Monday, November 16, 2009
Science / The Ladies Another Research Shocker: Lesbian Edition
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 10:20 AM
For all those unaware that lesbians take better care of their cats than most straight people take care of their children, research has now officially shown that "Lesbians Make 'Better Parents.'"
Research at Birkbeck College, part of London University, and Clark University in Massachusetts suggests that same-sex couples make good parents because children cannot be conceived accidentally—parents must make an active decision to adopt or find a sperm donor.
Go figure!
This article has some more information.
Thanks, Slog tippers laura and Jason in Portland.
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1
For the inevitable "kids need both parents", this sums things up nicely:
Essentially, yes, a child should know their biological parents, but in the end, it's really those who actually raise you that are the most important figures in your life. From a single mom and her mother raising kids to a lesbian couple to a gay couple to a straight couple and the mother-in-law-- as long as kids get the love and attention they need, they're all the better.
Jon Davies, chief executive of the Families Need Fathers organisation, said: "Since all children will have a biological father the child has a right to know who that is. In most families where there will be a mother and a father, a father is needed to support them. But it is the quality of parenting that counts in the end regardless of the parents."
Essentially, yes, a child should know their biological parents, but in the end, it's really those who actually raise you that are the most important figures in your life. From a single mom and her mother raising kids to a lesbian couple to a gay couple to a straight couple and the mother-in-law-- as long as kids get the love and attention they need, they're all the better.
2
The same would be true of adoptive and in-vitro heterosexual parents, as well as hetero parents who planned their children.
The biggest time unplanned parenthood results in diminished opportunities for the children is in the case of out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
This data doesn't suggests homosexuals are better parents, it supports the fact that extra-marital sexual activity carries a high social cost.
The biggest time unplanned parenthood results in diminished opportunities for the children is in the case of out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
This data doesn't suggests homosexuals are better parents, it supports the fact that extra-marital sexual activity carries a high social cost.
3
@1 - yet again, I love how the anti-equality types are constantly exposing the flaws in their own arguments and don't even seem to be aware of it.
4
@2- Actually is says that single parenting and unprepared parenting carry a cost. Fortunately, thanks to science we have very effective birth control and even more effective abortion to prevent that. All we need to do is make them widely available and educate people on how to access them.
5
If the researchers are suggesting that, all other things being equal, Lesbians are better parents than equally prepared and motivated heterosexuals they are morons.
All their study does is note demographic differences in the pool of Lesbian parents vs the entire universe of heterosexual parents.
All their study does is note demographic differences in the pool of Lesbian parents vs the entire universe of heterosexual parents.
7
My best parent volunteers in the classroom have almost always been my gay parents - and with them I usually see both of them helping out. I had 2 dads a couple of years ago who handled all the class parties, volunteered on all the field trips, and were in my classroom the first hour of the day 2-3 days a week helping my low readers. They were fabulous, reliable, and they had 2 really great kids. Last year I had a wonderful set of moms, one who worked from home and was able to flex her schedule to come in and work with my 3 completely non-English speakers, and the other who handled field trip arrangements, book orders, and came in once a month to teach an art lesson. My heterosexual parents? Almost always the mom volunteering, and I rarely see the dad except at conferences or if they are the one with sole custody.
8
Since it's now well-established that lesbians make better parents than heterosexual couples, it's clear that we need to ban heterosexual couples from adopting children. After all, states like Florida banned gay couples from adopting children due to misinformation that heterosexual couples were superior parents, right?
9
All y'all are missing hte most obvious point.
The data is couples that are both women make better parents. Hmmm, hmmm, what could this mean?
Obviously:
Men are lousy parents!
The data is couples that are both women make better parents. Hmmm, hmmm, what could this mean?
Obviously:
Men are lousy parents!
10
Obviously evolution has taken a terrible wrong turn, cause women should be able to fuck each other and breed and just let men become extinct.
11
@7- For a vast number of complex reasons, men are often in jobs with inflexible schedules. I'd love to volunteer in my daughter's class, but just getting out in time to pick her up once a week is all I can get from work.
12
@11 It's not complex, it's simple - patriarchy. Women are socially delegated to the domestic sphere, so work places (esp male dominated ones) don't offer parental leave or flexible schedules to men because they don't take care of kids, women do.
13
@11: You're a good dad, DM. Don't let the haters get you down. Keep trying. Make workplaces better for fathers.
14
Everything I've ever read agrees. It's the quality of the parenting that matters most, it's more important than the gender of the parents, single vs. married, extended family as guardian, socioeconomic situation, etc.
15
@12- No, it's complex. I agree that it is patriarchy, but it's also American Capitalism. Anyone who chooses to stay at home, male or female, has a tough time getting re-hired in most industries. You put family in front of work, and employers don't like that. When my daughter was born my partner got very ill and was bed-ridden for about a year. I had to stay home to take care of both of them, and there's not a single interview I've been in where that long gap came up and it is always uncomfortable.
18
@12
"Patriarchy?" That's the mark of a man-hater.
I don't know a single woman who has been "socially delegated to the domestic sphere", although I know dozens of women who chose to put their careers on hold to be full time moms, and I know dozens more who would have loved to do so but couldn't because their income was needed.
The only role men played in these decisions was whether they earned enough money on their own to allow their wives the option of quitting work.
"Patriarchy?" That's the mark of a man-hater.
I don't know a single woman who has been "socially delegated to the domestic sphere", although I know dozens of women who chose to put their careers on hold to be full time moms, and I know dozens more who would have loved to do so but couldn't because their income was needed.
The only role men played in these decisions was whether they earned enough money on their own to allow their wives the option of quitting work.
19
@ #18,
Really, mother's chose to put their careers on hold? Or did they decide the jobs they got brought in approximately the same amount of money as it was costing them in childcare while they were at work? Because most stay-at-home moms I know couldn't get a toe in the door for a career. People don't like hiring women because they assume they're going to get pregnant and maternity leave and kids are a costly nuisance from the point of view of an employer. When I was sending 'round my resume after I graduated college I didn't get any interviews with my feminine full name on the header. When I sent the same resume around to the same employers with my "masculine-sounding" initials on the header I got plenty of them....no job offers when they saw I was female, but plenty of interviews. My female friends report the same results when they were handing out their resumes. Eventually we wound up taking jobs that would be entry-level for a high school graduate, not a college graduate. Those with children did the math and discovered that the same amount of money they were doling out to the babysitter was nearly the same as they were making at their dead-end jobs. Those with partners quit their job and stayed home with the kids. Not because they didn't want a career, but because could not get hired in their field. The "patriarchy" and all it's misogyny are alive and well. You don't have to hate men to hate the set-up.
Really, mother's chose to put their careers on hold? Or did they decide the jobs they got brought in approximately the same amount of money as it was costing them in childcare while they were at work? Because most stay-at-home moms I know couldn't get a toe in the door for a career. People don't like hiring women because they assume they're going to get pregnant and maternity leave and kids are a costly nuisance from the point of view of an employer. When I was sending 'round my resume after I graduated college I didn't get any interviews with my feminine full name on the header. When I sent the same resume around to the same employers with my "masculine-sounding" initials on the header I got plenty of them....no job offers when they saw I was female, but plenty of interviews. My female friends report the same results when they were handing out their resumes. Eventually we wound up taking jobs that would be entry-level for a high school graduate, not a college graduate. Those with children did the math and discovered that the same amount of money they were doling out to the babysitter was nearly the same as they were making at their dead-end jobs. Those with partners quit their job and stayed home with the kids. Not because they didn't want a career, but because could not get hired in their field. The "patriarchy" and all it's misogyny are alive and well. You don't have to hate men to hate the set-up.
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