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“Women's Work”? Women Partners of Transgender Men Doing Housework and Emotion Work
Author(s) -
Pfeffer Carla A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00690.x
Subject(s) - transsexual , transgender , lesbian , agency (philosophy) , gender studies , emotion work , psychology , narrative , social psychology , unpaid work , sociology , qualitative research , sociology of the family , division of labour , work (physics) , political science , social science , linguistics , philosophy , mechanical engineering , law , engineering
Despite increasing family studies research on same‐sex cohabiters and families, the literature is virtually devoid of transgender and transsexual families. To bridge this gap, I present qualitative research narratives on household labor and emotion work from 50 women partners of transgender and transsexual men. Contrary to much literature on “same‐sex” couples, the division of household labor and emotion work within these contemporary families cannot simply be described as egalitarian. Further, although the forms of emotion work and “gender strategies,”“family myths,” and “accounts” with which women partners of trans men engage resonate with those from women in (non‐trans) heterosexual and lesbian couples, they are also distinct, highlighting tensions among personal agency, politics, and structural inequalities in family life.