Performing Commitment Discussion Handout

COMM 211 Discussion for April 5, 2011

Discussion Facilitation Leaders: Katrina, Matt, Derek

Essay: Performing Commitment

Author: Jacqueline Taylor

Sharing her story, we learn that Taylor, the daughter of a Baptist preacher, grew up attending countless weddings. She herself was married twice before meeting her partner, Carol. Throughout the essay, Taylor speaks of the couple shows their commitment to one another and how they reinforce the notion of family in raising their two children, Lucy and Grace.

Major Points…

1. Weddings as Rituals

Here Taylor discusses how beliefs and values are created, communicated, and challenged by rituals and ceremonies, including weddings. She comments on how “variations from the traditional script…may highlight the disparity between convention and actual social practice.” She goes on to say how these disparities then affect the evolution of society.

2. Negotiating Identity within the Context of Ritual – Crossing Cultures

This portion of the essay shares how not being recognized as a family by the state creates additional challenges in defining family for gay and lesbian couples. Taylor highlights that “when gay men and lesbians break cultural norms in their communicative practices, they do so not because of a lack of communicative competence but because the dominant culture practices erase or deny the existence of gay people.”

3. Identity Negotiation within the Wedding Ritual

Taylor continues on sharing how there has been an increase in gay/lesbian weddings since the 1980s. In addition, gay/lesbian weddings and commitment ceremonies are being shown with more frequency in TV and film. In this section of the essay, through her own personal story, we see how couples display their commitment in accordance traditional practices and at the same time against them.

4. Family Rituals

It is here that Taylor describes how the adoption of children has to take additional “coming-out” steps, achieved through events such as their interview with a local radio station. Taylor also explains the strong emphasis Carol and her put on the usage of the word family, defining it “consciously, carefully, and repetitively” with their children.

5. Legal Ties

The final section of this passage recounts the couple establishing two-parent adoption. Taylor wraps-up by sharing her desire to have the benefits afforded to heterosexual couples and the ability to partake in related ceremonies and rituals