Critically feminizing family science: Using femme theory to generate novel approaches for the study of families and relationships

Abstract

How do values, beliefs, and assumptions about femininity shape relational experiences? To answer this question, we critically feminize family science by applying femme theory to the field. Through this analysis, we present some of the ways that femmephobia (i.e., the systematic devaluation and regulation of femininity across all bodies and identities) is established in childhood and perpetuated throughout various relational contexts across the life course. Specifically, we examine how femmephobia is socialized via families, systematically normalized and perpetuated throughout childhood, and how it shapes gender-based violence risk, perpetration, and tactics. We demonstrate how femme theory illuminates the importance of disentangling the intersectional axes of gender, sexuality, and gender expression, thereby generating novel approaches for family and relationship science and interventions that promote systemic social change. Subordinating and regulating femininity affects all individuals, making its disruption of critical importance for the prevention of gender-based violence and the promotion of healthy families and relationships.