Feminism and Families 0415912539, 9780415912532

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Feminism and Families

Thinking Gender Edited by Linda Nicholson

Also published in the series FeminismlPostmodernism Linda Nicholson Gender Trouble Judith Butler Words of Power Andrea Nye Femininity and Domination Sandra Bartky Disciplining Foucault Jana Sawicki Beyond Accommodation Drucilla Cornell Embattled Eros Steven Seidman Erotic Welfare Linda Singer Materialist Feminism and the Politics of Discourse Rosemary Hennessy An Ethic of Care Mary Jeanne Larrabee Feminist Epistemologies Linda Alcoff and Elizabeth Potter Gender Politics and Post-Communtsm Nanette Funk and Magda Mueller Engenderings Naomi Scheman Feminist Theory and the Classics Nancy Rabinowitz and Amy Richlin

Postmodern Revisionings of the Political Anna Yeatman Moral Dilemmas of Feminism Laurie Shrage Subjection and Subjectivity Diana T. Meyers Feminist Contentions Seyla Benhabib, Judith Butler, Drucilla Cornell, and Nancy Fraser Feminists Read Habermas Johanna Meehan Sacrificial Logics Allison Weir Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures M. Jacqui Alexander and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, editors

Feminism and Families Edited and with an Introduction

by Hilde Lindemann Nelson

First published 1997 by Routledge Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXI4 4RN 711 Third Avenue. New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 1997 by Routledge Design: Jack Donner All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notices Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Feminism and families / edited and with an introduction by Hilde Lindemann "-1elson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-415-91253-2 (hbk) - ISBN-13: 978-0-415-91254-9 (pbk) L Family. 2. Feminism. HQ734.F374 1996 306.85-dc20

1. Nelson, Hilde Lindemann.

96-28729

crp

This book is for Margaret Urban Walker

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Contents

Introduction

1

Hilde Lindemann Nelson I. HISTORIES

Families and Feminist Theory: Some Past and Present Issues

13

Susan Moller Okin The Myth of the Traditional Family

27

Linda Nicholson "The Family" and Radical Family Theory

43

Naomi Zack II. THE BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMILY Are Families Out of Date?

55

Mary Midgley and Judith Hughes Babystrike!

69

Laura M. Purdy Feminism by Any Other Name

76

Michele M. Moody-Adams Fluid Families: The Role of Children in Custody Arrangements Elise L.E. Robinson, Hilde Lindemann Nelson, and James Lindemann Nelson

90

III. INTIMATE KNOWINGS Privacy, Self-Knowledge, and Pluralistic Communes: An Invitation to the Epistemology of the Family

lOS

John Hardwig Addiction and Knowledge: Epistemic Disease and the Hegemonic Family

116

Judith Bradford and Crispin Sartwell IV. WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT? Family Outlaws: Rethinking the Connections between Feminism, Lesbianism, and the Family

131

Cheshire Calhoun Who Takes Care of the Maid's Children? Exploring the Costs of Domestic Service

151

Mary Romero V. FAMILIES AND MEDICINE Child Abuse and Neglect: Cross-Cultural Considerations

173

Fran