The Invisible Web: Gender Patterns in Family Relationships

Rating:
Summary: Dated and disappointing, but good as a foundation
Review: As a young family therapy student, I was very taken with this book because it clearly and consistently applies family therapy approaches (although mostly the structural, modernist kinds) through a feminist lens. The case studies were very helpful, especially the transcripts which helped me to envision what therapeutic dialogue might sound like.

However, some years have now passed, and a re-read of this book left me frustrated and irritated. The authors seem to have a very limited perspective on family gender roles, centered around a white, middle-class, heterosexist perspective. Many times authors speak in generalities about what "mothers and daughters" or "fathers and daughters" do in their relationships with one another, and I find myself writing notes in the margin: "says who?" "Not in my family!" etc.

This book is helpful for students if taken with a grain of salt and presented by an instructor versed in more postmodern techniques and multicultural critiques.