Queer Family Values (Queer Politics Queer Theories) [Hardcover]

Valerie Lehr (Author)

Book Description

Series: Queer Politics Queer Theories | Publication Date: May 20, 1999

The flaw in the fight for gay and lesbian marriage rights, argues Lehr in "Queer Family Values", lies in its failure to call into question the forms of oppression gender, racial, and economic that lead society to privilege the nuclear family. Lehr calls for activists to counter conservative discourses that see the nuclear family what Lehr considers a socially defined institution that works to maintain, in various ways, inequalities among people as the only responsible and mature family alternative. She asks for an approach to family issues and individual liberty that challenges power rather than demands access to privilege. She advocates social policies that enhance the freedom of all people, not simply those gay and lesbian adults seeking to be part of the dominant vision of family in our society.Analyzing recent works on family, gender, race, and class, Lehr shapes a theory of rights, freedom, and democracy that can liberate us from the strictures of conservative hegemony. She also provides practical examples of how activists can work for a more compassionate and caring society. She devotes a chapter, for example, to the responsibilities activists have to lesbian and gay youths, who unlike other children, who might find refuge from social injustice at home most often find in the traditional American home homophobia and isolation. Asserting that family care should be seen as a community function, "Queer Family Values" offers an alternative political strategy focused not on gaining rights, but on enhancing democracy and equality in private life. Author note: Valerie Lehr is Associate Professor of Government and Coordinator of Gender Studies at St. Lawrence University.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Undertaking a comprehensive survey of conservative arguments against lesbian and gay rights, Lehr--a political analyst and professor of gender studies at St. Lawrence University--offers a counter-analysis and critiques the response of the mainstream gay rights movement to conservative views. Her study draws upon a wide range of sources, including Supreme Court decisions, mainstream journalism, the perspectives of radical gay political activists in ACT UP and Queer Nation, gay theorists such as Nancy Polikoff and Andrew Sullivan and such political commentators as Betty Friedan and Christopher Lasch. Throughout, Lehr cogently argues that the "traditional" concepts of marriage, family, gender roles and sexuality that conservatives are trying to defend are unstable and often detrimental to those involved. In response, she postulates a new "radical democratic politics" that would "not bring the state into people's lives, but use state power to enable citizens to have the resources that they need to make real choices." In large part, this new politic is based on alternative models of family, kinship and sexual relationships pioneered by gay men and lesbians. Lehr's critique of gay marriage may anger mainstream supporters of gay rights legislation, and her views on how to integrate gay children and teens into the gay community may provoke even liberal readers. While much of the book is an explication of political and social theory, Lehr's prescriptions for implementing her ideas are often concrete and practical. (July)

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

As gays and lesbians call for the right to marry legally, Lehr (government/gender studies, St. Lawrence Univ.) suggests that the right to marry and its consequent economic benefits are inappropriate goals. She questions whether benefits such as healthcare should be based on marital status at all, arguing that seeking to assimilate into the heterosexual community by imitating the traditional nuclear family will limit the freedom of gays and lesbians who do not wish to live in a monogamous "marriage." Lehr believes that the norms of the dominant culture fail to reflect the many ways families may be constituted, especially in minority communities. She calls on the gay community to challenge current sexual and family norms and create a new vision of family built around "care" rather than biology, sexual relationships, or rights. Interesting but very dense reading; recommended for academic libraries.ADebra Moore, Loyola Marymount Univ. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 212 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (May 20, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566396832
• ISBN-13: 978-1566396837
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,399,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing look at one version of the American families, March 3, 2003

By 

feminist reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queer Family Values: Rethinking the Myth of the Nuclear Family (Queer Politics Queer Theories) (Paperback)

Finally a book looks at debunking the myth that family=heterosexual married Christian middle or upper middle class. Just like we often forget that a family can be just a mother or just a father, it can also be two mothers or two fathers. The author strives to critique our assumptions about family structure, living arrangements, finances, wills, etc. when we are talking about a family that "mainstream" culture ignores or demonizes, kinda like the other reviewer who just had to throw in homophobia into the response. I recommend this book.