Lesbians Raising Sons [Paperback]

Jess Wells (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

Traditional philosophy maintains that women alone raising sons cannot make them into "true men"--that households without men have no true "role model" for sons. Working from this presumption, this book addresses the many challenges faced by lesbians raising sons.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lesbians are having babies left and right, and, as Jess Wells points out in her introduction, lesbians who conceive via donor insemination have a 65 percent chance of bearing a son. Times have changed from the radical lesbian separatist days of the '70s and '80s when male children were unwelcome at some lesbian events and communities. Still, raising a man-child in this culture is not an easy thing for lesbians to do. Wells, who has a son, has gathered a wide range of personal essays by lesbian moms including Jenifer Levin, Robin Morgan, Lillian Faderman, and Merril Mushroom that describe the rewards and problems of being a lesbian mom.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books; 1st edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555834108
• ISBN-13: 978-1555834104
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,872,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jess Wells is the author of three novels, five books of short stories, and anthologies of fiction and social commentary. Her latest work of historical fiction, "The Mandrake Broom", dramatizes the fight to save medical knowledge during the witch-burning times in Europe 1465-1540. Her writings are included in more than three dozen literary anthologies and journals, university curricula and European publications. She is a recipient of a San Francisco Arts Commission Grant for Literature and a four-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Jess teaches workshops at writing conferences and art centers on "How to Write Historical Fiction" and "How to Write with a Full-time Job" as well as lectures on historical topics of the Middle Ages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars After all is said and done, a mother is simply a mother!, April 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lesbians Raising Sons (Paperback)

Lesbians Raising Sons was a wonderful collection of stories, fears, funny moments, and discoveries. The women featured in this book draw a thought provoking picture of all that concerns society and themselves relative to the impact lesbian feminism on the development of a male child. From Jess Wells own fears and concerns when discovering that she was indeed going to be the mother of a "man", to Ellen Grabiner marvelling at her son's innate "boy-ness" compared to the inbred "girl-ness" of her nieces all issues, both society's and the mother's own, are touched on. Do boys naturally take on weapons, computer games and a hate of housework with their quota of testosterone? Grabiner questions whether she'd have been as open to a girl child wanting to wear ribbons and makeup as she was for her son to do the same. Is this internalized misogyny?

In each mother's story, one overriding characteristic is achingly clear; they want to raise a happy, healthy child who is comfortable being who they are; a child who is accepted and valued by society for being themselves. Isn't this what all mothers want for their children? In reality, Lesbians Raising Sons is a book about women who want to be good mothers. It is a book about women trying to do what is right in a society that does not always support them in their efforts. Read it and applaud all women who accept the challenge of raising decent, contributing members of our world!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary families: Lesbians raising sons, May 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Lesbians Raising Sons (Paperback)

reviewed by Dorsie L. Hathaway

Lesbians Raising Sons is a fresh and timely look at parenting, with something to offer everyone contemplating life in a a family way. This collection is not just about lesbians, and not just about sons. It's about parenting as an ongoing act of love, connection, and creativity. Themes encompass extended family, freedom to choose gender presentation, dealing with homophobia, and lesbians loving the men their sons will become.

Author Jenifer Levin describes in chilling detail how she and her partner journeyed to Cambodia to adopt Makara, a child abandoned in the aftermath of a modern Holocaust. Another contributor, in a brilliant and touching essay, describes her family's struggle to make the world large enough to embrace and nurture a transgendered child. The children of lesbians cross many borders with their mothers.

Issues facing lesbian moms and their kids include legislation directed at restricting civil rights, the right to retain custody, to obtain alternative fertilization services, to name LGBT* families. Universal issues that all parents share: becoming, and finding, role models; hopes and sometimes worries for children in school; hope that we're raising them with values that will serve them well as they journey out into the world.

I very much enjoyed this collection; my only criticism is the lengthy foreword. Jess Wells' name is traditionally associated with fiction, but Lesbians Raising Sons compares very favorably with other recent books on LGBT* parenting. This collection, surely a labor of love, reflects tremendous range and diversity, and should be appreciated by everyone with an interest in exploring the meaning of the word "family".