Our Story: The Parent and LGBTQ Child Relational Process

This study explores the parent-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) child relational process, before and after the child discloses his or her sexual orientation and/or gender identity to his or her parent(s). Eleven parent-adult child dyads were interviewed in this grounded theory study. Participants included children representing the full LGBTQ spectrum and their parents. Results indicate that parent-child dyads experience a relational process occurring in five sequential phases, the last one continuing indefinitely. Parent-LGBTQ child close relationships manifest societal beliefs regarding LGBTQ identities. Dyad members share an evolving relational identity and construct a shared narrative that shifts in response to familial life events and broader societal changes.     

Does Parenthood Change Implicit Gender‐Role Stereotypes and Behaviors?

This study examined whether parenthood changes gender‐role behavior and implicit gender‐role stereotypes as assessed with an Implicit Association Test in Dutch parents. In a cross‐sectional sample, parents were found to have more traditional gender‐role stereotypes than nonparents with a wish to have a child and nonparents without the wish to have a child. This suggests that gender‐role stereotypes increase after the transition into parenthood. In a longitudinal sample, parents were followed for 4 years after the first birthday of their youngest child. The authors found that implicit gender‐role stereotypes and behavior became increasingly traditional over time in most parents, except for the following two groups: (a) Fathers with highly traditional gender‐role stereotypes did not show change over time and (b) older, highly educated mothers who worked relatively many hours outside the home and who had an egalitarian task division at home, remained egalitarian in their gender‐role stereotypes over time.     

Childcare and work – exploring the views of Finnish mothers and fathers

In this study, meanings given to childcare and work by parents were explored. The aim was to shed light on what factors parents consider when they decide who is going to stay at home. Four mothers and four fathers, all of whom had been both working and stay-at-home parents, were interviewed. The data were analyzed qualitatively. Parents believed in gender equality; however, the decision who stays at home was not based on gender. Cultural beliefs in the primacy of the mother could also be seen. Expectations of good mothering contradicted the ones related to the idea of a good working citizen causing mothers to feel guilty. The mothers said that staying at home was not something they needed to make a ‘conscious decision’ about, whereas the fathers described the process of decision-making as ‘employing their tactics.’ Love for the child and a wish to be with him were talked about by both genders. Work was seen as important and being a stay-at-home parent was temporary for both mothers and fathers. When deciding how the childcare would be arranged, most spouses had discussed the issue with each other and also with significant others.     

Performative and subversive negotiations of face in parent–child communication about childbearing choice across generations

Some women who previously told others they never wanted to have children ultimately do become mothers. These women negotiate their own and their children’s childbearing identities. Using performative face theory, a critical poststructural interpersonal and family communication theory of identity and difference, this study analyzed intergenerational shifts in parent–child communication between families-of-origin (when participants were children) and families-of-creation (when participants were parents). Most participants described how their parents articulated either pronatalist face threats or antinatalist face support, which constrained possibilities for their childbearing identities. Participants, however, stressed that they have talked or plan to talk to their own children in a different, more neutral-natalist way by sharing their stories, emphasizing childbearing agency, and quietly desiring grandchildren. Negotiations of childbearing face are therefore informed by—and in turn sustain, resist, or sometimes subvert—discursive articulations of power/knowledge that circulate throughout culture about (never) having children.     

Male-to-Female Transgender Youth

Abstract

Thirty-one male-to-female transgender youth reported on their gender identity, gender expression, gender atypicality, and their parents' responses. Youth felt, acted, and were told they were different between eight and nine years of age. Many were called sissies and told to change their behavior by parents; more gender-atypical youth reported childhood parental abuse.     

Gender,the Body and Organization Studies: Que(e)rying Empirical Research

Even in organization studies scholarship that treats gender as performative and fluid, a certain ‘crystallization’ of gender identities as somehow unproblematic and stable may occur because of our methodological decision‐making, and especially our categorization of participants. Mobilizing queer theory — and Judith Butler's work on the heterosexual matrix and performativity in particular — as a conceptual lens, we examine this crystallization, suggesting it is based on two implicit assumptions: that gender is a cultural mark over a passive biological body, or is a base identity ‘layered over’ by other identities (class, race, age etc.). Following Butler, we argue that in order to foreground the fluidity and uncertainty of gender categories in our scholarship, it is necessary to understand gender identity as a process of doing and undoing gender that is located very precisely in time and space. Given this perspective on gender identities as complex processes of identification, non‐identification and performativity, we offer some pointers on how the methodological decision‐making underpinning empirical research on gender, work and organization could and should begin from this premise.     

Acceptance and Caregiving of Married and Divorced Custodial Mothers and Fathers

The study examined whether differences in gender and family status affect parental caregiving disposition and acceptance of children among parents of children in mid-childhood. The number of participants were 122 divorced-custodial fathers, 107 married fathers, 85 divorced-custodial mothers, and 82 married mothers (n?=?398). A comparison among four groups of parents revealed the following gender differences: mothers scored higher on anxious caregiving and parental acceptance than fathers, and lower on avoidant caregiving. Regression analysis indicated that the higher the caregiving avoidance or anxiety, the lower the parental acceptance. Family status moderated parental acceptance, as avoidant caregiving was associated with reduced parental acceptance among married parents, but not among divorced custodial parents. The finding that avoidant caregiving was not associated with reduced acceptance among divorced custodial parents implies that their parental acceptance behaviors toward their children are affected by their parental status as sole custodial parent, and the associated responsibilities, rather than by gender.     

As the Twig Is Bent: Children Reared in Feminist Households

This is a study of children in families in which both the responsibility for income production and the household division of labor is actually post-gendered. Our data come from a larger study of privileged white parents who intentionally organize their households fairly, sharing housework, child care, and emotion work. These parents deconstruct gender not only by encouraging their daughters and sons to develop free from stereotypes but also by modeling such behavior in their own social roles. The data reported here are based on interviews with the children themselves and home observations. We have drawn two main conclusions. First, children do seem to adopt, uniformly, their parent's non-sexist attitudes but then they must negotiate serious inconsistencies between their beliefs and their lived experiences with peers. They resolve this with a dichotomy: men and women are similar and equal, but boys and girls are different and unequal Second, personal identities seem to be forged more from lived experiences than from ideology.     

Beginning Practice with Preoperative Male-to-Female Transgender Clients

Abstract

Preoperative male-to-female transgender clients often present with specific and unique psychological and social issues distinct from gay male and lesbian clients. Therapists must be ready to assess and help diagnose these in preparation for work with gender queer clients. Therapists must also be prepared to face and resolve the various counter-transference dynamics inherent in therapeutic relationships with transgendered individuals. This Practice Note focuses on the author's beginning clinical and social case management experience working with two preoperative male-to-female transgender individuals.     

Comparing Gender Expression,Gender Nonconformity,and Parents' Responses of Female-to-Male and Male-to-Female Transgender Youth

Abstract

Twenty-four female-to-male (FTM) and 31 male-to-female (MTF) transgender youth reported on their gender development and expression, and parental responses to their gender nonconformity. Both groups of youth felt different from others of their same birth sex at a mean age of seven and one-half years. The age when parents suggested they were different was younger for the MTF than the FTM youth. The MTF youth were called “sissy” at an earlier age than the FTM were called “tomboy.” Parents of FTM youth encouraged them to act in more traditional gender typical ways at a younger age than the MTF. The MTF youth considered themselves transgender two years earlier than the FTM youth. More parents of MTF youth felt that their children needed counseling than the parents of the FTM youth. While the majority of both groups reported past verbal victimization, comparatively more MTF youth reported being physically victimized. Implications of the developmental trajectories and experiences of transgender youth for school and family counselors are discussed.     

Signs of Change? At‐Home and Breadwinner Parents' Housework and Child‐Care Time

The authors analyze American Time Use Survey data to examine patterns in domestic work among at‐home and breadwinner parents to gauge how time availability, relative earnings, and gender shape time use in couples with extreme differences in earnings and work hours. They find that involvement in female‐typed housework is an important driver of overall housework time. It is counternormative housework behavior by at‐home fathers that shapes conclusions about how time availability, relative resources, and gender influence parents' housework. Although time availability appears to shape child care in comparable ways across parents, mothers are more engaged in child care than similarly situated fathers. Overall, comparisons point to the importance of distinguishing among gender‐normative housework tasks and accounting for differences in engagement on work and nonwork days. The results provide a basis for assessing the social significance of growing numbers of parents in work–family roles that are not gender normative.     

Keeping Mum: Characteristics and Family Dynamics of Mothers Who Are Liable to Pay Child Support in Australia

In recent decades, changes in post‐separation parenting arrangements in Australia have led to an increase in the small but significant group of mothers liable to pay child support to fathers. The present study uses data from the Child Support Reform Study, a national random sample of separated parents in Australia registered with the Child Support Agency (CSA) in 2008. In total, 185 mothers with a child support liability were identified. Drawing on reports from separated mothers and fathers liable to pay child support in 2008, the study found that 43% of liable mothers had shared or more time. Few liable mothers reported spending no time with their child in the previous 12 months. Unlike liable fathers, mothers with a child support liability tended to be more ‘fearful’ of their former partner; have a resident child in their household; work fewer hours in paid employment; and have older children. Liable mothers were also more likely than other separated mothers to describe the relationship with their former partner as ‘fearful.’ Gendered expectations of parenting mean that liable mothers and liable fathers may adopt different behavioural responses to their roles. The implications of these findings for family therapists are briefly discussed.     

Sexual and gender identity work on social media

How do sexual and gender minorities use social media to express themselves and construct their identities? We discuss findings drawn from focus groups conducted with 17 sexual and gender minority social media users who shared their experiences of online harms. They include people with gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer, asexual, non-binary, pansexual, poly, and kink (LGBTQ+) identities. We find that sexual and gender minorities face several challenges online, but that social media platforms provide important spaces for them to feel understood and accepted. We use Goffman's work to explore how sexual and gender minorities engage in ‘front region’ performances online as part of their identity work. We then turn to Hochschild's concepts of ‘feeling rules’ and ‘framing rules’ to argue that presentations of self, or front region performances, must include the role of feelings and how they are socially influenced to be understood.     

Gender and Material Transfers Between Older Parents and Children in Ismailia,Egypt

In Egypt, kin relations have been governed by a patriarchal contract, which defines expectations for intergenerational support along gendered lines. Social changes may be disrupting these customs and bringing attention to the ways gender may influence intergenerational support in rapidly changing contexts. Using data from 4,465 parent–child dyads in Ismailia, Egypt, we examined whether intergenerational material transfers favored women over men and whether gaps in needs and endowments accounted for gender differences in transfers. Fathers gave children money and goods more often than did mothers; mothers received material transfers from children more often than did fathers. Compared to sons, daughters made transfers to parents less often and received transfers from parents more often. We found residual advantages to mothers and daughters, even adjusting for differential needs and endowments. Findings corroborate persistent norms of gender complementarity, patrilocal endogamy, and reciprocation for women's caregiving, despite changes that have threatened patriarchal rules of exchange.     

Swedish fathers choosing part-time work

In Sweden, both parents have a legal right to reduce their working hours to 30 hours per week. Quantitative analysis of 20,000 Swedish parents with children aged between 2 and 7, however, shows mothers to be 14 times more likely to work part time than fathers. Gender imbalance in parents’ part-time employment is thus even more pronounced than in their parental leave take-up, at least in Sweden. An analysis of 14 in-depth interviews with Swedish fathers who have chosen parental part-time work reveals that part-time work represents for them a way to reconcile their separate identities as professionals and as involved fathers. Nevertheless, this study revealed that certain difficulties of a more structural nature complicated this solution for these men; these issues included, in the first place, a strong full-time norm prevailing in male-dominated workplaces, and traditional ideals of masculinity centred on men's breadwinning role. Furthermore, ideals of gender equality and involved fatherhood also showed themselves as having an impact, enabling new masculine positions for part-time working fathers to emerge.     

Conditional Families and Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,Transgender, and Queer Youth Homelessness: Gender,Sexuality, Family Instability,and Rejection

Existing research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth homelessness identifies family rejection as a main pathway into homelessness for the youth. This finding, however, can depict people of color or poor people as more prejudiced than White, middle‐class families. In this 18‐month ethnographic study, the author complicates this rejection paradigm through documenting the narratives of 40 LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness. The author examines how poverty and family instability shaped the conditions that the youth perceived as their being rejected because of their gender and sexuality. This rejection generated strained familial ties within families wherein the ties were already fragile. Likewise, the author shows how being gender expansive marked many youth's experiences of familial abuse and strain. This study proposes the concept of conditional families to capture the social processes of how poverty and family instability shape experiences of gender, sexuality, and rejection for some LGBTQ youth.     

Russian lesbian mothers: Between “traditional values” and human rights

Abstract

Contemporary Russian state ideology has turned towards instituting “traditional family values,” an official turn that increased legal and social discrimination against queer families. The concept of “traditional family values” in the contemporary Russian state discourse refers to the “naturalness” of the heterosexual family, consisting of two parents and their biological offspring. This discourse eliminates the possibility of public lesbian parenting. Following the idea of the conceptualizations of queer temporalities in different geo-cultural contexts, I examine the impact of recent oppressive legal changes in Russia on reproductive choices, everyday parenting strategies, and social interactions among lesbian mothers. In this work, I seek to show more than the obvious harm caused by the “anti-gay law” in terms of its effects on lesbian-headed families. To do so, I analyze the strategies applied by Russian lesbian mothers to tackle the rapidly changing state ideologies and legislative landscapes. I do this by discussing the ways in which lesbian mothers in Russia “manipulate” their social status to avoid possible official or unofficial homophobic actions directed towards them and their children. For example, they may come out selectively, carefully choosing the people to whom they openly present their identity. I argue that to adhere to “ordinary” or “normal” family life, lesbian mothers in Russia use several survival strategies. One of these strategies relates to speculation about immigration to the “West.” That is, some lesbian families prepare all of the necessary documentation, secure valid visas, and attend special workshops where they receive legal and informational support on asylum seeking and emigration from Russia. Another set of strategies for maintaining family identity relies on the decision to come out as a co-mother during interactions with official institutions or to choose other identities; for example, godmother or sister of the birth mother of a child. An additional important strategy for lesbian mothers relies on drafting documents that maintain their rights in severe circumstances. This set of actions focuses on legally supporting the parental rights through the use of loopholes in the Russian legislation and drafting documents that maintain their rights to child custody and their partner’s property.     

Trans Men: Embodiments,Identities, and Sexualities

This article examines the experiences of 25 persons who were assigned female status at birth but do not wish to live as women and take on a masculine or queer gender identity. We employ the concept of “gendered embodiment” and introduce the concept of “sexualized embodiment” to highlight what is involved in this process. We ask how experiencing a masculine gender identity is reflexively tied to a trans man's sexuality and the ways in which these two embodiments are tightly, moderately, or loosely coupled. For example, a tight coupling appeared when trans men began to use testosterone and obtained surgery such as breast removal; a moderate coupling was found where gender validation was sought from a sexual partner (with this being related to sexual preference identities as well as the interpretation of vaginal penetration); the loosest coupling of the gender‐sexuality embodiments was linked to the liberality of the locale and whether “queer” identities could be easily adopted. In sum, our research demonstrates the link between gender and sexuality as a result of the body work trans men do and the historical and geographical situations in which they find themselves.     

Who Adopts Queer and Pansexual Sexual Identities?

Some nonheterosexual individuals are eschewing lesbian/gay and bisexual identities for queer and pansexual identities. The present study aimed to examine the sexual and demographic characteristics of nonheterosexual individuals who adopt these labels. A convenience sample of 2,220 nonheterosexual (1,459 lesbian/gay, 413 bisexual, 168 queer, 146 pansexual, and 34 other “write-in”) individuals were recruited for a cross-sectional online survey. In support of our hypotheses, those adopting pansexual identities were younger than those adopting lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities, and those adopting queer and pansexual identities were more likely to be noncisgender than cisgender, and more likely to be cisgender women than men. The majority of pansexual individuals demonstrated sexual orientation indices within the bisexual range, and showed equivalent patterns of sexual attraction, romantic attraction, sexual behavior, and partner gender as bisexual-identified men and women. In contrast, three-quarters of queer men, and more than half of queer women, reported sexual attraction in the homosexual range. This study found that rather than a general movement toward nontraditional sexual identities, queer and pansexual identities appear most appealing to nonheterosexual women and noncisgender individuals. These findings contribute important information regarding who adopts queer and pansexual identities in contemporary sexual minority populations.