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- Title
Babushkas between Lesbian-Headed Families and the Russian State: Making an Intelligible Model of Extended Mothering.
- Authors
Zhabenko, Alisa
- Abstract
This article focuses on a significant kinship character, babushka, the grandmother, in Russian lesbian-headed families. Based on an original empirical multi-method study, the research analyses the building of relationships with grandmothers in lesbian families in contemporary Russia. As the core element of Russian kinship - marriage - is missing from this kinship scene, blood relations between the biological mother, the maternal grandmother, and the child seem to become a central, although a highly complex element, in building supportive relationships in lesbian-headed families. Grandmothers from the non-biological mother's side remain less visible in everyday negotiations and decision-making than biological grandmothers. The argument here states that blood relatedness becomes meaningful in situations where the grandmother's role in lesbian-headed families is recognised and challenged in the officially anti-lesbian state context. Extended support mutually provided by grandmothers and their lesbian daughters creates an intelligible model of femalemaintained family in current Russia, even when the legal landscape (i.e., the enforcement of the 'anti-gay' legislation in 2013) is not in the favour of such families. Consequently, babushkas become a "shield" between the state and the lesbian families as they provide a socially and culturally legit "traditional family" surface, required for survival in the state which promotes women's reproduction as a core value in the society.
- Subjects
RUSSIA; LGBTQ+ families; BIRTHMOTHERS; FAMILY policy; MOTHERS; LGBTQ+ parents; LESBIAN relationships
- Publication
Feminists@law, 2022, Vol 11, Issue 2, p1
- ISSN
2046-9551
- Publication type
Article