The Impact of Legal Inequality on Relational Power in Planned Lesbian Families

• In Event: 090 - Section on Sociology of Sexualities Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 11. Families and Intimacy

Abstract

Lesbian families have the potential to create families that are not marked by the inequalities of power often found in cross-sex relationships. Yet based on interviews with 27 women with children in such relationships, we find that living in a state that legally restricts the rights of non-birth mothers to child contact if the couple relationship dissolves severely undermines this possibility. Non-birth mothers engaged in three fear-induced strategies that were at odds with these couples’ desire for equitable partnership: acquiescing to the birth mother’s wishes; making themselves financially, emotionally, and legally indispensable; and using communities to police partners’ behavior and ensure accountability. As a result, the potential for such families to model egalitarian family forms that would help destabilize established gender patterns is diminished. We conclude by pointing to the importance of galvanizing action to remove the remaining laws prohibiting second-parent adoption and by discussing strategies for social change.

Authors

• Jonniann Butterfield, Austin Peay State University

• Irene Padavic, Florida State University