The construction of an open time dimension in narratives about the becoming of lesbian and gay families: An act of resistance

Abstract

This article draws on a study of lesbian and gay (LG) families with children. Narratives about the long and often challenging road to become a family with children have been analysed. In speaking as a LG parent, hegemonic narratives about reproduction and parenthood as a matter for heterosexuals, in a twoparent family structure, are resisted. However, resistance is also displayed through the way time dimension is conveyed in the telling of stories. Instead of assuming a single temporality the narrative analysis is based on multiple concepts of time, so called bakhtinian ‘multiple chronotopes’. In the article the complex relation between counter narrative and master narrative is discussed in relation to the construction of temporality. It is proposed that the LG identity of parents does not per se suffice to produce resistance. Four specific stories have been analysed.