title: More than surface tension: femmes in families.
abstract: This article raises questions about the lack of scholarly focus on butch/femme couples and their absence in studies of lesbian couples and family-building. In an era of lesbian marriage and lesbian parenting, femme and butch coupling and family-building remain unspoken topics within family studies, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT)-specific research. Moving beyond a focus on eroticism within the femme/butch couple, questions about how gender expression impacts other relationships dynamics, including the maintenance of long-term relationships, power and intimacy, domestic chores and child-rearing, are raised. The femme role "homemaking" that is, building and maintaining families, especially needs further exploration.
authors.affiliation: Choices Counseling and onsulting, Albany, New York, USA. Arlene.Lev@gmail.com
authors.forename: Arlene Istar
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Lev
mesh_terms: D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D049673:History, 20th Century; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000266:history; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D014189:Transsexualism