Parents, children and the porous boundaries of the sexual family in law and popular culture
Parents, children and the porous boundaries of the sexual family in law and popular culture
This article focuses on a perceived ideological overlap between popular cultural and judicial treatments of sex and conjugality that contributes to a discursive construction of parenthood and parenting. The author perceives that in both legal and popular cultural texts, there is a sense in which notions of ‘natural’ childhood are discursively constituted as being put at risk by those who reproduce outside of dominant sexual norms, and that signs of normative sexuality (typically in the form of heterosexual coupling) may be treated as a sign of safety. These ideas are rooted in ancient associations between fertility, sexuality and femininity that can also be traced in the historical development of the English language. With the help of commentators such as Martha Fineman, the article situates parents and children within a discourse of family which prioritises conjugality, with consequences for the ways in which the internal and external boundaries of families are delineated.
343-353
Gurnham, David
f63e1a54-5924-4fd0-a3f5-521311cee101
December 2011
Gurnham, David
f63e1a54-5924-4fd0-a3f5-521311cee101
Gurnham, David
(2011)
Parents, children and the porous boundaries of the sexual family in law and popular culture.
Global Studies of Childhood, 1 (4), .
(doi:10.2304/gsch.2011.1.4.343).
Abstract
This article focuses on a perceived ideological overlap between popular cultural and judicial treatments of sex and conjugality that contributes to a discursive construction of parenthood and parenting. The author perceives that in both legal and popular cultural texts, there is a sense in which notions of ‘natural’ childhood are discursively constituted as being put at risk by those who reproduce outside of dominant sexual norms, and that signs of normative sexuality (typically in the form of heterosexual coupling) may be treated as a sign of safety. These ideas are rooted in ancient associations between fertility, sexuality and femininity that can also be traced in the historical development of the English language. With the help of commentators such as Martha Fineman, the article situates parents and children within a discourse of family which prioritises conjugality, with consequences for the ways in which the internal and external boundaries of families are delineated.
Text
Gurnham_'Sex_Fam_in_Law_&_Pop_Cult'_GSCH_1_4.pdf
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Published date: December 2011
Organisations:
Southampton Law School
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Local EPrints ID: 342838
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/342838
ISSN: 2043-6106
PURE UUID: d54ecb4a-fbb3-4261-b1a0-0f70a9180079
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Date deposited: 19 Sep 2012 14:11
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:43
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