Author: alauver

Analysis Paper 3: Feminism and the Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook

Feminist ideals exist throughout The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook, particularly those associated with both second-wave and third-wave feminism. As Krolokke and Sorensen explain, second-wave feminism focused on the concept of difference. Similarly, Martin celebrates difference throughout her book, stating, “We have learned to make our differentness our strength.” (p. 6) For example, Martin asserts that “the children of lesbians and gay men are the most considered and planned-for children on earth” (p. 15).

Krolokke and Sorensen mention that second-wave feminism critiqued Western universalism’s “hierarchical ordering, in which one element is not only different from but also less than the other” (p. 14). This critique is reflected in Martin’s book, where she quotes one son of lesbian parents as saying, “I think growing up with lesbian parents taught me about how people can be different. And being different is just different, it isn’t better or worse” (p. 26).

As a book that advocates for equal family rights for gay and lesbian couples, The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook engages in what Krolokke and Sorensen call “identity politics” (p. 12). Krolokke and Sorensen indicate a potential weakness of identity politics, however: “Gay rights activists, for example, paradoxically perpetuate the notion of heterosexuality as the norm when they attempt to secure more rights for homosexuals” (p. 14).

By bringing attention to the marginalized homosexual population, the Handbook also reflects values associated with third-wave feminism. Krolokke and Sorensen mention queer theory and politics, which “create a platform for what has now split into the lesbian, gay, bi-, and transsexual and transgender movements. Queer and transgender feminists attack what they see as the crux of the problem: heteronormativity. They call for recognition of queers” (p. 19). The Handbook advocates for such recognition–for example, Martin explains that “if we [gay and lesbian parents] don’t come out to them [doctors], we will have to deal with the consequences of invisibility” (p. 61).

Some other quotes from the book that reflect or discuss feminist ideals include the following:

“In general, most of those opposed to surrogacy are political conservatives who see it as a violation of traditional family proscriptions, whereby sex and reproduction are always supposed to occur together within the confines of marriage. Yet feminists have been divided on the surrogacy issue, with some feminists siding with conservatives to condemn surrogacy as harmful to women.” – pp. 105-106

“Carmel Shalev, a feminist lawyer, feels that a woman should absolutely be allowed to enter into surrogacy contracts for payment, and should be required to honor those contracts. Not to do so, she argues, would be to continue the patriarchal ‘protectiveness’ of women that has kept them and their reproductive capacities under male domination for centuries.” – p. 107

“An ongoing dialogue about diversity in our families enables our children to learn a wonderful perspective on human relations and society with the same ease and familiarity with which they learn to speak and read.” – p. 182

Analysis Paper 3: “The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook”

I’ve decided to read “The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook,” by April Martin, Ph.D. As is obvious from the title, the book is targeted at lesbian women and gay men–both couples and single individuals–who are interested in becoming parents. What makes this book different from others in the market is that it addresses both lesbians and gay men and the broad array of parenting decisions and situations that both groups can face. Martin is a psychologist, a parent, and a lesbian, and is therefore sensitive to the circumstances in which parent-hopefuls in the LGBT community can find themselves. Martin therefore provides a wealth of practical information about, and numerous examples of, the various ways in which parenting is planned and can occur in LGBT contexts.

The main selling point of this book is that it serves as a useful practical guide to parental planning and helps LGBT readers to more fully anticipate the challenges and controversies they are likely to experience while pursuing parenthood. The book promotes a mindful, confident, and loving approach to parenting as a way to ensure that the difficulties faced by lesbians and gay men in achieving legal parenthood is worthwhile, meaningful, and fulfilling. While I have yet to read the chapters on actual parenting of children, I can deduce from the overall nature of the book that it encourages (obviously) parenting that is sensitive to both LGBT issues and to the challenges from society that children might face as a result of having lesbian or gay parents.

The book’s structure is straightforward. It’s divided into two parts. The first part of the book is entitled “Creating a Family” and focuses on the logistical decisions and difficulties that lesbians and gay men face when planning to become parents–for example, donor selection, alternative insemination, surrogacy, and the legal and emotional aspects of those and other areas as well. The second part of the book is entitled “Making it Work” and focuses on the act of parenting in LGBT families. I’m approximately 1/3 of the way through the book right now and look forward to reading the rest.

Analysis Paper 1 Topic: “Community”

For my first analysis paper, I’ve decided to look at the sitcom Community on NBC.  While ratings seem to indicate that Community isn’t as popular as other, more mainstream television shows (e.g. The Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother), it is still extremely popular among younger viewers who don’t necessarily watch TV live (and thus don’t contribute to ratings). Its fan-base, while not adequately represented by conventional scales of audience measurement, has a highly pronounced online presence and is considered to be one of the most motivated of the various TV “fandoms.” I would argue that Community is an especially significant TV show in that its use of reflexive/meta humor and pop culture references not only challenges typical narrative/sitcom conventions but allows it to connect with an expanding young and culturally literate generation as well.

Besides being my favorite show, Community also does some really interesting things with its female characters, particularly Annie Edison. At the beginning of the show Annie is introduced as a seemingly innocent, goody-two-shoes character who cares primarily about studying, getting good grades, and doing things the right, proper way. She seems also to be relatively sexually inexperienced and repressed in the first season, as evidenced in the clip below (sorry in advance about the ad). In this episode in season one, Annie has been asked to demonstrate how to put a condom on a penis using a model at an STD fair–but she’s never actually seen a penis in person before and is nervous that she won’t know what to do. Her friends Britta and Shirley help her break into the Dean’s office to practice with the model, but they’re caught and confronted in the following scene:

(Of particular note in this scene is the fact that Annie’s sexual inexperience actually becomes an empowering aspect of her personality rather than a weakness or flaw. I plan on discussing this further in my paper.)

Especially interesting to explore will be Annie’s evolution as a character over the course of the first three seasons. Annie becomes more confident in her sexuality over time, both as a function of the organic development of her character and as a function of the writers’ awareness of young male fans wanting to see her more (and see more of her). Looking at how the show handles Annie’s status as a “sex symbol” among the fandom while also maintaining her relative innocence as a character should yield very interesting results.