Customer Reviews

In the Name of the Family: Rethinking Family Values in the Postmodern Age

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

in clear, pithy language,the sociologist Judith Stacey explains why current Dan-Quayle-style "family values" moralizing is out of step with the more fluid family arrangements of our era. She shows the damage "pro-family" ideologues have done by devaluing single mothers, live-togethers, gay and lesbian parents -- denied custody, punitive welfare "reform," etc -- an eye-opener!

Stacey describes the changes in and the politics of "the family" in ways that are unsurpassed for their insight and clarity. The fact that this work comes from a particular political orientation is not something she tries to hide, and she persuasively argues, here and elsewhere, that the claim to pure objectivity in family-related research is dangerous. At the same time, she is remarkably balanced, recognizing that orientations toward the family do not neatly line up along the lines of political parties, religious affiliations, or social classes.

Purchased this book for my college goer. He was very pleased with its good condition as if it were directly from a store shelf. Also, he got it pretty fast.

I had to get this book for a sociology class I am currently in about families. Seems to offer interesting perspectives from years past about the family structure.We are still reading it, so I have not finished it yet!

Katha Pollitt, the Nation writer, likes this book. Katha Pollitt, the Nation writer, also thinks the fact that babies are exceedingly interested in their mothers' breasts (for the milk contained therein, 'naturally'!) is not natural, but rather a mere (one hesitates to repeat the mantra) social construction (see her list of other book reviews). (and btw, how about those stupid right-wing babies, believing their motivations toward the breast are somehow hard-wired into them, rather than being the evil production of the misogynist culture in which we live!) These two facts should tell you some very important things about this book.