Between Making Visible and Obscuring. How Same-Sex Female Families in Poland Manage the Transparency of Their Families
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/2300-1690.24.05Keywords:
non-heteronormative motherhood in Poland, managing transparency, interactional strategies, heteronormativityAbstract
The article undertakes the issue of how Polish same-sex female couples who raise a child conceived during their relationship navigate daily within various dimensions of social space. When acting in an unfavorable socio-cultural climate, exemplified by the marginalization of those beyond the heteronormative framework, women create interactional strategies that allow them to manage the transparency of the family and thus shield it against anticipated symbolic violence. Their activities in that regard concern acting within the private, common, and institutionalized places and rely on making visible or obscuring the family constellation, also based on passing. The article also highlights that some ways of practicing the family, although they contribute to achieving the intended goals, in the long run, may lead to maintaining norms that the study participants find marginalizing. The insights offered are based on my six-year research on non-heteronormative motherhood, which was carried out with the participation of 21 Polish female couples raising a child conceived during their relationship.
References
Berger, P. L., Luckmann, T. (2010). Społeczne tworzenie rzeczywistości. Traktat z socjologii wiedzy. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Blumer, H. (2007). Interakcjonizm symboliczny. Perspektywa i metoda. Kraków: Nomos.
View in Google Scholar
Byard, E., Kosciw, J., Bartkiewicz, M. (2013). Schools and LGBT-Parent Families: Creating Change through Programming and Advocacy. W: A. E. Goldberg, K. R. Allen (red.), LGBT-Parent Families. Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice (ss. 275–290). New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London: Springer.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4556-2_18
CBOS (2021). Komunikat z badań. Stosunek Polaków do osób homoseksualnych. Warszawa: Fundacja Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej.
View in Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2009). Teoria ugruntowana. Praktyczny przewodnik po analizie jakościowej. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Coleman, M., Ganong, L. H. (red.). (2004). Handbook of Contemporary Families. Considering the Past, Contemplating the Future. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage Publications.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412976022
Czykwin, E. (2008). Stygmat społeczny. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Foucault, M. (1995). Historia seksualności. Warszawa: Czytelnik.
View in Google Scholar
Giddens, A. (2010). Nowoczesność i tożsamość. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Glaser, B. G., Strauss, A. L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory. New York: Aldine Publishing.
View in Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (2007). Piętno. Rozważania o zranionej tożsamości. Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.
View in Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (2008). Człowiek w teatrze życia codziennego. Warszawa: Aletheia.
View in Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (2011). Relacje w przestrzeni publicznej. Mikrostudia porządku publicznego. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. E., Downing, J. B., Richardson, H. B. (2009). The Transition from Infertility to Adoption: Perceptions of Lesbian and Heterosexual Couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26(6–7), 938–963. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407509345652
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407509345652
Hałas, E. (2006). Interakcjonizm symboliczny. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Herek, G. M. (2004). Beyond “Homophobia”: Thinking about Sexual Prejudice and Stigma in the Twenty-First Century. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 1(2), 6–24. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1525/srsp.2004.1.2.6
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/srsp.2004.1.2.6
Herek, G. M. (2007). Confronting Sexual Stigma and Prejudice: Theory and Practice. Journal of Social Issues, 63(4), 905–925. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2007.00544.x
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2007.00544.x
Herek, G. M., Gillis, J. R., Cogan, J. C. (2009). Internalized Stigma among Sexual Minority Adults: Insights from a Social Psychological Perspective. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56(1), 32–43. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0014672
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014672
Kochanowski, J. (2004). Fantazmat zróżNICowany. Socjologiczne studium przemiany tożsamości gejów. Kraków: Universitas.
View in Google Scholar
Konecki, K. T. (2000). Studia z metodologii badań jakościowych. Teoria ugruntowana. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Konecki, K. T. (2008). Dotyk i wymiana gestów jako element wytwarzania więzi emocjonalnej. Zastosowania socjologii wizualnej i metodologii teorii ugruntowanej w badaniu interakcji zwierząt i ludzi. Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej, 4(1), 71–115.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8069.4.1.04
Konecki, K. T. (2018). Advances in Contemplative Social Research. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego/Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
View in Google Scholar
Lubbe, C. (2013). LGBT Parents and Their Children: Non-Western Research and Perspectives. W: A. E. Goldberg, K. R. Allen (red.), LGBT-Parent Families. Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice (ss. 209–223). New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London: Springer.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4556-2_14
Majka-Rostek, D. (2008). Związki homoseksualne. Studium socjologiczne. Warszawa: Difin.
View in Google Scholar
Majka-Rostek, D. (2011). Same-Sex Couples in Poland: Challenges of Family Life. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 7(1), 285–296.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2011.564947
Majka-Rostek, D. (2014). Macierzyństwo lesbijek – wybrane konteksty społeczne. Studia Socjologiczne, 215(4), 59–76.
View in Google Scholar
Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674
Mezey, N. J. (2008). New Choices, New Families: How Lesbians Decide about Motherhood. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/book.3350
Mezey, N. J. (2013). How Lesbians and Gay Men Decide to Become Parents or Remain Childfree. W: A. E. Goldberg, K. R. Allen (red.), LGBT-Parent Families. Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice (ss. 59–70). New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London: Springer.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4556-2_4
Misztal, B. (2001). Normality and Trust in Goffman’s Theory of Interaction Order. Sociological Theory, 19(3), 312–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/0735-2751.00143
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/0735-2751.00143
Mizielińska, J. (2007). Płeć, ciało, seksualność. Od feminizmu do teorii queer. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Universitas.
View in Google Scholar
Mizielińska, J., Stasińska, A. (2014). Prywatne jest polityczne: strategie emancypacyjne rodzin z wyboru w Polsce. Studium wybranych przypadków. Studia Socjologiczne, 215(4), 111–140.
View in Google Scholar
Mizielińska, J., Stasińska A. (2020). Negotiations between Possibilities and Reality: Reproductive Choices of Families of Choice in Poland. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 30(2). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1350506819887765
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506819887765
Mizielińska, J., Abramowicz, M., Stasińska, A. (2015). Rodziny z wyboru w Polsce. Życie rodzinne osób nieheteroseksualnych. Warszawa: IP PAN.
View in Google Scholar
Mizielińska, J., Struzik, J., Król, A. (2017). Różnym głosem. Rodziny z wyboru w Polsce. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Morgan, D. (1996). Family Connections: An Introduction to Family Studies. Cambridge: Polity Press.
View in Google Scholar
Morgan, D. (2011). Rethinking Family Practices. Houndmills, Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304680
Oswald, R. F., Holman, E. G. (2013). Place Matters: LGB Families in Community Context. W: A. E. Goldberg, K. R. Allen (red.), LGBT-Parent Families. Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice (ss. 193–208). New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London: Springer.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4556-2_13
Peterson, G. W., Bush, K. R. (red.). (2013). Handbook of Marriage and the Family. New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London: Springer.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3987-5
Prus, R. (1997). Subcultural Mosaics and Intersubjective Realities. An Ethnographic Research Agenda for Pragmatizing the Social Sciences. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
View in Google Scholar
Prus, R. (1999). Beyond the Power Mystique. Power as Intersubjective Accomplishment. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
View in Google Scholar
Prus, R., Grills, S. (2003). The Deviant Mystique. Involvements, Realities, and Regulation. Westport, London: Praeger Publishers.
View in Google Scholar
Ryan-Flood, R. (2009). Lesbian Motherhood: Gender, Families and Sexual Citizenship. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230234444
Slany, K. (red.). (2013). Zagadnienia małżeństwa i rodzin w perspektywie feministyczno-genderowej. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
View in Google Scholar
Strauss, A. L. (1959). Mirrors and Masks. The Search for Identity. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
View in Google Scholar
Strauss, A. L. (1993). Continual Permutations of Actions. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
View in Google Scholar
Turner, J. H., Stets, J. E. (2009). Socjologia emocji. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
View in Google Scholar
Warner, M. (1999). The Trouble with Normal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
View in Google Scholar
Wojciechowska, M. (2014). Uczenie się „normalności” w sytuacji doświadczania symbolicznego wykluczenia – przykład badań nad rodzicielstwem jednopłciowym kobiet w społeczeństwie heteronormatywnym. Studia Socjologiczne, 214(3), 127–157.
View in Google Scholar
Wojciechowska, M. (2015). O działaniu w ramach konceptualnej niewidzialności. Przykład badań nad macierzyństwem jednopłciowym w doświadczeniu matek niebiologicznych. Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej, 11(4), 114–145.
View in Google Scholar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8069.11.4.05
Wojciechowska, M. (2020). Dwie matki jednego dziecka. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego.
View in Google Scholar
Zimbardo, P. G., Leippe, M. R. (2004). Psychologia zmiany postaw i wpływu społecznego. Poznań: Zysk i S-ka.
View in Google Scholar
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
