Boston Marriage

Boston marriage is a historical term for a life-partnership between two women who live together, share finances, and do so independent of any male relationships. Not all of these relationships were (or are) lesbian in nature, or even romantic, leading asexual and/or aromantic women to be drawn together in a type of queerplatonic relationship. In the past, a Boston marriage was also a way for a woman to avoid traditional marriage and children without scrutiny.

Boston marriage is also known as a "Wellesly marriage," due to how commonplace it was between academic women. This may have been because women were expected to release their academia upon marriage.

Although Boston marriages were not legal marriages, they were frequently seen as legitimate, natural, and respectable until around 1920. At that time, homosexuality became more recognized and Boston marriages were reinterpreted as being potentially sexual—and therefore suspect. Plus, by the 1920s, there were more options for women to live independently of a man thanks to women's suffrage, coeducation, and the ability to work.

In the modern day, most of these relationships are termed queerplatonic relationships, although the term has re-emerged, often to refer to straight women who live together for companionship and support.