Abstract
This chapter adopts the theoretical approach of social constructionism and considers family to be a human product rather than manifestation of any inherent or transhistorical essences. Specifically, it explores the meaning-making processes of lesbian couples who consider themselves family, despite being shut out of wedlock in Hong Kong. The first section critically reviews the family studies in Hong Kong, and it will highlight same-sex partnerships as a missing part of family diversity. In what follows, I shall discuss the findings of a qualitative study based on biographical interviews with 10 lesbians who identified their same-sex partners as family members. It is found that, unlike the “lesbaby boom” in the West during the 1980s, the making of family by Hong Kong lesbians is not so much associated with the plan to have children. Rather, they articulate and experience the same-sex relationships as family along three major axes: affirmation of commitment, provision of care, and integration with blood families. This study shows the interaction and interdependence between agency and structure, and argues that Hong Kong lesbian couples are active agents who borrow and sometimes even go beyond the rules of heterosexual relationships in constructing a new social reality—same-sex family—for themselves.
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Notes
- 1.
See Hong Kong 1991 Population Census, main report, p. 58 for the 1981 figure and the 2006 Population By-Census—Summary Results, p. 60 for the 2006 figure.
- 2.
Demographic Trends in Hong Kong 1981–2006, p.66. The general divorce rates (the number of divorce decrees granted during a given year per 1,000 midyear population aged 15 and over of that year) increased from 0.53% to 2.94% (p. 67).
- 3.
Demographic Trends in Hong Kong 1981–2006, p. 65.
- 4.
Out of the 50,328 marriages registered in 2006, 21,588 marriages were cross-border marriages, with 18,182 cases where the brides were from the mainland and 6,483 cases where the bridegrooms were from the mainland (Demographic Trends in Hong Kong 1981–2006, p. 69).
- 5.
Demographic Trends in Hong Kong 1981–2006, p. 31.
- 6.
Demographic Trends in Hong Kong 1981–2006, p. 32.
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Wong, D. (2013). Hong Kong Lesbian Partners in the Making of Their Own Families. In: Kwok-bun, C. (eds) International Handbook of Chinese Families. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0266-4_35
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