relationships through the history of Western civilization. Squires’ ambitious examination begins with an analysis of the Bible creation story and the social practices of matrilineal descent and polygamy amongst the biblical Israelites. She describes the pragmatic marriages of the ancient Athenians, the unique and surprisingly modern sounding practice of trial marriage in the Roma More...

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Feb 27, 2009

Andrea rated it:

I'm very interested in learning about the origins of marriage in human culture, the reasons behind it and how it's shaped society. This book was not what I expected at all. First and foremost it is not a comprehensive history of marriage as much as it is a general overview of that history in the Western world. It goes from scientific assumption on the behavior of early humans, through the ancient Israelites up until Luther's reformation. I was very disappointed that non-caucasian cultures we More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Steph rated it:

I wanted so much more from this book. It could've included some commentary or insight. It could've included more history past the time of the Reformation rather than just summing up everything since that time in a page or two. It could've discussed marriage in other parts of the world besides the West. It could've explored other points of view on marriage besides extremely religious men's. The book is just a summary of a handful of texts written by men in ancient times who had a very extreme and More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 23, 2009

Jenn rated it:

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the definition of marriage and how our present interpretation of marriage was formed. I picked up this book impulsively at the library hoping that it would answer some of my questions. The good news, it did. The bad news? The author's sarcastic and sometimes flippant tone was a bit off-putting to me at times. Additionally, there were editing errors that frustrated me. There was some rather crude language in parts that seemed unnecessary. And final More...

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Aug 07, 2011

John rated it:

Trite, anecdotal, and biased are a few words I would use to describe Squire's book. It's an awesome read if you have never had a history or theology class. Also, you would need no to lack the most common of senses to not have realized most of what she surmises. The stories and anecdotes used are cherry picked and biased as hell to fit the authors overall narrative. Allow me to save you a few hours and paraphrase: Men bad and oppressive, Church and religion of any kind bad and oppressive. The end More...

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Dec 02, 2008

Courtney rated it:

I generally prefer my academic books to be academic, but the snarky tone of this tome is particularly appropriate to the subject matter. This woman knows her stuff, but she doesn't bog you down with academic speech.

Further, I appreciated the humor when delving into such a depressing history as that of marriage; marriage is the result of a culmination of sexist patriarchal practices, and Squire's goal in this book is to make us realize that it's "tradition" is anything but de More...

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Nov 19, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

More colloquial than scholarly, Squire packs her contrarian history of marriage with enough trivia tidbits to keep the reader delighted... and maybe overlook how often she bases her conclusions on "guesses." To her credit, she does cop openly to these leaps of logic, but you'd think she'd have more solidly structured arguments after her thirteen (!?) years of research. Entertaining enough, if only for the discussion of the penances assigned by the medieval church for different sexual More...

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Nov 28, 2008

Cheri rated it:

Witty and fun, this historical look at marriage in the West reads more like an essay in Maxim than an academic paper.

Susan Squire starts with Genesis and traces the history of marriage from Biblical beginnings up through the reformation, ending with Martin Luther. Marriage here only serves as the lens through which to view misogynistic cultural attitudes towards women in the West - and it's an entertaining, if maddening, romp.

A vivid outline of cultural "progress" More...

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Jul 31, 2011

Kate rated it:

The rapture fades and the anxiety creeps in.

“A good wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.”

“Woman is the gateway through which the devil comes.”

“A woman is beautiful to look upon, contaminating to the touch, and deadly to keep.”

“There is no doubt that certain witches can do marvelous things with regard to male organs. These witches collect male organs in great numbers, as many as twenty or thirty member More...

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Mar 28, 2009

Laura rated it:

I stumbled upon this in the "Recent Releases" section at the library. The history of marriage has always been of interest to me, but the one book I'd previously read on the subject (Coontz's Marriage, a History: from Obedience to Intimacy or How Love Conquered Marriage) was disappointing. Susan Squire wrote a humorous, unforgiving, informative book that's as much about sex as it is about matrimony. From the dawn of civilization through The Dark Ages and onto Martin Luther's framewor More...

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Dec 30, 2008

Caty rated it:

Couldn't get through all of it, but got the gist through reading the bulk of it. The sarcastic tone made for easy reading, but I wasn't entirely sure I approved aesthetically--the author does duly warn us that her history is contrarian, though. Anyway, incisive analysis, & surprises by revealing the extent of the Christianity's antisex hysteria throughout the centuries. Plus, shows you how brutally the priorities of patrilineal property values shaped marriage in the Ancient World & beyond. A goo More...

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Jan 29, 2009

Emma rated it:

This book will make your jaw drop. A history of exactly why women were oppressed via marriage for all these years - mainly because the Church as a powerful political system tried to force all sorts of crazy ideas on women that sex was a sin and had all sorts of wacko punishments at the ready for any woman who indulged even in oral sex.

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Sep 26, 2009

Rosalía rated it:

VERY very very interesting and VERY very witty and funny. What Jennifer Michael Hecht did for History and Philosophy in her book, "Doubt," Susan Squire does for History and Anthropology in her book, "I Don't." What both books do is smack the face of the church and thumb their noses at the desperate NEED to control everything -- control sex, control women, control reproduction, control, control, control. Great book. Everybody, men or women, should read it.

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Jun 06, 2009

Librarian rated it:

It was fine, I suppose. There isn't anything particularly negative to say about it, but it was just sort of a yawn for me. I think the strong title is misleading- I didn't find it particularly "contrarian" in tone or in subject. It does talk about some historical tidbits that some may find interesting, but overall, not much that was fresh.

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Mar 04, 2010

Pat rated it:

A fantastic, original, and entertaining read. Considering all the horrifying events Squire covers, from plagues to witch burnings, it's amazing how many times she made me laugh. A fresh and provocative look at how western civilization and religion have shaped contemporary mating.

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May 23, 2009

G (galen) rated it:

It's is kinda like the crash course/stand up comedian version of A History of The Wife. A lot of the same information and scholarship distilled down to the most hilariously devastating one-liners on marriage (and women) by the great thinkers and leaders of our species. Condensed into 200 pages we see century after century of men dealing with the dilemma: Women! Can't live with them Can't live without them!
Sex. Women. Sex with Women. (Sex without Women.) And "Is that baby mine?" More...

2 comments like

Jan 02, 2009

Charlie added it

Squire has a light and entertaining style. At times her treatment seems flippant or repetitive, but she generally succeeds in making apt and humorous observations about the peculiar institution of marriage. My biggest complaint about this book comes from execrable editing. Misspellings, mispunctuation, and word repetitions abound, distracting my attention from the thesis. Other than that, I wish only that Squire had continued her examination of marriage all the way through to the modern day inst More...

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Jan 25, 2010

Sarah rated it:

Would have liked more on recent history (last 200 years) of marriage but I guess that's the next book. The history was so expansive but it fell short on relating it to modern ways/trends of marriage.

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Jun 07, 2009

Nan rated it:

This book was very well researched. So much so that I got rather hacked off about the historical record of how women have been treated. Very good information, however.

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Aug 14, 2009

Erin rated it:

Interesting, but nothing super groundbreaking. It was a bit repetitive, but was a good easy read on a fascinating subject. I think I was just expecting more.

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Nov 22, 2008

Monique rated it:

It's okay. Some parts are funny. She definitely could have done a more thorough job. Way too much focus on the Catholic church and no info in the modern world. Ends with Martin Luther.

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Oct 29, 2008

Meri rated it:

The sweeping scope of the title is misleading: it's really a history of womens' roles in the western world, ending with Martin Luther. Which is fine by me, as the product was witty and entertaining, but too much more would have inspired me to burn my wedding veil and scream at my husband for being such a bastard, historically. Though it pokes at the usual chauvinistic blather that none of us need hear again, like Eve's role in the fall of man, it also brings up some interesting history I hadn' More...

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