Sociology of the Family April 2, 2015

Recap: Ways of Defining Family Legal Affectual Cultural High level of debate in US society around definition of family “Fragile institution”

What is at stake? What family forms are considered natural, normal, and legitimate? Why would our view of the ideal family form change over time?

Denial of family rights in recent history Slaves Interracial couples Same-sex couples Incarcerated people Polyamorous families

Social changes  Family changes Gender equality Sexuality decoupled from reproduction Civil rights and desegregation LGBT visibility

LGBT families in the 21st Century LGBT = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender

LGBT Families in the 21st Century Changes in the census from 2000 to 2010 Same-sex headed households up by 80% Unmarried, different sex cohabitation up by 40% Married, different sex cohabitation up by 3.7%

Reasons for census changes Civil unions and same-sex marriage rights Trend toward marrying later in life Economic decline

LGBT family formation New parenting configurations Division of labor in the household Dissolution rates and reasons

Discussion Questions What do the current debates around same-sex marriage say about how we as a society feel about marriage?