was a term used in the nineteenth
centuries for households where two women
lived together, independent of any male support. These relationships were not necessarily sexual; the existence of platonic Boston marriages was used to quell fears of lesbianism following the loss of men in World War I
. Today, the term is sometimes used when referring to two women living together who are not in a sexual relationship. Such a relationship may have intimacy and commitment, without sexuality.
Origins of the term
The term "Boston marriage" came to be used, apparently, after Henry James
' book The Bostonians
detailed a marriage-like relationship between two women—"New Women
" in the language of the time, women who were independent, not married, self-supporting (which sometimes meant living off inherited wealth or making a living as writers or other professional, educated careers). c.1886.
Less common but nonetheless used was the term "Wellesley marriage."
play Boston Marriage
by David Mamet
depicts such a marriage as having an explicitly sexual component. In 2004, Massachusetts
became the first state in the U.S. to allow legal same-sex marriages