Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship

by Kath Weston

Book Overview

Kath Weston draws upon fieldwork and interviews conducted in the San Francisco Bay area to explore the ways in which gay men and lesbians are constructing their own notions of kinship by drawing on the symbolism of love, friendship and biology. Conventional views of family have depicted gays and lesbians as exiles from the realm of kinship. In recent decades, however, gay men and lesbians have increasingly portrayed themselves as people who seek not...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231072899
• ISBN13: 9780231072892
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Opened my eyes

This book is very informative. I got it quickly. I recommended many people buy it.

A secret power that Gays, lesbians and other minorities utilize!

As a gay man, the cover photo on this revised edition (by Chantel Regnault) spoke volumes to me, and I knew I had to take a look at this book! It was enjoyable and well worth the effort, as Weston takes us on a scholarly tour of several articles and issues gay and lesbians and minority cultures often face. She proposed that the meaning of "kinship" is culturally defined, and indeed is a "power", a force, a technique that gays and lesbians can and do use to create thier own "families" that are likewise culturally and contextually defined, whether or not there is a common "bloodline". Essenetial reading for the intelligent citizen of any race, gender or sexual orientation!

Families We Choose

I found Kath Westons book "Families We Choose:lesbians, gays, kinship" to be a very interesting and informative book. This book brought many issues to the table regarding the idea of a family. What is a family? family is not solely limited to biology. This book explored the idea of kinship in lesbian and gay relationships and the family that is formed within this community. Also, the difference and the importance of "biological" family vs. chosen family and which becomes or is more important based on acceptance. This book explores issues concerning the lesbian and gay community in regards to raising children and creating families of their own in the nineties incorporating both biological and chosen families. In overview, The idea of kinship is culturally relative and it is suseptible to change. The word kinship and the meaing of family is constantly being challenged and changed to incorporate and include those previously unseen.