Compares the difficulties faced by adoptees and gays and lesbians in contemporary American society.
Written in 2003; 1,398 words; 3 sources; MLA; $ 46.95
Paper Summary:
Despite seeming unrelated, the search by adoptees for their biological families and the revelation of a nonstandard sexual identity by gays and lesbians to their families actually involve similar psychological components and elucidate similar cultural stereotypes about kinship. In both circumstances, individuals risk discovering weaknesses within assumed American definitions of family. This essays discusses the difficulties encountered by adoptees and gays and lesbians in coming to terms with their nontraditional status. It emphasizes the role of gender and cultural assumptions by looking at the views of authors such as Judith Modell and Kath Weston.
From the Paper:
"Interestingly, both adoptees and gays and lesbians frequently rely on their mothers rather than their fathers for support. In Modell's research, adoptees searched more frequently for their biological mothers than for their biological fathers, and they often expected more support from their adoptive mothers than from their adoptive fathers (1998: 158-9, 165-6). ?"Mother" called up conventions about acting like a child to a parent? (Modell 1998: 166), showing the influence of traditionally assumed kinship ties felt by adoptees. Gays and lesbians also had assumptions about the roles their mothers would play in their coming out. Weston explains, "when people attempted to predict the outcome of disclosure, their judgments generally reflected cultural assumptions about gender, power, and specific categories of kinship relations" (1991: 52). As a result of these assumptions, many people felt that a mother's "feelings" would make her more understanding than a father's "reason" (1991: 53)."
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