Lesbian Motherhood: Stories of Becoming

A unique practical application of poststructuralist theory to lesbian mothers' narratives

Lesbian Motherhood: Stories of Becoming analyzes the personal stories of 40 lesbian mothers to discover the complex ways their sense of self is constructed in the current legal, political, and social climate. These intimate narratives are examined by using Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's conceptual framework to understand subjectivities by focusing on the many flexible lines of movement that constitute subjectivities, or 'becomings.' This unique source reveals deep insight into a lesbian's construction of self through her stories about her own sexuality, parenting, and other experiences in becoming a mother.

Lesbian Motherhood: Stories of Becoming challenges the assimilation/resistance perspective typically expressed by scholars of lesbian motherhood. Qualitative interviews reveal startling new perspectives to lesbian mother subjectivities viewed within the context of the legal, political, and social areas that seek to define and regulate contemporary family life. This powerful source explores in detail the discursive strategies through which lesbian subjectivities are created and recreated. Deleuze and Guattari's concept of 'becoming' provides a valuable framework for analyzing the discursive strategies employed by those participating in this study.

Topics in Lesbian Motherhood: Stories of Becoming include:

Review of present literature about lesbian motherhood
Details about the interview process
Review of Deleuze and Guattari's analytical framework
Hegemonic ideologies about motherhood
Comparisons of the lesbian mothers' life stories with society's understandings of motherhood
Examination of sexual identities within the stories
'Becoming' processes within the women's stories
Political implications of 'becomings'
And much more!

Lesbian Motherhood: Stories of Becoming is insightful, powerful information crucial to gay, lesbian, and bisexual scholars, and social theorists.