Unhitched: Love, Marriage, and Family Values from West Hollywood to Western China . By Judith Stacey . New York: New York University Press, 2011. Pp. xii+275. $27.95 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Social Forces, 2014
Katrina Kimport's Queering Marriage: Challenging Family Formation in the United States focuses on San Francisco's "Winter of Love," a month-long period of time in 2004 during which then-mayor Gavin Newsom declared that same-sex marriages could be performed at City Hall. Ten years later, when over 30 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage, it is hard to remember what a landmark decision this was. Media from all over the globe focused in on the thousands of samesex couples who stood in line outside City Hall in the rain, waiting to marry. Although six months later, the California Supreme Court invalidated all those marriages, the event set the stage for the vote in California on Proposition 8 and its subsequent repeal by the U.S. Supreme Court. Through in-depth interviews with 16 lesbian and 11 gay male couples married during the Winter of Love (15 couples interviewed jointly and 12 cases in which only one member of the couple was interviewed), Kimport considers the ways in which same-sex marriage both challenges and maintains heteronormativity. Utilizing a compelling combination of scholarly theory and qualitative data, Kimport convincingly argues that "the disruption of heteronormativity can take place only when (same-sex) marriage is accompanied by an articulated critique of hegemonic heterosexuality" (p. 158). Whether or not same-sex marriage can meaningfully disrupt pervasive heteronormativity is hotly contested among activists and scholars. Yep, Lovaas, and Elia (2003) have presented a model of two competing sexual ideologies in the United States. The assimilationist position argues that all people have the right to get married, and that marriage results in stable relationships. In contrast, the radical position asserts that marriage is an oppressive institution, and that same-sex relationships should be unique and freely chosen, not mimicking heterosexual norms. These perspectives are echoed in the reflections of Kimport's participants. In her chapters, "Marrying for the Movement," "Marrying for Rights," and "Marrying for Love," Kimport demonstrates the variety of reasons why participants chose to marry. Although many of the respondents viewed their
Different Normativity and Strategic ‘Nomadic’ Marriages: Area Studies and Queer Theory
Middle East Critique, 2020
This article embraces Maya Mikdashi and Jasbir Puar's recent recommendation 'for a politics in queer theory that works to displace the United States as the prehensive force for everyone else's future' in order to ponder the scope and reach of queer theory through/as area studies (Middle East). The article draws upon personal experiences and narratives of homo-desiring men and women in/from Lebanon who perform hetero married life whilst pursuing same-sex desire elsewhere, in order to conceive 'different normativity' and 'nomadic unions.' The article posits 'strategic nomadic marriages' as a fluctuating and unsteady type of union that accommodates the particularity of the 'sex/gender systems' of global south societies. Opening Since 2012, I have come to know an increasing number of self-identified homo-desiring men and women in and/or from Lebanon who opt to perform hetero married life in order to escape kin pressure whilst pursuing same-sex desire elsewhere. I term such practices 'strategic nomadic marriages' (SNMs). My insistence on qualifying these marriages as nomadic rather than queer will become evident throughout my analysis. My focus on SNMs is not meant to act as scholarly evidence of what popular culture has presumed and portrayed all along. 1 Nor am I building a defense case for SNMs, who can easily be discredited as fake or hypocritical. 2 Conversely, I caution against such views for the mere fact that they presuppose a universal system of moral values against which local and indigenous praxes are measured. Last but not least, I do not necessarily situate SNMs in relation to the notion of resistance, an outdated and well-documented paradigm, in my opinion. 3 Such strategic unions are unequivocally celebrated in liberal circles, who view them as a smart effort that circumvents the hostility of Lebanon's legal system towards same-sex desire; at the same time, we must remind ourselves that SNMs' heteropatriarchal underpinnings, as I show in my analysis hereafter, do coincide with critical feminists' views on the institution of marriage as unequally gendered, 4 homonormative 5 and largely exclusionary for those who find themselves operating on the margins. 6 In any case, the peculiarity of my interlocutors' agency escapes and exceeds heteronormativity as we know it. The 'different normativity' 7 that informs their day-today living and through 1 See, for example, Arab-Australian web series I LuV U But… by Foufu Films (2012); the novel Guapa by Saleem Haddad (2016), or Bareed Mist3jil by the Meem Collective (2009). 2 Such accusations prevail in the context of 'cooperative marriages' in China between selfidentified homo-desiring men and/or women; see, for example, Stephanie Yingyi Wang (2019) When Tongzhi Marry: Experiments of Cooperative Marriage between Lalas and Gay Men in Urban China, Feminist Studies 45(1), pp. 13-35. 3 Such interrogations have been examined in length by, for example, Susan B. Boyd
Performative family: homosexuality, marriage and intergenerational dynamics in China
British Journal of Sociology, 2016
Using in-depth interview data on nominal marriages-legal marriages between a gay man and a lesbian to give the appearance of heterosexuality-this paper develops the concept of performative family to explain the processes through which parents and their adult children negotiate and resolve disagreements in relation to marriage decisions in post-socialist China. We identify three mechanisms-network pressure, a revised discourse of filial piety and resource leverage-through which parents influence their gay offspring's decision to turn to nominal marriage. We also delineate six strategies, namely minimizing network participation, changing expectations, making partial concessions, drawing the line, delaying decisions and ending the marriage, by which gay people in nominal marriages attempt to meet parental expectations while simultaneously retaining a degree of autonomy. Through these interactions, we argue that Chinese parents and their gay adult children implicitly and explicitly collaborate to perform family, emphasizing the importance of formally meeting society's expectations about marriage rather than substantively yielding to its demands. We also argue that the performative family is a pragmatic response to the tension between the persistent centrality of family and marriage and the rising tide of individualism in postsocialist China. We believe that our findings highlight the specific predicament of homosexual people. They also shed light on the more general dynamics of intergenerational negotiation because there is evidence that the mechanisms used by parents to exert influence may well be similar between gay and non-gay people.
American Anthropologist, 2013
Over the past three decades, the study of globalization has come to dominate U.S. anthropology. Despite the fact that some of the major theorists of globalization, such as Ulrich Beck (Munich) and Ulf Hannerz (Stockholm), are European, this field of inquiry has not spread as rapidly in continental Europe as it has in North America. This is all changing with the publication of the book under review, at least in Germanic-speaking regions. The Lexicon of Globalization is edited by a triad of Vienna-based scholars consisting of a theoretician of globalization (Kreff), a medical anthropologist (Knoll), and a social anthropologist (Gingrich), which makes for an interesting selection of entries written by some of the most renowned scholars involved with this field of study. The volume contains 145 entries, each roughly two to three pages long. Each entry begins with a boxed paragraph summarizing the main issues to be discussed and is then followed by a concisely written essay accompanied by a brief further reading list of carefully selected sources, thereby making it a handy reference source for advanced students. The three editors begin the volume with a very brief, and to-the-point, introduction, in which they emphasize their concern for the social and cultural aspects of globalization processes. They also emphasize that, although they were mindful of making the volume a cutting-edge resource for academics, they were keen nonetheless to prepare the volume in such a way as to be accessible for practitioners and lay readers alike. Last, understanding that the study of globalization is an interdisciplinary enterprise, they point out that they sought the most able contributors they could find to author the chosen entries. Therefore, although the bulk of the contributors are grounded in the field of anthropology, some come from neighboring disciplines such as sociology, political science, European ethnology and folklore studies, history, linguistics, and law as well as from distinct subfields within them, such as Japanology and Buddhology, for example (p. 18).
(MPhil Thesis from HKU) Cooperative marriage, a “fake” marriage or a new intimate？
Cooperative marriage is a heterosexual marriage negotiated and performed by a lala (a woman with same-sex desire) and a gay man. Building on growing debates on cooperative marriage within the tongzhi community and on intensifying media and academic attention, this thesis presents an empirical investigation of how gay men and lalas understand their experiences while in cooperative marriage. The study is based on in-depth interviews, participant observation and focus group interviews of twenty-two gay men and lalas in cooperative marriage distributed across five cities in China: Beijing, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Foshan. Among the questions addressed are: Why do gay men and lalas opt for this particular type of marriage? What are the lived experiences of sexual minorities facing cultural and institutional discrimination in China? What are the main living strategies and styles they adopt to cope with such discrimination? The study also explores different ways of relating to others and some novel intimate practices emerging. It is shown that, in general, these are not in harmony with the heteronormative values that are dominating society today. The new ways and practices are therefore challenging criticism from liberal rights activists, particularly with regard to issues such as coming out. I identify four types of orientations of gay men and lalas towards cooperative marriage: familial, individual, pragmatic, and idealistic. These reveal how gay men and lalas understand their relations to other main players in their lives and strategize accordingly. Among the characteristics playing key roles in their decision making are gender, being the single child of the family and co-residence with the parents in the same city (local vs. non-local). It is shown that the lives of gay men and lalas in cooperative marriage are being complicated by the need to negotiate multiple relationships, e.g., with the marital partner, the same-sex partner, the marital partner’s partner, the natal family, the in-laws, and the gay community around. I also theorize on the major types of politics of intimate relationships engaged in by gay men and lalas as they craft their living spaces while in cooperative marriage. Finally, I demonstrate that cooperative marriage has led to a new sub-cultural tongzhi movement where gay men and lalas build on the rapport they have developed with each other; e.g., they share information and experiences while participating in semi-open public discussions and matchmaking events. This is leading to emergent types of new ethics within the community which have critically challenged the stereo types and dominant narratives on tongzhi strategizing.
Becoming fathers : family formation by gay men in Hong Kong and Taiwan
University of Hong Kong Libraries, 2020
This study investigated the phenomena of gay men becoming fathers in Hong Kong and Taiwan, focusing on their personal experiences as they sought to realize the viability of their own procreative desires. Gay male parented families challenge the heteronormative and patriarchal ideal imbedded of family prevalent in the culture of Hong Kong and Taiwan. By investigating their experiences, through an intersectional lens this study sought to identify constructed systems of oppression and privilege facilitating or hindering the ability of other gay men to achieve their procreative goals of fatherhood. The achievement of gay men becoming fathers outside of heterosexual relationships is an act of political disruption. Using critical inquiry, practically guided by grounded theory, this study sought to understand the lived experiences of gay men in Hong Kong and Taiwan as they proactively move to become fathers. Grounded theory as detailed by Corbin and Strauss (2014) used in this study is an inductive process and seeks to develop a general theory through the analysis of a unique and specific social phenomenon. The goal was not statistical generalizability, nor being able to describe a broad population, but analytic generalizability of a unique situation or phenomenon. In this case the grounded theory developed from this study centers on the interplay of paternal relationships, cultural values, and the negotiation of obligations and role fulfillment. A theory addressing the dissonance caused by their choosing to not hide their homosexuality, and then repaired by their becoming a father. The broader aim of this study is to advocate for the right of all people to equitably participate in family formation systems, while understanding structures which potentially hinder such involvement. Understanding locations of increased oppression allows for the development of an advocacy agenda, and the creation of supportive services to champion gay men and other sexual minorities who seek family formation by non-traditional means. The results illustrate a considerable interplay between the social, political and cultural systems which create formidable power systems of prejudice and oppression. Systems which have shown can be minimized or negated with personal privilege. The influence of family and culture on the development of a procreative identity can be partially explained through the cultural concepts of filial obligation and face. The study results confirm a reconciled gay-father identity is possible and acceptable. This identity is not an attempt to ‘pass’ or be excepted as a sub-category of the heterosexual male identity, but one that exists in tandem with other accepted and celebrated male identities. The family formation actions of the gay fathers included in this study change the normative view of the institution of the family; however, this action is not assimilationist in nature. The political act of family formation by gay man seeks to define a new family, one that is normal and acceptable, and not a diminished version of an existing family definition. This research study was reviewed and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the University of Hong Kong as detailed under HREC reference number EA1802088.
Love in a big city : sexuality, kinship, and citizenship amongst lala ('lesbian') women in Beijing
2008
This thesis is a critical analysis of individual and collective aspects of same-sex sexuality between women in post-millennial Beijing. I argue that sexual subjectivity ('lala'), rather than being a stable core constituent of self, is continually being produced by, and produces, social aspects of personhood, including bonds of kinship and national belonging. In particular, the fundamental interrelationship between gender and sexual difference in producing subjectivity is probed. I argue that transformations in gender norms in the domain of family, marriage, and alongside national socio-economic development, have enabled lala subjectivity to emerge. I demonstrate the Chinese-specific anchoring of lala, and thereby I critique globalization, sexuality, and China scholarship that predict inevitable Westernization and progress-oriented modernity, including Western-like queer life. My thesis is based on twenty months' anthropological fieldwork, mainly utilizing the methods of ...