Declining stigma and changing attitudes

• Stigma → The negative label, social disapproval or shame attached to a person, action or relationship
• In the past, divorces and divorcee were stigmatized

  • Churches tended to condemn divorce and often refused to conduct marriage services involving divorcees
• Juliet Mitchell and Jack Goody (1997) → An important change since the 1960s has been the rapid decline in the stigma attached to divorce
• As divorce is more common, it begins to become normalized and reduces the stigma attached to it (seen as misfortune)