This chapter dealt with alternate methods of long term habitation, including singlehood, cohabitation, and civil unions. The author showed that the types of alternative lifestyles have increased because of greater acceptance of couples not marrying. She also talked about the effects of different arrangements on the stability of the family.
Point of interest:
One thing I didn't know that the author pointed out was the fact that gay and lesbian couples experience many of the same problems as heterosexual couples. While this isn't terribly surprising, I had thought that the social pressures that homosexual couples experience would lead to different stress points in the relationship.
Discussion question:
I wanted to ask everyone what they thought of the author's explanation for the higher rate of violence in gay couples as opposed to lesbians. She thought that it might be due to the internalization of society's view of men as more violent. I think this is credible, but I feel like it's missing a component.
One potential factor that I thought of is the discrimination that is faced in these relationships. I am not trying to say that there is not discrimination in lesbian relationships, but as a general rule, discrimination tends to be much stronger towards gay relationships. So, rather than society viewing men as more violent (which could very well be true), it could potentially be more from the constant discrimination the gay men in a relationship face, putting strain on their relationship, etc.
ReplyDeleteKarl Wahlen