America Needs Same-Sex Marriage and Families

In the state of Massachusetts, same sex marriage has been legal since 2004 and thousands of people have had the right to marry their partners. Although it was a long and difficult process, gay and lesbian couples no longer have to face marriage discrimination in Massachusetts due to their sexual orientation. However, many couples are still barred from this process through other individual state amendments. While it has been difficult to research the exact side effects of same sex marriage, a predominant result has arisen: “there seems to be no appreciable difference between children brought up in stable homosexual homes and those brought up in stable heterosexual ones” (Sullivan 239). The research that has been conducted looks at a wide array of legal, economic, social and mental aspects and concludes that as a whole, no negative harm to the child appears. The belief that same-sex marriage harms children is false and should not be the main cause for the opposition to legalize gay marriage.

Critics of same sex marriage believe that allowing gay couples to marry would harm the children in the family. A Focus on the Family ad “implied that gay marriage would lead to gay parenting in the future, not that it would protect existing lesbian and gay families raising children” (Rimmerman, Cox 161). Critics utilize this argument to defend their position even though the research proves these myths invalid. Anti-gay marriage supporters argue that “development of sexual identity will be impaired… [children] will be more vulnerable to mental breakdown, will exhibit more adjustment difficulties, will be less psychologically healthy,…and may experience difficulties in social relationships”(Sullivan 241). While these claims may appear in a few ca…

… middle of paper …

…riage, Same-Sex Parenting, and America’s Children.” Future of Children. 15.2 (2005): 97-115. ERIC. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Mohr, Richard D. “The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality, and Rights.” Columbia University Press, 2005. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Murphy, T.F. “Same Sex Marriage: Not a Threat to Marriage or Children.” Journal of

Social Philosophy. 42.3 (2011): 288-304. Wiley Online Library 2010 Full Collection. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Polikoff, Nancy D. “Beyond Straight and Gay Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law.” Boston: Beacon Press, 2008. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Rimmerman, Craig A, and Clyde Wilcox. “The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage: Edited by Craig A. Rimmerman and Clyde Wilcox.” University of Chicago Press, 2007. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Sullivan, Andrew. “Same-sex Marriage, Pro and Con: A Reader.” Vintage Books, 2004. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

The Myth of Prometheus in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Knowledge is a distinctively human virtue. After all, if not for the want of human

beings to learn of and master our habitat, would we not still be counted among the

beasts? For all of the good that knowledge brings to us, however, knowledge can just

as easily bring pain. We discover new types of medicine to extend our lives, but that is

balanced by our awareness of our mortality. We find new advances in technology with

which to bring convenience into our lives, but those advances are countered by the

resulting pollutions that are poisoning our world. These conflicting aspects of

knowledge and its consequences were first discussed thousands of years ago by the

ancient Greeks. The Titan Prometheus bestowed upon mankind the gift of knowledge,

but that gift came with a price. In Frankenstein: or, A Modern Prometheus, Mary

Shelley brings the ideas of Prometheus into the early 19th century by co-opting three of

the central themes of the Prometheus myth—the themes of knowledge with

consequence, the underlying sexism within the story of Pandora, and the use of

lightning as a means of representing knowledge.

A brief discussion of the myth of Prometheus is warranted. There are two major

myths involving Prometheus—those of Prometheus pyrophorus, who brings fire from

the lightning bolt of Zeus to benefit mankind, and that of Prometheus plasticator, who

creates man out of clay. These two major themes involving Prometheus at first seem

disparate but upon close examination fit together quite well. Prometheus is both the

creator and benefactor of man. Eventually, “[b]y about the second or third century A.D.,

the two elements where fused together, so that the fire stolen by Prometheus was also

the…

… middle of paper …

…ic

Integrity. 8.3 (2006): 257-270. Academic Search Premire. Web. 17 Nov. 2008.

Shelley, Mary . Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein.

Ed. Johanna M. Smith. 2nd ed. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism.

Boston: Bedford-St. Martin’s P, 2000. 19-189. Print.

Shattuck, Roger. Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography. New York:

St. Martin’s P, 1996. Print.

Smith, C.U.M. “A Strand of Vermicelli: Dr. Darwin’s Part in the Creation of

Frankenstein’s Monster.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 32.1 (2007): 45-53.

Academic Search Premire. Web. 17 Nov. 2008.

Smith, Johanna M. “’Cooped Up’ with ‘Sad Trash’: Domesticity and the Sciences in

Frankenstein.” Mary Shelley: Frankenstein. Ed. Johanna M. Smith. 2nd ed.

Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin’s P, 2000.

313-333. Print.