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Problematic Woman-to-Woman Family Relations

Eija Sevón

UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ

Family research has mostly concentrated on relationships between parents and children or between women and men. On the other hand, feminist studies have explained problems within woman-to-woman relationships deriving from patriarchy. This article focuses on problematic adult woman-to-woman family relationships. More specifically, it discusses two women's ambivalent emotions narrated and experienced in their problematic female family relationships. The authors suggest that feminist studies should take into account culturally dominant narratives interlinking female subjectivity and responsibility over the private sphere. Ambivalence arises in situations where individuals encounter contradictorily structured power hierarchies, i.e. simultaneously trying to follow the (traditional) rules of kinship order and the desire for agency.

Key Words: adult female family ties • agency • ambivalence • home • motherhood • narrative research • power • relationality

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