A List
7/5/99

'MYTH' OF NUCLEAR FAMILY TOPIC OF SLU PROFESSOR'S BOOK

CANTON - A new book by a faculty member at St. Lawrence University 
calls into question forms of oppression - gender, racial and 
economic - that lead society to grant privileges to members of 
nuclear families.
	Queer Family Values: Debunking the Myth of the Nuclear 
Family, by Associate Professor of Government and Gender Studies 
Valerie D. Lehr, was published this month by Temple University 
Press in its Queer Politics, Queer Theories series.
	In the book, Lehr calls for an approach to family issues 
and individual liberty that challenges power rather than demands 
access to privilege. She asks, for example, why debate over the 
rights of gays and lesbians has focused on whether or not they may 
take part in a socially defined institution - marriage - that is 
designed to perpetuate inequalities among people. Instead, Lehr argues 
that family care should be seen as a community function and she offers 
an alternative political strategy focused on enhancing democracy and 
equality in private life.
	Lehr, also associate dean of the first year, has been on the 
St. Lawrence faculty since 1988. She is a graduate of New College of 
the University of South Florida, with a master's degree and Ph.D. from 
the University of Maryland at College Park. Lehr has participated in 
many campus committees and advisory groups and received the Louis and 
Frances Maslow Award in 1996 for her "interest in, and understanding 
of, the education and welfare of the student body as a whole." 

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