Customer Reviews

Families We Choose

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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.

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!

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

A L-I-T-T-L-E too academic for me! However, I admire the effort and would like to read more about queer families.