No Place Like Home: Relationships and Family Life among Lesbians and Gay Men

Abstract

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Feeding Lesbigay Families The Character of Feeding Work Feeding Work and the Creation of Gender, Class, Ethnic, and Family Identities 2. Housework in Lesbigay Families The Character of Housework Managing and Envisioning Housework Variations in Housework among Lesbigay Households Housework and Relationship Longevity 3. Housework and the Social Production of Lesbigay Family Kin Work among Lesbigay Families Kith as Family The Lesbigay Family Kin Keepers Variations in Kin Work Patterns Kin Work and the Creation of Family 4. Consumption Work in Lesbigay Families The Character of Consumption Work Variations in Consumption Work Sustaining Lesbigay Families through Consumption Work 5. The Division of Domestic Labor in Lesbigay Families The Egalitarian Myth The Egalitarian Pattern The Specialization Pattern Pragmatic Choices and the Sense of Fairness Conclusion: Domesticity and the Political Economy of Lesbigay Families Family Aspirations The Political Economy of Constructing Family Now You See It, Now You Don't: Gender and Domesticity Devalued and Invisible: Lesbigay Domesticity Marriage and Lesbigay Domesticity: Who Will Be Bound by the Ties that Bind? What Do Lesbigay Families Need to Prosper? Appendix A: Interview Guide Appendix B: Sample Characteristics References Index