Same Sex Intimacies: Families of Choice and Other Life Experiments

Description

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 Intimacies offers 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. This topical book will provide compelling reading for students of the family, sexuality and lesbian and gay studies.

"Bridging literature on gay, lesbian, and bisexual domestic arrangements and current patterns of family and intimacy "Same Sex Intimacies presents qualititative descriptions of diverse, emerging relational forms by nonheterosexuals in Britain. Drawing on 96 in-depth interviews, divided equally between women and men and selected for diversity, the authors generally interweave existing theory and literature with rich presentations of qualitative data...Perhaps one of the biggest strengths of "Same Sex Intimacies is its balanced view of social forces and individual agency. Following recent reconceptualizations of "family" as a verb rather than a noun, the authors view family as a series of everyday practices...Clearly written, well organized, and thoroughly researched, "Same Sex Intimacies is an excellent text for courses on the family and lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals in society.."..." a recent British study, "Same Sex Intimacies, by Jeffrey Weeks, Brian Heaphy and Catherine Donovan, confirms gay male distinctiveness beyond the borders of the United States."-"The Nation