“The Domestication of Equality: Gays, Lesbians and EU ‘Family’ Rights”

Elman, R. Amy. (1999) “The Domestication of Equality: Gays, Lesbians and EU ‘Family’ Rights” . In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 1999 (6th), June 2-5, 1999, Pittsburgh, PA.

Abstract

While feminism sparked the systematic politicization of personal relations that exposed the family as patriarchy’s chief institution, liberalism afforded comforting illusions of exceptionalism that encouraged us to believe that the egalitarian families, which eluded our foremothers, were ours for the making. This paper focuses on those living on the margins of this institution within the European Union and contends that the politics of integration affirms neither the insights of feminists nor the aspirations of liberals with regard to the family, particularly for lesbians and gays.