The Business of Intimacy

U of Utah Legal Studies Paper No. 05-02

FEMINISM CONFRONTS HOMO ECONOMICUS: GENDER, LAW, AND SOCIETY 467, Martha Fineman, Terrance Dougherty, eds., Cornell University Press, 2005

35 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2005

See all articles by Martha M. Ertman

Martha M. Ertman

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Abstract

The law governing intimate relationships would benefit from exploring the metaphorical and doctrinal analogies between business and intimate affiliation. These analogies bridge the private/private distinction by drawing connections between private business law and private family law. They also improve on conventional family law's understanding of family, remedying long-standing inequities within current family law discourse that are fossilized artifacts of the naturalized construction of family. This article identifies similarities between marriage and close corporations, cohabitation and business partnerships, and polyamory and LLCs, concluding that law could recognize a morally neutral range of intimate affiliations just as it recognizes a range of business affiliations.

Keywords: intimate relationships, family, contract, partnership, polyamory

Suggested Citation

Ertman, Martha M., The Business of Intimacy. U of Utah Legal Studies Paper No. 05-02, FEMINISM CONFRONTS HOMO ECONOMICUS: GENDER, LAW, AND SOCIETY 467, Martha Fineman, Terrance Dougherty, eds., Cornell University Press, 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=757285

Martha M. Ertman (Contact Author)

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law ( email )

500 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-1786
United States

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