Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Lesbian and Gay Parenting: Strategies of Normalization in Spain

  • Published:
Sexuality Research and Social Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper assesses expert discourse within the social and political debate on lesbian and gay parenting. In particular, we analyze the discursive strategies used by the defenders of lesbian and gay parenting, and their impact on the process of the social construction of this new family setting. We examine the discourse of experts invited to a special session of the Spanish Senate addressing changes to the Spanish Civil Code related to the possible regulation of same-sex marriage. Discourse analysis is used for this purpose, specifically the identification of interpretative repertoires in the construction and defense of alternative parenthood. The study identifies three main interpretative repertoires in the analyzed material: lesbian and gay parenthood is “not different”; “the question of rights,” that is, balancing potential tension between the rights of same-sex parents and children; and “desexualization” as a normalizing strategy. These repertoires are evaluated in relation to existing tension between the assimilationist–normalization approach and other frameworks that reject heterocentric solutions. The possibility of establishing an alternative research agenda is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adam, B. D. (2002). From liberation to transgression and beyond: gay, lesbian and queer studies at the turn of the twenty-first century. In D. Richardson & S. Seidman (Eds.), Handbook of lesbian and gay studies (pp. 15–26). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Arditi, J., & Hequembourg, A. (1999). Modificaciones parciales: discursos de resistencia de gays y lesbianas en Estados Unidos. Política y Sociedad, 30, 61–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benkov, L. (1994). Reinventing the family. New York: Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biglieri, P. (2013). Emancipaciones: acerca de la aprobación de la ley del matrimonio igualitario en Argentina. Iconos, Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 46, 145–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cáceres, C. F., Frasca, T., Pecheny, M., & Tertp, V. J. (Eds.). (2004). Ciudadanía sexual en America Latina: Abriendo el debate. Lima: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, V. (2000). Resistance and normalization in the construction of lesbian and gay families: a discursive analysis. In A. Coyle & C. Kitzinger (Eds.), Lesbian and gay psychology (pp. 99–116). London: BPS Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, V. (2002a). Lesbian and gay parenting: A feminist social constructionist analysis. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.

  • Clarke, V. (2002b). Sameness and difference in research on lesbian parenting. Journal of Community and Applied Psychology, 12, 210–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, V., & Kitzinger, C. (2004). Lesbian and gay parents on talk shows: resistance or collusion in heterosexism. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1, 195–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, V., & Saffron, L. (2006). Challenging preconceptions of lesbian parenting. Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, 7, 77–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coontz, S. (2004). The world historical transformation of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 974–979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley, S., & Broad, K. L. (2008). The construction of sex and sexualities. In J. Holstein & J. Gubrium (Eds.), Handbook of constructionist research (pp. 545–566). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Singly, F. (2000). L'individualisme dans la vie commune. Paris: Nathan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diario de Sesiones del Senado (2005). Comisión de Justicia, celebrada el lunes, 20 de junio de 2005. VIII Legislatura. Comisiones, 189. Madrid: Cortes Generales.

  • Díaz, M. P. (1989). Análisis del discurso político. Una aplicación metodológica. Mérida: Editora Regional de Extremadura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donovan, C., & Wilson, A. (2005). New parenting: opportunities and challenges. Sexualities, 8, 131–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flaquer, L. (1998). El destino de la familia. Barcelona: Ariel.

    Google Scholar 

  • García, A. & Martínez, P. (2005). Adopción homoparental, un nuevo modelo de familia. Infocop, 24. Paper available online in http://www.cop.es/infocop/vernumeroCOP.asp?id=1220. Accessed 20 October 2011.

  • Golombok, S., Spencer, A., & Rutter, M. (1983). Children in lesbian and single-parent households: psychosexual and psychiatric appraisal. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24, 551–572.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • González, M. M., Chacón, F., Gómez, A., Sánchez, M. A., & Morcillo, E. (2003). Dinámicas familiares, organización de la vida cotidiana y desarrollo infantil y adolescente en familias homoparentales. Estudios e investigaciones 2002. Madrid: Oficina del Defensor del Menor de la Comunidad de Madrid, 521–606.

  • González, M. M., Morcillo, E., Sánchez, M. A., Chacón, F., & Gómez, A. (2004). Ajuste psicológico e integración social en hijos e hijas de familias homoparentales. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 27, 327–344.

  • Green, R. (1978). Sexual identity of 37 children raised by homosexual or transsexual parents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 692–697.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hanscombe, G. E., & Forster, J. (1987). Rocking the cradle. Boston, MA: Alyson Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, S. M., & O’Connor, E. (2001). For lesbian parents: your guide to helping your family grow up happy, healthy, and proud. Nueva York: The Guilford Press.

  • Kitzinger, C. (1994). Should psychologists study sex differences? Editor's introduction: sex differences research: feminist perspectives. Feminism and Psychology, 4, 501–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzinger, C. (1997). Lesbian and gay psychology. In D. Fox & I. Prilleltensky (Eds.), Critical psychology (pp. 202–216). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Márquez, B. (2011). Discurso experto y acción social: la construcción de la homoparentalidad como asunto político. Documentos de Trabajo Social, 48, 158–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez, A. (2010). Normalización y literatura queer. Voces Hispanas, 7, 5–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, C.J. (1994). Children of the lesbian baby boom: behavioral adjustment, self-concepts, and sex role identity. Lesbian and gay psychology: theory, research, and clinical applications. Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues, 1, 156–175.

  • Patterson, C.J. (2005). Lesbian and gay parents and their children: summary of research findings. In: A.P.A. (Ed.), Lesbian and gay parenting: a resource for psychologists (2nd edition). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

  • Pichardo, J. I. (2009). Entender la diversidad familiar: relaciones homosexuales y nuevos modelos de familia. Barcelona: Bellaterra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, J. (2004). Discourse analysis as a way of analysing naturally occurring talk. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative research: theory, method and practice (2nd ed., pp. 200–221). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: beyond attitudes and behavior. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roussel, L. (1989). La famille incertaine. Paris: Editions Odile Jacob.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toharia, J. J. (2011). Pulso de España 2010. Un informe sociológico. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva & Fundación Ortega y Gasset-Marañón.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetherell, M., & Potter, J. (1992). Mapping the language of racism: discourse and the legitimation of exploitation. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Psychology, Social Anthropology, Social Work and Social Services, Faculty of Social Studies, University of Málaga, Avenue Francisco Trujillo s/n Campus Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Francisco Manuel Montalbán Peregrín, Laura Domínguez de la Rosa & Begoña Márquez García

Authors
  1. Francisco Manuel Montalbán Peregrín
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laura Domínguez de la Rosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Begoña Márquez García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Domínguez de la Rosa.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Peregrín, F.M.M., de la Rosa, L.D. & García, B.M. Lesbian and Gay Parenting: Strategies of Normalization in Spain. Sex Res Soc Policy 11, 20–30 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-013-0140-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-013-0140-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation