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In Event: 395 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Paper Session. Sexualities in Family Contexts
Heterosexuality is a critical component of male privilege and dominance. This has been documented in a variety of contexts. Fewer studies have examined the role of heterosexism—that is the allocation of power via gender and sexual hierarchies—in the relationship between parents and children, especially teenage children. Nor have studies examined how families that do not conform to the heteronormative ideal of a father and a mother engage with this ideal, with what consequences. Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews with Black single mothers, we discuss three strategies the mothers use to protect themselves and their children from racialized and heterosexist controlling images they face: namely, that Black single-mother households are deficient, that Black girls are hyper-reproductive, and that Black boys are not raised to be family men. The women described: 1) putting their intimate lives on hold in order to focus on raising their children, 2) carefully monitoring their daughters’ sexualities, and 3) using sons to monitor, advise, and discipline their sisters. The present analysis contributes to a theoretical understanding of how heterosexism is reproduced in the family context and how it intersects with other axes of inequality.