Book review: Diversity in family life: gender, relationships and social change

"Diversity in Family Life: Gender, Relationships and Social Change." Elisabetta Ruspini. Policy Press. June 2013. --- As new forms of ‘non-traditional’ families grow in number, there is a need to understand these new arrangements and models of parenthood. This book discusses examples of the relationship between changing gender identities and processes of family formation in the Western experience. It aims to show that in the 21st century it is possible to form a family without sex, without children, without a shared home, without a partner, without a working husband, or without heterosexual orientation. Donna Peach finds this an interesting and innovative book that serves to disrupt not only traditional constructions of family but also the links between research, academia and social media.