« Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en France

While research has been done on the formation of same-sex families and the development of their children, few studies have explored how such children deal with their family situations while at school. School is a vector of heteronormative notions, which raises many questions about the attitudes that...

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Main Author: Alice Olivier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre Urbanisation Culture Société (UCS) de l'INRS 2015-11-01
Series:Enfances, Familles, Générations
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/efg/327
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author Alice Olivier
author_facet Alice Olivier
author_sort Alice Olivier
collection DOAJ
description While research has been done on the formation of same-sex families and the development of their children, few studies have explored how such children deal with their family situations while at school. School is a vector of heteronormative notions, which raises many questions about the attitudes that these children adopt : how do they talk about their family situation ? Based on interviews of 13 girls and boys aged 10 to 19 years from variously structured same-sex families in France, I analyze how these children reveal (or conceal) their unconventional family types over time by viewing it as a “career” stratified by the different levels of school. These levels all have very different normative contexts and thus involve specific and distinct ways of perceiving and talking about one’s family. Elementary school (approximately 6 to 11 years old) has few peer group norms, and same-sex families are not stigmatized, which explains why it is common for them to talk about their family situation. In “collège” (11 to 15 years old, akin to North American middle school or junior high), however, peer group norms are stronger and tend to stigmatize same-sex families, causing children of same-sex parents to reveal their situation to only a few select friends and conceal it from others. In “lycée” (15 to 18 years old, equivalent to high school in North America), having same-sex parents can be seen as a stigma, but it is often reversed when actively publicizing one’s family situation.
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spelling doaj.art-c08d4687601642a6a0420ecfd026c4822022-12-22T03:51:15ZengCentre Urbanisation Culture Société (UCS) de l'INRSEnfances, Familles, Générations1708-63102015-11-0123« Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en FranceAlice OlivierWhile research has been done on the formation of same-sex families and the development of their children, few studies have explored how such children deal with their family situations while at school. School is a vector of heteronormative notions, which raises many questions about the attitudes that these children adopt : how do they talk about their family situation ? Based on interviews of 13 girls and boys aged 10 to 19 years from variously structured same-sex families in France, I analyze how these children reveal (or conceal) their unconventional family types over time by viewing it as a “career” stratified by the different levels of school. These levels all have very different normative contexts and thus involve specific and distinct ways of perceiving and talking about one’s family. Elementary school (approximately 6 to 11 years old) has few peer group norms, and same-sex families are not stigmatized, which explains why it is common for them to talk about their family situation. In “collège” (11 to 15 years old, akin to North American middle school or junior high), however, peer group norms are stronger and tend to stigmatize same-sex families, causing children of same-sex parents to reveal their situation to only a few select friends and conceal it from others. In “lycée” (15 to 18 years old, equivalent to high school in North America), having same-sex parents can be seen as a stigma, but it is often reversed when actively publicizing one’s family situation.http://journals.openedition.org/efg/327same-sex familiesschoolnormspeer groupsunconventional familieschildhood
spellingShingle Alice Olivier
« Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en France
Enfances, Familles, Générations
same-sex families
school
norms
peer groups
unconventional families
childhood
title « Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en France
title_full « Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en France
title_fullStr « Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en France
title_full_unstemmed « Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en France
title_short « Je leur dis que j’ai deux mamans ? » : carrières de (non-)publicisation de l’homoparentalité à l’école en France
title_sort je leur dis que j ai deux mamans carrieres de non publicisation de l homoparentalite a l ecole en france
topic same-sex families
school
norms
peer groups
unconventional families
childhood
url http://journals.openedition.org/efg/327
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