Crazy in Love: A new book makes the case for passionate obsession.

After the free-love ardor of the 1960s sexual revolution cooled down, a brave new vision of marriage emerged from its ashes. This has come to be known as “companionate marriage.” In such a partnership, spouses have a mutual interest in career and home, and share in raising children. They talk over dinner, take turns doing dishes, fret together over the children’s schooling, and arrange the occasional date night. To many Americans, the Obamas’ recent studiously scheduled outing together would represent the apogee of a successful equitable marriage. To Cristina Nehring, author of the ambitious polemic A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the Twenty-First Century, one suspects, it would represent all that is wrong with marriage today.

Nehring yearns for a revival of a messier ardor. In her view, we have domesticated love past all recognition, turning what is rightly leonine, destructive, and majestic into a yawning, chubby house cat. Hers is no modest project. She wants nothing less than to radicalize our framework for love, mainly by restoring its chaotic potential: “Romance in our day is a poor and shrunken thing,” she writes. “Among the many rights we must reclaim in love is the right to fail.” A Vindication of Love is not a book that will persuade every reader to jump off the couch and into the arms of a dark, smoky-eyed stranger, but it will rearrange your tidily laid out mental furniture while you’re not looking. For at its core is a well-taken point: With its emphasis on equitable marriage, “choice feminism” has endorsed a tyrannical habit of trying to subordinate passion to reason. And along the way it has demonized obsession. What, Nehring asks, is so wrong with being crazy in love?

At the core of this polemic lurks the age-old dilemma of how we resolve our desire for security with our need for passion. Nehring’s answer is simply: Let go of security and embrace the radical alertness that comes with the fullness of feeling. In a fresh reading of literary and historical figures from the Wife of Bath to Emily Dickinson, Nehring sets out to show us the many benefits of throwing ourselves headlong into love—not least, she reveals, deeper powers of insight. Charting the love lives of Mary Wollstonecraft, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Margaret Fuller, she argues that these women’s capacity for heedless love is directly tied to their intellectual penetration. “We reason deeply when we forcibly feel,” as Mary Wollstonecraft put it. And she should know, as Nehring explains. After falling for a series of brilliant, difficult men, Wollstonecraft had a child with one who married her only for political security. Her subsequent attempted suicide has long been seen by left-leaning thinkers as a blot on her feminist C.V., but Nehring persuasively claims that Wollstonecraft’s erotic passions are bound up with the ferocious sense of justice that made her a great political thinker.

Tags: books, marriage, romance, self-help

Meghan O'Rourke is a founding editor of Double X and the author of Halflife, a book of poems.

Comments

abeldneg

By: dengli0917 | Fri, 01/27/2012 - 22:53

Monster Beats,Monster Beats By Dre,Qualified and Cheap Monster Beats Headphones, including Beats By Dre ,

UGG Pas Cher livré directement à votre porte est tentante. Shopping à fiables magasins de chaussures en ligne tels que Footasylum signifie que vous pouvez obtenir vos mains sur une paire de Bottes UGG Pas Cher en toute sécurité.Analyst es de recherche de détail sont vivement aux consommateurs de happer les éléments qui sont susceptibles d'être chaud cette saison - UGGs Pas Cher

Si vous voulez acheter en ligne Louis Vuitton Sac, ce site est certainement votre choix parfait ! Il y a beaucoup de beautés de Sac Louis Vuitton, beaucoup de rêves de luxe louis vuitton pas cher!

Dans notre boutique en ligne de Monster Beats, Beats By Dre

Did not cause a woman will be very sad

By: dengli0917 | Fri, 01/27/2012 - 22:50

Monster Beats,Monster Beats By Dre,Qualified and Cheap Monster Beats Headphones, including Beats By Dre ,Monster Beats Pro Headphones,Monster Beats Solo,Monster Beats Studio Review on sales at www.monsterbeatsbydreonsale.org ,-60% off the price.

Si vous voulez acheter en ligne Louis Vuitton Sac, ce site est certainement votre choix parfait ! Il y a beaucoup de beautés de Sac Louis Vuitton, beaucoup de rêves de luxe louis vuitton pas cher!

Dans notre boutique en ligne de Monster Beats, Beats By Dre

Brett Favre Jersey, Paul

By: Matt Forte Jersey | Wed, 01/04/2012 - 21:59

Brett Favre Jersey, Paul Hornung Jersey, Deion Sanders Jersey, Jerome Bettis Jersey, Chuck Howley Jersey, Calvin Johnson Jersey, Antrel Rolle Jersey, Lynn Swann Jersey, Harry Carson Jersey, Jahvid Best Jersey Replica, Greg Jennings Jersey, Tony Scheffler Jersey Replica, Malcolm Jenkins Jersey, John Hannah Jersey, Joe Klecko jersey, Ben Roethlisberger Jersey, Rickey Jackson Jersey, Mike Jenkins Jersey, Clay Matthews Jersey, Danny Woodhead Jersey, Brett Keisel Jersey, Nick Fairley Jersey Replica, Jimmy Graham Jersey, A.J. Hawk Jersey, Rocky Bleier Jersey, Desmond Bishop Jersey, Tom Brady Jersey, Roger Staubach Jersey, Jason Pierre-Paul Jersey, Mike Webster Jersey

mac cosmetics sale

By: liuliuxiao66 | Mon, 01/02/2012 - 20:52

In this Coach Outlet Online

By: Donna2090 | Sun, 01/01/2012 - 22:24

In this Coach Outlet Online Store eye-catching holiday season, Pioneer coach factory online American style producer coach factory outlet delivers you a gorgeous gown with bold coach outlet online, multi-colored eye-catching coach outlet online. This season, coach factory outlet store brought us sweet and neutral girl Coach Factory. Purple Coach Factory coupled with metal pendant, pendant is truly a trademark of Coach outlet online, and we will immediately recognize coach factory outlet. Sweet coach factory outlet online princess also can positioned on purple leather-based bag over a beautiful vital coach outlet chain, vital coach outlet online store ring pink bag could make you lovely. Coach factory traditional light leather-based trim contours a perfect, Coach Outlet lightweight wrist strap, Coach Factory Online metal lock; Coach outlet store online is truly a lady placing on a neutral favorite. Coach factory is pleased to begin for fall 2010 males to construct a producer new design. coach factory awesome leather-based objects and components since the founded players, coach outlet store online toward the men's sequence onto a producer new level, American coach outlet design and rugged charm of males in these new and modern alternative objects at a glance. Indispensable handbook digesting pervasive luxury particulars and specific coach factory outlet leather-based producing methods, CLARKSON TOT function is inspired with the broad belt of ultra-light Coach outlet online look after and hand polished sheepskin. shortly after dealing using a comparable gentle folds, louis vuitton pursesgetaway bag is great for daily equipment, its sizing but in inclusion just for weekend travel.

A big surprise here-mulberry

By: looking | Wed, 12/28/2011 - 03:19

A big surprise here-mulberry outlet store, Mulberry is a famous brand in the world; these mulberry bags are on hot sale with cheap price and good service!Mulberry Shop Online, All Kinds of mulberry sale Sale, Discount Mulberry Handbags With New Styles, Free Shopping And Fast Delivered, Buy Now!The official mulberry factory shop Outlet site for women's bags, men's bags.Buy Ugg boots in ouruggs outlet will enjoy the big discount.Buyugg outlet boots in our uggs will enjoy the big discount. And Ugg boots here are in high quality.Our UGGS boots On ugg salestore gives you more discounts with 100% sheepskin guarantee.

Choose karen millen dresses

By: karenmillens | Wed, 12/21/2011 - 21:20

Choose karen millen dresses from so many choices is a daunting task. To select the perfect one is not easy. This karen millen dress is not only to bring a few items, it plays an important role in the image of women and wardrobe. karen millen outlet online are one accessory that is often used and important for the women

As with any karen millen

By: karenmillens | Wed, 12/21/2011 - 21:15

As with any karen millen dresses cream, it moisturises, covers blemishes, adds a bit of colour, and just somehow makes your skin look radiant and glowing. Brilliant stuff and ideal for when you look crap after a night out and want to fake a healthy complexion. Bloody love it, not tried any other BB creams, have no intention of doing so. Oh and it has karen millen dress which, yes, is still important in winter as we all know. Bumble and bumble has finally launched a UK site which is great news as the products are some of my favourite in the industry. Defrizz does what it says on the tin – use on wet or dry hair to smooth out all that central heating-induced damage and make your Karen Millen Coat look nice and healthy and shiny, basically. I’m still a slave to my oils, but this is an A+ styling product and a happy addition to my winter arsenal. This is an ancient product but I just rediscovered it and have been wearing it obsessively since, so here goes. Pixi Beauty is a bit of an unsung favourite beauty range of mine and this Champagne Glow eye shadow is the most amazing everyday colour they do

There is an following list

By: karenmillens | Wed, 12/21/2011 - 21:14

There is an following list attractive determining what things to exactly what this particular fall! Python art print Karen Millen skirts UK in a channel are on the spot. These folks were jogging down the runway in the major style labeling such as Chloe and Lanvin and the’ve right now appeared within your favourite high street store. You may get this specific seek out a smaller amount in case you call at your favorite store and check out the Karen Millen solid color dresses with rare metal steel splashes as well as string connectors. Or even, you can get your cheap Karen Millen dresses model that comes in a very wonderful hobo form. Talk about delicious! Classic bags out of your favorite developers will almost always be the top standby regarding year long manner. From your Chanel Classic A couple of.55, there exists a high end handbag for all.

buy nike air max cheap air

By: fastjgh | Wed, 12/14/2011 - 04:15

buy nike air max cheap air max 95 nike tn trainers and cordial. Otherwise, it wouldnt nike airmax get its title as an Ambassador. air max 95 trainers The nike air max ltd uk Nike Zoom LeBron Ambassador II nike air max 90 cheap sneaker is a lot nike air max within the A Lot More Than a game title title title title sports footwear air max nike 95 being revealed anybody to a different, nike air max cheap from different artists inside the places visited by Lebron.

To start nike air 180 trainers with, the Nike Zoom LeBron Ambassador II nike air max 95 trainers uk sneaker gives cheap nike air max 90 trainers sneaker cheap nike air max skyline uk people available a relaxation within the vivid colors and styles employed nike air max 2009 uk by gifted artists to create their very own version inside the sneaker nike air max 91 trainers for LeBron.

Arts

Crazy in Love