Web Links

Human Rights Campaign Fund
	People in same-sex relationships are often more acutely aware of the value-social, economic, and psychological-that our society places on the concept of "family." In this section of the Human Rights Campaign Fund website, ordinary men and women share stories of their extraordinary struggle for social and legal legitimacy. ( http://www.hrc.org/familynet/chapter.asp?article=699 )

Dual-Science-Career Couples
	How does "family" relate to "career" in the lives of women? Do women in professional positions have more power in their relationships? What happens when both partners work in the same profession-and it's a non-traditional field for women? These are some of the questions facing women in the male-dominated field of physics. One strategy physicists have used to explore this issue is to share their concerns with others facing similar challenges. This website introduces some of their concerns, strategies, and triumphs. ( http://physics.wm.edu/~sher/survey.pdf )

Blended Families
	Families composed of opposite-sex parents who have married once and remained married to each other while raising only their own biological offspring are more the exception than the rule in contemporary American society. More common are blended families, families that include children whose biological parents live in separate households or who have sibling or parental relationships with people who are not their biological relatives. This website examines some of the complexities of blended families, with a special eye towards the concerns of teenagers in such family constellations. ( http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/families/blended_families.html )

Asian Americans and Interracial Dating and Marriage
	Social norms, mores, values, and laws regulating families have been organized around sex, sexuality, and property concerns, and also around racial hierarchies that make "marrying outside one's race" a threat to the existing structures of social organization. The Asian-American experience in the United States has been shaped by pressures against out-marriage (or "exogamy") both within Asian-American communities and from white-dominated society. Learn more at the Asian-Nation website. ( http://www.asian-nation.org/interracial.shtml )

Mixed-Race Families
	What is it like to be in a mixed-race family? What issues do children and parents face? What are the special strengths and benefits of families that include people of more than one race? This website explores some of the familial and personal-identity issues people encounter in mixed-race families. ( http://www.kqed.org/w/baywindow/othercolors/changingtimes/ )