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106 Mich. L. Rev. 189 (2007-2008)
Friends with Benefits

handle is hein.journals/mlr106 and id is 211 raw text is: FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS? Laura A. Rosenbury* Family law has long been intensely interested in certain adult inti- mate relationships, namely marriage and marriage-like relationships, and silent about other adult intimate relationships, namely friend- ship. This Article examines the effects of that focus, illustrating how it frustrates one of the goals embraced by most family law scholars over the past forty years: the achievement of gender equality, within the family and without. Part I examines the current scope of family law doctrine and scholarship, highlighting the ways in which the home is still the organizing structure for family. Despite calls for in- creased legal recognition of diverse families, few scholars have considered whether family law should recognize care provided out- side of the home, and no scholar has considered whether family law should recognize the care provided and received by friends. Part II turns to friendship, considering the practices of people who self- identify as friends and the ways that such practices are already influ- enced by the law's maintenance of a divide between friendship and family. That divide amounts to state support of the types of domestic caregiving that traditionally played vital roles in maintaining state- supported patriarchy and that still largely follow gendered patterns today. Family law thereby reinforces traditional gender role expecta- tions rather than alleviating them. Part III then explores how simultaneous legal recognition of friendship and family could lead to greater opportunities to structure life free from state-supported gen- der role expectations. By supporting more pluralistic personal * Associate Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law. For insightful sugges- tions, critiques, and encouragement, I thank Kathy Abrams, Muneer Ahmad, Jane Aiken, K.T. Albiston, Susan Appleton, Sam Bagenstos, Ken Bamberger, Rick Banks, Michele Benedetto, Danielle Berti, Eric Biber, Liz Blackwell, Grace Blumberg, Sam Buell, Pat Cain, Maggi Carfield, Richard Craswell, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, Anne Dailey, Sharon Dolovich, Elizabeth Emens, Barbara Flagg, Barbara Fried, Amanda Frost, Deborah Gitin, Dan Goldner, Jordan Greenhall, Tom Grey, Adam Hirsch, Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff, Pam Howlett, Emily Hughes, Darren Hutchinson, Michele Jaffe, Anne Joseph, Nalini Kotamraju, Ethan Leib, Adrienne Lockie, Gerald Lopez, Martha McCluskey, Martha Minow, Jennifer Mnookin, Rachel Moran, Melissa Murray, David Oppenheimer, Nancy Polikoff, John Pottow, Lauren Rabin, Neil Richards, Jennifer Rothman, Russell Robinson, Ezra Rosser, Margo Schlanger, Elizabeth Schlesinger, Ann Shalleck, Seana Shiffrin, Steve Sugarman, Rachel Tiven, Molly Van Houweling, Kim Yuracko, and Noah Zatz. I also thank faculty workshop particpants at American University's Washington College of Law, Florida State University College of Law, and Golden Gate University School of Law, as well as the members of the Legal Theory Workshop at Stanford Law School and the Legal Theory Workshop at UCLA School of Law. Finally, I thank Dean Kent Syverud for generous research support. I may be reached at lrosenbury@wustl.edu. 189

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