Beyond Flesh and Blood: Gay and Lesbian Kinship Structures in Mid-Century America

Thorp, Makenzie

Beyond Flesh and Blood: Gay and Lesbian Kinship Structures in Mid-Century America

Files

2015ThorpM.pdf(376.68 KB)

2015ThorpM_release.pdf(134.56 KB)

Date

2015

Authors

Thorp, Makenzie

Advisor

McKeever, Matthew

Department

Haverford College. Department of Sociology

Type

Thesis

Language

eng

Access Restrictions

Open Access

Terms of Use

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/

Abstract

From the 1950s to the early 1970s, homosexual individuals experienced unprecedentedly widespread discrimination. This was largely due to the particular importance placed on the nuclear family at the time and the perception that homosexuality was incompatible with American family values. As a result, gay men and lesbians created countercultural community structures and spaces to facilitate new forms of kinship. These new kinship norms were shaped by choice, shared history, and community values, rather than biological connection. Due to the pervasive effects of gender roles, gay men and lesbians created separate communities with extremely different social, political, and spatial orientations. These distinct values resulted in contrasting kinship structures. However, as the twentieth century progressed, the gay and lesbian communities began to merge. This was brought on primarily by the emphasis on coalition building during the AIDS crisis. Consequently, the gay and lesbian community became more of a political conglomerate and its politics grew more assimilationist. This is exhibited by the prominence of same-sex marriage in the modern LGBT rights movement. The same-sex marriage movement illustrates that while gay men and lesbians have made tremendous political strides, adherence to normative family structures remains integral to acceptance and participation in American dominant culture.