Amanda is a white antipodean queer femme, with rural working class origins. She has long been interested in how to bring more intersectional perspectives to systemic thinking, particularly at the intersections of gender, sexuality, culture and class. She hopes we fi nd ways to move beyond the either/or constructions of gender that currently permeate the fi eld, creating practices that honor the complexities of gender, its intersections, and the vibrancy of queer lives.
Amanda@pinkpractice.co.uk http://www.pinkpractice.co.uk/ http://amandamiddleton.com/
H Howitt is a white, disabled, non-binary, trans-identifi ed, queer porn performer, sex educator, and PhD candidate. They are passionate about sharing skills to explore pleasure and intimacy; exploring tools to facilitate embodiment; and fi nding language that works to talk about gender and sexuality. They believe that the cornerstones of this work are curiosity, consent, and compassion.
H fi nds it hard to imagine what a positive future for gender could be, because what gender is is so deeply entwined in other social constructs like race and class; to imagine a world where our gender can liberate us all rather than oppress us, is to imagine the complete abolition of racism, patriarchy, ableism, and ultimately the system which requires all of these things to function: capitalism. It’s a big task!
H researches trans sexualities at the University of Brighton, where they are reading for their PhD. Their project explores the ways trans people navigate bodies and sex. They disrupt the ‘trapped in the wrong body’ narrative to make space for a variety of trans experiences. Find out more at
www.hhowitt.com
Book review: Gorell Barnes, G. (2018) Staying At ached: Fathers and Children in
Troubled Times. London: Karnac. Reviewed by Alex Reed
This new book about fatherhood by
Gill Gorell Barnes is a welcome addition to Karnac’s reliably excellent ‘Systemic Thinking and Practice Series’. Weaving together research from the fi elds of sociology, psychology, child development, and psychotherapy alongside her extensive clinical experience, the author also situates her curiosity about fatherhood in the context of her own experiences of family life. The introduction is subtitled, ‘Speaking up for fathers’, and is written from a position of both “recognising the reality of men’s power”, while also recognising that fathers who are struggling to connect, remain connected, or re-connect with their children are often emotionally disadvantaged. The ways in which constructions of
‘fatherhood’ and ‘family’ have altered in relation to political, socio-economic, policy and educational changes are carefully mapped in the book. These changes have resulted in an increased complexity of defi nition of ‘fatherhood’, posing the stark question of ‘what dads are for’ now that, “the trappings of patriarchy are no longer the basis for most family culture”. A necessary shift from the ‘father as boss’ model has led to a position where many fathers may fi nd themselves relegated to a marginal position in the family system. While, as Burck and Daniel comment in the
Foreword, “a new job description for fatherhood was clearly needed for many of these men”, practitioners may often fi nd themselves struggling to help them re-defi ne their role within the family. Gorell Barnes states that, “qualitative research has shown that fathers
Context 155, February 2018
have been neglected by professionals working with families, including within the fi eld of systemic family therapy”. As I read the book, I found myself refl ecting
on my own experiences as a son and a father, and how the central signifi cance of fatherhood to my own identity hadn’t always been refl ected in a concomitant determination within my practice to engage with men who I experienced as particularly ‘diffi cult’ or ‘obstructive’ in therapeutic work. I imagine many therapists are familiar with that secret sense of relief that can occur when a ‘diffi cult’ father doesn’t attend a family session, and I wished that I had been able to read this book earlier in my professional career as a spur to making extra eff orts to engage with these clients. The text draws together understandings
from sociology, feminism, systemic and psychodynamic psychotherapy, attachment and ‘mentalisation’ theories – the complex, and often dis-organised interplay of ‘internal working models’ of family and relationships
49
Gorell Barnes, G. (2018) Staying Attached: Fathers and Children in Troubled Times. London: Karnac.
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