Newswise — Judith Stacey, who recently joined New York University's Department of Sociology and the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, is an expert on prior research about the effects of parental gender or sexual orientation on children's well-being as well as gay marriage. Stacey's research examines changes in family, sexuality, and society, with a current focus on gay family issues. She received a great deal of media attention for her article "(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?" in the American Sociological Association's (ASA) American Sociological Review (2001), which was co-authored with Timothy J. Biblarz. Her publications include In the Name of the Family: Rethinking Family Values in the Postmodern Age (Beacon Press, 1996); Brave New Families: Stories of Domestic Upheaval in Late Twentieth Century America (Basic Books, 1990, UC Press, 1998); and Patriarchy and Socialist Revolution in China (University of California Press, 1983), which won the 1985 Jessie Bernard Award from the ASA.
The Stacey and Biblarz American Sociological Review article addressed sociological questions about how parental sexual orientations matters to children. The authors found some interesting differences among children based on sexual orientation of parents. For example, children, especially daughters, did not follow gender norms in play or in career choices; sons tend to be more conforming in gender roles. For a complete copy of this article see the ASA website at http://www.e-noah.net/ASA/MO/articles/stacey.pdf.
A frequent public commentator on family change and politics, Stacey is one of the founders of the Council on Contemporary Families, a group committed to public education on family research.
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