Worcester Research and Publications

SEARCH EPRINTS:

USER PANEL:

Registered Users - Log in using your University of Worcester ID and Password to submit items to the repository.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION:

WRaP is a collection of research papers and university publications. It presents the academic and creative work of the university. You are welcome to look for and obtain items of interest and make contact with the authors and creators.

CONTACT DETAILS:

All correspondence about WRaP should be sent to the Repository Manager.

'It's a Double-edged Thing' : the Paradox of Civil Partnership and Why Some Couples are Choosing Not to Have One

Tools

Lists

Rolfe, Alison and Peel, Elizabeth (2011) 'It's a Double-edged Thing' : the Paradox of Civil Partnership and Why Some Couples are Choosing Not to Have One. Feminism & Psychology, 21 (3). pp. 317-335. ISSN 0959-3535

Full text not available from this repository.

Official URL: http://fap.sagepub.com/content/21/3/317.abstract

Abstract

Since their introduction in 2005, thousands of same-sex couples in the UK have had a civil partnership. However, many other couples have chosen not to have one. This qualitative study explores why some same-sex couples are choosing not to have a civil partnership. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people (five couples and two individuals) who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual, and analysed using discourse analysis. Participants' accounts were characterised by ambivalence about civil partnership, and three main paradoxes were identified: the 'good but not good enough' paradox, the 'unwanted prize' paradox and the 'legal rights v. social oppression paradox. A major source of ambivalence was support for rights but resistance to assimilation into dominant heteronormative cultural frameworks. Participants negotiated this ambivalence in a variety of ways, including considering how to have a civil partnership that is different from 'marriage', and adopting a pragmatic position. The analysis highlights the importance of social recognition and support for a range of relationship forms and identities, as well as for an ongoing critical debate about civil partnerships and same-sex marriage. ? The Author(s) 2011.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Staff and students at the University of Worcester can access the full-text via the Summon service. External users should check availability with their local library or Interlibrary Requests Service.
Uncontrolled Discrete Keywords:	feminist critiques of marriage, same-sex marriage, lesbians, gay men, gay marriage, civil partnership
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	College of Business, Psychology and Sport > School of Psychology
Related URLs:	http://worc.summon.serialssolutions.com/
Depositing User:	Elizabeth Peel
Date Deposited:	22 Oct 2013 19:26
Last Modified:	17 Jun 2020 17:00
URI:	https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/id/eprint/2563

Actions (login required)

View Item

Altmetric

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)

© University of Worcester Henwick Grove, WR2 6AJ Tel: 01905 855000 | Materials in WRaP are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. By using WRaP you agree to abide by UK copyright laws.

Worcester Research and Publications is powered by EPrints 3 which is developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. More information and software credits.