In a study of how women and men talk about their divorces, Catherine Kohler Riessman found that both men and women mentioned increased freedom as a benefit of divorce. But the word freedom meant different things to them. When women told her they had gained freedom by divorce, they meant that they had gained “independence and autonomy.” It was a relief for them not to have to worry about how their husbands would react to what they did, and not have to be “responsive to a disgruntled spouse.” When men mentioned freedom as a benefit of divorce, they meant freedom from obligation—the relief of
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