Same Sex Intimacies: Families of Choice and Other Life Experiments

by Donovan,Catherine

• ISBN13: 9780415254762
• ISBN10: 0415254760
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-07-18
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Our families are increasingly a matter of choice, and the choices are widening all the time. This is particularly true of the non-heterosexual world, where the last ten years have seen a popular acceptance of same sex partnerships and to a lesser extent of same-sex parenting. Based on extensive interviews with people in a variety of non-traditional relationships, this fascinating new book argues that these developments in the non-heterosexual world are closely linked to wider changes in the meaning of family in society at large and that each can cast light on the other.Same Sex Intimaciesoffers vivid accounts of the different ways non-heterosexual people have been able to create meaningful intimate relationships for themselves and highlights the role of individual agency and collective endeavour in forging these roles: as friends, partners, parents, and as members of communities.

Author Biography

Brian Heaphy is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Nottingham Trent University.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(1)
Happy Families?	1	(2)
`Pick and mix' relationships	3	(2)
Stories we tell each other	5	(2)
About the book	7	(2)
Families of choice: the changing context of non-heterosexual relationships	9	(19)
The emergence of families of choice	9	(4)
From identity to relational rights	13	(6)
The politics of intimate life	19	(6)
Living 'connected lives'	25	(3)
Life experiments: the meanings of non-heterosexual relationships	28	(23)
Life stories	28	(9)
A `queer construct family'	37	(2)
The heterosexual assumption	39	(4)
Self-invention	43	(4)
Everyday experiments	47	(4)
The friendship ethic	51	(26)
The power of friendship	51	(2)
Patterns of friendship	53	(5)
Facing fateful moments	58	(3)
The complexities of friendship	61	(6)
Differences	67	(2)
The value of commitment	69	(7)
The significance of the friendship ethic	76	(1)
In search of home	77	(27)
The different meanings of `home'	77	(1)
First home	77	(5)
Tales of the city	82	(4)
Reflexive community	86	(4)
Multiple belongings	90	(3)
Ways of living	93	(5)
Everyday practices	98	(3)
Home, community and care	101	(3)
Partnership rites	104	(28)
Couples	104	(5)
The egalitarian ideal	109	(5)
Living with power	114	(5)
Intimacy and love	119	(8)
Affirming commitment	127	(5)
Sexual pleasures	132	(25)
The value of sex	132	(6)
Doing gender?	138	(7)
Undoing gender?	145	(3)
Ethics of relating	148	(5)
Erotics and ethical practice	153	(4)
Parenting	157	(23)
The 'gayby' boom	157	(3)
Parenting stories	160	(8)
Parenting practices	168	(6)
Caring practices	174	(2)
Hazards	176	(2)
The needs of children	178	(2)
Towards intimate citizenship	180	(20)
The unfinished revolution	180	(1)
The possibilities	181	(3)
The risks	184	(2)
Practices of freedom	186	(5)
Assimilation or difference?	191	(5)
Intimate citizenship	196	(4)
Appendix 1: Researching Same Sex Intimacies	200	(7)
Appendix 2: Biographies of interviewees	207	(12)
Bibliography	219	(16)
Index	235