SexualityandFamilyRevolutions，EastandWest
ByJudithStacey
ChinafirstinspiredmyresearchonfamilyrevolutionswhenIwasagraduatestudentintheearly1970s.IrememberattendingarousingpubliclectureaboutwomeninChinadeliveredbyCarmelaHinton，daughterofex-patriotAmericanjournalistWilliamHinton，theauthorofFanshen（1966），aclassicstudyofrevolutionarylandreforminaruralChinesevillage.SpeakinginChinese-accentedEnglish，CarmelareportedthatthePRCrecognizedthat“Awomenholduphalfthesky”andwasliberatingthemfromcenturiesofConfucianpatriarchy.Asanenthusiasticparticipantinthegrassrootswomen’smovementthatwassweepingtheU.S.atthetime，Iwasimpressedanddeeplycurious.Soonafter，Ibegantoinvestigatethesources，limits，andeffectsofgenderandfamilytransformationin20thcenturyChina，whichbecamethesubjectofmydoctoraldissertationandmyfirstbook，PatriarchyandSocialistRevolutioninChina（Stacey1983）.
AlthoughChinawastheempiricalsubjectofthatresearch，thebookwasmotivatedbyquestionsabouttherelationshipbetweengender，familyandsocialchangeintheWestthatIhavecontinuedtostudyeversince.EthnographicresearchondiverseaspectsoffamilytransformationintheU.S.ledeventuallytomycurrentworkongayandlesbianfamilyissues.Drawingonmyunderstandingoffamilyrevolutions，EastandWest，Iwantfirsttosketchthebroadestcontoursofincreasinglyglobalprocessesoffamilytransformationthathavetranspiredinindustrializedsocietiesoverthepastfewdecades，andsecondtoreflectontheirimplicationsforsexualdiversity，equality，andfamilypolicy.