A Member of the Wedding? Heterosexism and Family Ritual

Oswald, Ramona Faith

doi:10.1300/j155v07n02_08

Cited by 38 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Rick (M22b) commented 'I just don't see public recognition to be important at all, people should recognise my relationship with Dan just in everyday interaction, they shouldn't have to all come together and buy you stuff (laughs)'. Like Oswald's (2000) participants, some of our participants were also critical of the materialism of the 'big show' heterosexual wedding -note Rick's rather dismissive phrasing: 'buy you stuff' (and see also Martha's 'buy all this guff' below).…”

Section: Ambivalence About a 'Big Show'mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Many participants viewed external, and particularly familial, affirmation as an important motivation 'to stand up and be counted in public' (John M19a) (Oswald, 2000). Some participants noted that they had been to lots of heterosexual friends and family member's weddings and they had often been subject to heterosexism at these events (Oswald, 2000).…”

Section: Ambivalence About a 'Big Show'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This research indicates that it is mostly women who assume responsibility for wedding work (Currie, 1993;Humble, Zvonkovic & Walker, 2008;Sniezek, 2005). As such, the wedding ritual aligns individual behaviour with social norms that promote conventional gendered expectations (Oswald, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Until relatively recently, few wedding scholars questioned the heteronormative underpinnings of weddings and explored the interrelationships between gender conformity and heterosexism (Kimport, 2012;Oswald, 2000). Anti-gay rhetoric often defines lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in opposition to family and marriage (Oswald, 2002) and the social assumption of heterosexuality is never more apparent than in the so-called 'white wedding' (Ingraham, 1999;Kimport, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anti-gay rhetoric often defines lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in opposition to family and marriage (Oswald, 2002) and the social assumption of heterosexuality is never more apparent than in the so-called 'white wedding' (Ingraham, 1999;Kimport, 2012). Oswald's (2000) research on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people's experiences of attending family weddings provides one of the few explorations of the ways in which the social meanings and practices of heterosexual weddings marginalise LGBT people. Her LGBT participants reported discomfort with the heterosexist rules underpinning wedding rituals such as dancing and catching the bouquet, and the promotion of heterosexuality as a religious imperative in wedding ceremonies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Unscripted and Improvised: Public and Private Celebrations of Same-Sex Relationships

Clarke¹,

Burgoyne²,

Burns³

2013

Journal of GLBT Family Studies

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Section: Ambivalence About a 'Big Show'mentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Ambivalence About a 'Big Show'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Unscripted and Improvised: Public and Private Celebrations of Same-Sex Relationships

Clarke¹,

Burgoyne²,

Burns³

2013

Journal of GLBT Family Studies

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Feminist Perspectives on Families

Sharp

Blume

2016

Encyclopedia of Family Studies

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Feminist perspectives offer a revolutionary critical lens for studying families and for challenging traditional understandings of sex, gender, sexualities, conceptualizations of families, and individuals' family roles. Feminist thought considers issues of power on individual, relational, familial, institutional, structural, and global levels, as well as the interplay of power across these levels. Praxis (i.e., applying research to promote social justice), reflexivity (i.e., critical questioning of research practices), and the use of a diversity of feminist approaches are distinctive features of feminist thought in family studies. Feminist perspectives expose essentialist binaries (e.g., men/women); critique restrictive gendered roles in families (e.g., the disproportionate amount of women's family labor); question biological determinism as well as the myth of separate private/public spheres; and challenge other notions, including: (1) that families are unmitigated safe havens; (2) that there is one monolithic family; and (3) that one type of family is optimal.

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‘Who would take whose name?’ Accounts of naming practices in same‐sex relationships

Clarke

Burns

Burgoyne

2008

Community & Applied Soc Psy

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The practice of a woman assuming her husband's last name upon marriage is a deeply embedded norm in some countries. Whether or not individual heterosexual couples reproduce or resist this practice, it provides a context for making decisions about marital names. No conventions, other than heteronormative ones, govern naming practices in same-sex relationships and families, but very little is known about name changing in these contexts. This paper reports an exploratory qualitative study of the ways in which 30 lesbians and gay men in committed relationships made meaning of name changing and keeping. Only one participant reported changing her last name, some considered name changing a future possibility, but most had no plans to change their name. The lack of conventions regarding naming in same-sex families created a dilemma for some participants-who would take whose name? Many participants did not want to entirely give up their name, thus a hyphenated last name was the most popular option for those contemplating a name change. Accounts of name changing centred on doing/being family. This was also a theme in accounts of name keeping, along Maree Burns is the co-ordinator of the Eating Difficulties Education Network in Auckland, New Zealand. Maree has published several articles examining the discourses and discursive practices of the 'eating disorder' bulimia. She has recently completed ESRC-funded research on money management in same-sex relationships with Carole Burgoyne and Victoria Clarke at the University of Exeter. Maree is currently co-editing two books: Critical Feminist Perspectives on Eating Dis/Orders and Critical Bodies: Representations, practices and identities of weight and body management. with maintaining a continuity of personal and professional identity, avoiding hassle, complications and confusion and resisting heteronormativity. The findings are discussed in relation to other research on naming in same-sex families and research on heterosexual marital naming practices.

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A Member of the Wedding? Heterosexism and Family Ritual

Cited by 38 publications

References 18 publications

Unscripted and Improvised: Public and Private Celebrations of Same-Sex Relationships

Unscripted and Improvised: Public and Private Celebrations of Same-Sex Relationships

Feminist Perspectives on Families

‘Who would take whose name?’ Accounts of naming practices in same‐sex relationships

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