“Today, we have many terms for romantic relationships between women: lesbian, bisexual, same-sex and queer, among others. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were sometimes called ‘romantic friendships’ or ‘Boston marriages’, which Faderman described as “long-term domestic relationships between two women who were financially independent thinkers.” — How Queer Women Powered the Suffrage Movement, New York Times
Boston Marriage: Two women of independent means who live together.
Wellesley Marriage: Two women in academia who live together.
Cambridge Marriage: Two women in academia who don’t want to brag so they say they teach at a school “near Boston.”
Northampton Marriage: Like a Wellesley Marriage but with a better farmers’ market.
New York Marriage: Two people who finish the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle together.
Montauk Marriage: Like a New York Marriage but only on the weekends.
Hudson Valley Marriage: Like a Montauk Marriage but merely upper-middle-class.
L.A. Marriage: Two people who give notes on each other’s screenplays and share a Peloton and a plastic surgeon.
Philadelphia Marriage: Two people who order the same kind of hoagies at Wawa and instinctively understand the other’s reference to “jawn.”
Portland (Maine) Marriage: Two people in matching flannel shirts eating lobster rolls in a Subaru.
Portland (Oregon) Marriage: Two people in matching flannel shirts drinking kombucha in a Subaru.
Chicago Marriage: Two people who get into a fistfight over which deep-dish pizza to get after a Cubs game.
Minneapolis Marriage: Neighbors with a shared driveway shoveling snow together so they can just get to Target, gosh darn it.
Orlando Marriage: A lasting effect of the 2020 NBA playoffs.
Washington, DC Marriage: A couple with conflicting political ideologies. Also known as a “Conway Marriage.”
Miami Marriage: A hot new reality show where people are paired up based on the skimpiness of their rhinestone-studded thong bikinis.
Austin Marriage: Two people with KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD bumper stickers on matching BMWs.
Fargo Marriage: The newest shade of paint from Benjamin Moore that’s the exact color of white people getting married during a snowfall.
Denver Marriage: The name of a craft beer infused with CBD that’s available at the local artisanal brewery.
Cincinnati Marriage: A group of college friends united by the holy bond of football and Skyline Chili served over spaghetti.
New Orleans Marriage: A big ol’ group of people sucking crawfish.
Charleston Marriage: Twelve drunk white women celebrating a bachelorette party on a pedal pub.
Las Vegas Marriage: The name of your cousin’s Elvis tribute band.
Santa Fe Marriage: Healing crystals smothered in green chile sauce.
Savannah Marriage: Ghosts cavorting together in the afterlife.