(no subject)

[esmenet]

Here is how to write a Marriage Law that would not immediately be repealed:

First, make it binding only to the so-called 'pureblood' families; those who, in recent years, have styled themselves such.

Second, make it a familial contract: the joining of two houses, perhaps with a change of name. Any children born into those families -- side branches too, if they count themselves as such -- would have citizenship and education in both magical and non-magical Britain.

Third, enforce nothing outside the basic contract. No mandatory sex, no mandatory children. Co-habitation is unnecessary; the couple should see each other reasonably often, but what that is should stay undefined. The custody of children with a different parent may be arranged by the couple in question, though they should carry the name and privileges of one of the new families.

Nice and quick and no dubcon-y sex magic. See? Easy.

Comments

[aldanise]

Wouldn't all of those stipulations actually defeat the purpose of the marriage law, though? (If we assume that the law is the ministry's nefarious way of controlling muggle-borns, or of repopulating the wizarding world, which are the two purposes that I've always seen in ML fics.)

[esmenet]

Thing is, I'm sure the pureblood families don't want their kids tied to muggle-borns any more than muggle-borns want to get bound to the Malfoys or whomever -- so that's, mm, most of the population who'd be willing to try and get out of it?

I've seen a few fics where the marriage law was explicitly intended as a post-war attempt to keep a hold on the purebloods, which actually makes more sense to me.

But the best way to encourage more kids would probably be some sort of reward or stipend, really. If you pass a law saying certain people have to have kids, everyone's going to be really pissed off about it, but if you pass a law saying that the parents of half-blood kids get XXX galleons a year and/or free tutoring and childcare, there's going to be a lot of grumbling but much less likelihood of anyone devoting all their time and energy to getting around it.