Concubinage is a marital relationship between two people who are not married.
Concubinage is a term that comes from the Latin concubinatus and refers to the marital relationship that a couple maintains without being married. The members of these couples are known as concubines although, in certain cultures, the concubine was a woman of lower social position than the man in a marriage-type relationship.
For example: «Marta and I live in concubinage since we do not believe in marriage» , «The concubinage of the actress and the soccer player ended in the middle of a scandal» , «Ezequiel is in favor of concubinage, but I told him that only "I would go to live with him if we got married in the Church."
Origin of concubinage
The concept of concubinage dates back to Ancient Rome and biblical times. Generally, concubinage was voluntary (either by agreement between the man and the woman or between the man and the woman's family) as this relationship was considered to bring economic security to the woman. There was, in any case, servile concubinage that entailed the sexual slavery of women.
In the Roman Empire and Ancient China , concubinage had a lower legal status than marriage . This means that a man could have a wife and a concubine simultaneously. Western laws, on the other hand, only allowed monogamous marriage and left the concubine outside of any legal protection.
Nowadays, however, concubinage is associated with a de facto couple who lives together stably and maintains a relationship analogous to a marriage or conjugal relationship. For this reason, many States have included these couples within a legal framework to avoid the abandonment of one of their members in the event of illness or death.
The situation of homosexual couples
Although there are still many impediments and deep ignorance and denial in this regard, concubinage applies to both heterosexual and homosexual couples. For the latter, however, the situation is not usually easy, since it is normal that all of their rights are not recognized, if they are lucky enough to live in a country where it is not legal to sentence them to death. for his sexuality.
From a legal point of view, the official recognition of concubinage between two people has benefits , such as access to social security that one of the two can provide to their partner through their work. To do this, in the case of heterosexual couples, it is usually enough to point to the other individual, attesting to the relationship between them; On the other hand, there are few countries that allow this right to two people of the same sex living under the same roof.
Concubinage confers rights to the members of the couple.
Commitments and objectives of concubinage
Concubinage entails a series of commitments that are often overlooked, since its meaning goes far beyond shortening distances . Relationships usually begin with a stage of falling in love that opposes a thorough analysis of the other person's traits; This level of objectivity usually occurs after a period of coexistence , and it is through this close experience that the bonds are tested, which can result in them becoming stronger or being destroyed due to poor livelihood.
Sharing life with another person means walking in the same direction, even when each person has different vocational objectives. Concubinage works if it is based on a common moral basis, a series of principles that represent both parties, if the level of enrichment that the relationship grants cannot be rejected. It is an experience that we all have the right to live, whenever we want, regardless of our sexuality, and this last aspect should not have any importance for individuals outside the couple.