<SNIP>
are the examples of gay extended families, where "families" of gay &
lesbians adopt, artificailly-inseminate, or however, and raise a child in
the shared environment of multiple caregivers, - proving, really, that the
quality of the relations (PLURAL) are what matter, not the quantity, nor
the sexuality, and so on. These models of "millenium" families (ho ho) may
offer us a language which articulates some sort of "progress" in social
development?
diane, thinking aloud...
"Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right." Ani Difranco
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diane celia hodges
faculty of education, centre for the study of curriculum and
instruction,
university of british columbia
vancouver, bc canada
snailmail: 3519 Hull Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V5N 4R8
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Is there a good source that you could recommend for detailed descriptions
and evaluations of such family arrangements ? I admired the French movie,
"La cage aux folles", as an optimistic and tender representation of the
possibilities of good parenting by gay couples, and have read the occasional
newspaper article, but I feel the need for more documentation of actual
families that have "successfully" raised "healthy" children in this way.
One point of reference that comes to mind is the rather sobering set of
findings reported by Tom Weisner and his colleagues from their longitudinal
study of child development in Californian families that defined themselves
as radically anti-sexist, etc. The children by and large reverted over time
to the conservative mind-set that their parents were reacting against !
Robert
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Robert Serpell Telephone: (410)455-2417
Psychology Department (410)455-2567
University of Maryland Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle,
Baltimore, MD 21250 Fax: (410)455-1055
USA
INTERNET: Serpell who-is-at UMBC2.UMBC.edu