Nicholson, pg28: "Whether a type of family provides economic and emotional sustenance to its members, with special attention to children......should constitute the primary criteria by which it is evaluated. The distinction between 'traditional' and 'alternative' families gets in the way of our being able to make such considered evaluations." One example of such an alternative family is homosexual couples which have an obstacle in that, "the same gender of adult partners makes gay and lesbian households appear different from heterosexual ones in visual terms" (pg36). How can we overcome such visual discrimination that hinders our overall evaluation of a family's functional ability? Is it possible?
I also found it refreshing to read an article by a man about the family and fatherhood (Laqueur).