Concerted Cultivation as Gendered Labor: Implications for Parents of Lesbian and Gay Children in Taiwan

• In Event: 186 - Regular Session. Parenthood 1

Abstract

In this paper, I examine contemporary Taiwanese parenthood through the eyes of mothers and fathers who have lesbian and gay children. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork and family history interviews, I show how new forms of “concerted cultivation” and emotion work are enacted differently by mothers and fathers in Taiwan, with important implications for family negotiations about gender and sexuality. I also analyze variation and convergence in mothers’ and fathers’ engagement with transnational and local knowledge claims about parenting and children’s sexuality.

Author

• Amy Kathryn Brainer, University of Illinois-Chicago