Accounting for Lesbian-Headed Families: Lesbian Mothers' Responses to Discursive Challenges

Abstract

Although lesbian mothers are often called to justify their family's legitimacy, we know little about these interactions. The current study included 44 female coparents across 10 focus groups discussing the interactive process of discursive legitimacy challenges. Using the theoretical framework of remedial accounts (Schönbach, 1990), inductive and deductive coding revealed several existing and new types of challenges, accounting strategies, and evaluations relevant to interactions of lesbian mothers. Communicative processes unique to the interactions of female coparents included challenges emerging from societal master narratives (e.g., health care, education, politics, religion); accounting strategies such as leading by example; and evaluations related to the ways in which children render the family acceptable. Findings offer strategies for coping with the discursive challenges lesbian mothers encounter.

Keywords:

• Lesbian-Headed Families
• Discourse Dependent Families
• Remedial Accounts
• Account Episodes

Notes

1. A small number of participants identified themselves as Black (participant n=2, comother n=1), biracial (participant n=1, comother n=1), or Native American (comother n=1). Other religious affiliations reported by participants included Buddhist (n=6), none (n=6), Jewish (n=2), nonpracticing (n=2), atheist (n=1), agnostic (n=1), and other (n=2).

2. FG1 refers to the transcript of focus group number one and 102–103 refers to the specific lines in the transcript. This citation practice is employed throughout the manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jody Koenig Kellas

Jody Koenig Kellas is in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Elizabeth A. Suter

Elizabeth Suter is in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Denver. The current study was funded by the American Psychological Foundation Wayne F. Placek Investigator Development Award. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Family Communication Division at the National Communication Association annual convention (November 2011, New Orleans, LA)