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from Parenting & Family
Feminist Psychologist's New Book
Defends Lesbian Families
September 6, 2005 -
Cornel Psychology Professor Peggy Drexler says her research
on single moms, including lesbian households, shows that boys do not need
fathers.
Drexler's book, Raising Boys Without Men: How Maverick Moms Are Creating The
Next Generation Of Exceptional Men, was reviewed in the Washington Times (Aug.
30, 2005) by Cheryl Wetzstein.
Drexler studied 124 parents of boys, most of whom were single mothers or lesbian
couples. According to the author, "I have found there is absolutely no reason to
expect that single or gay moms cannot raise sons on their own." She observes
that "Parenting is either good or deficient, not male or female."
Drexler said her research discovered that boys in single parent or lesbian homes
were self assured, boyish, and into sports.
Her research is disputed by Roland Warren, president of the National Fatherhood
Initiative. According to Warren, children brought up in single parent homes have
double the risk of physical, emotional or educational neglect. Boys born to
single moms are 2.5 times more likely to end up in jail than children reared in
traditional homes.
Syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher also disputes Drexler's assertions.
Gallagher, an expert on family structure, says that Drexler's conclusions defy
"common sense, the human heart and social science."
Research published by NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee Chair Dr. A. Dean Byrd
and Dr. George Rekers, also dispute Drexler's findings.
Both research papers, Review Of Research On Homosexual Parenting, Adoption, And
Foster Parenting; Gender Complementarity and Child-rearing: Where Tradition and
Science Agree, include the results of dozens of surveys that show the importance
of the mother-father two-parent family.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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