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Imagining the Family: Representations of Alternative Lifestyles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Ist Teil von
Qualitative social work : QSW : research and practice, 2007-09, Vol.6 (3), p.263-280
Ort / Verlag
London, England: Sage Publications
Erscheinungsjahr
2007
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
Alma/SFX Local Collection
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Social work theory and research is increasingly exploring conceptions of the family
and the child and the possibilities for recognizing and responding to the `voice' of
young people. Media images of the family are likely to contribute to society's
conception of what a family is or should be, but often fail to represent the
diversity of living arrangements that actually exist today. Focusing on the popular
cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer we argue that this is an example of
popular culture that explores both the advantages and the dangers of non-normative
family forms, specifically the non-genetic or `chosen' family. We argue that
Buffy endorses a non-hierarchical, `democratic' vision of the family
(Giddens, 1992), with relationships between friends at its centre and offers a
representation of young people that includes personal agency, reflecting the real
choices, tensions and conflicts for people living in today's changing family. We
argue that popular cultural forms such as Buffy can generate `interactive
social worlds' (Plummer, 1995) that are central to the dissemination of new social
practices. Implications of this analysis for social work are outlined, in terms of
re-conceptualizing the notion of `family' and of innovations in practice and research.