Living and loving beyond the heteronorm

Abstract

In the West, at the start of the twenty-first century, more and more people are spending longer periods of their lives outside the conventional family unit[1]. Processes of individualization are challenging the romantic heterosexual couple and the modern family formation it has supported, and the normative grip of the sexual and gender order which has underpinned the modern family is weakening. In this context, much that matters to people in their personal lives increasingly takes place beyond “the family”, between partners who are not living together “as family”, and within networks of friends.