The Invisible Web: Gender Patterns in Family Relationships

Bringing new focus to the subject, THE INVISIBLE WEB investigates the family from a feminist perspective. Using the lens of gender, connections between mothers and daughters, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, and husbands and wives are analyzed and given new meaning. The authors evaluate and redefine family transitions such as divorce, single-parent and female-headed households, and remarried couples who are attempting to integrate their respective children with ex-spouses and complicated networks of extended kin. They also reexamine traditional and emerging roles for women in their early, middle, and later years. Written in an engaging format, each chapter features an in depth analysis of how gender shapes the relationship in question. This discussion is followed by fascinating vignettes of actual cases from each of the four authors, whose approaches reflect different orientations to therapy.

Based on the work of the Women's Project in Family Therapy which won the 1986 AFTA Award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy, this groundbreaking work is an excellent text for courses in family therapy and women's studies, an invaluable guide for mental health practitioners, and an insightful read for anyone who wishes to explore the invisible web of gender patterns in families.