Abstract
While queer theorists celebrate sexuality as constructed and performed, LBG political activists legitimize their demands for civil rights by claiming that sexual identity is essential, that it is biologically determined. However, stories characteristically told by LBG families with children incorporate both essentializing and performative explanations of sexual identity. Hence, two competing descriptions of sexual identity, one essentialist and the other influenced by theories of social construction, reside together in many LBG family stories. This essay uses rhetorical analysis to examine the ideological juxtaposition in LBG family stories.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of “sex.” New York: Routledge.
Crites, S. (1986). Storytime: Recollecting the past and projecting the future. In T. R. Sabin (ed.). Narrative psychology: The storied nature of human conduct (pp. 152–173). New York: Praeger.
Malinowitz, H. (1995). Textual orientations: Lesbian and gay students and the making of discourse communities. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Plummer, K. (1995). Telling sexual stories: Power, change, and social worlds. New York: Routledge.
Scheibe, K. E. (1986). Storytime: Recollecting the past and projecting the future. In T. R. Sabin (ed.). Narrative psychology: The storied nature of human conduct (pp. 152–173). New York: Praeger.
Stone, E. (1988). Black sheep and kissing cousins: How our family stories shape us. New York: Penguin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morrow, C. Family Values/Valued Families: Storytelling and Community Formation Among LBG Families with Children. International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 4, 345–356 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023205630741
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023205630741