Fractured - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Fractured

along different lines The Italian debate on lesbian and gay parenting

Tatiana Motterle - Beatrice GusmanoCES Centro de Estudos Sociais - Coimbra

2nd AIBR International Conference of

Anthropology

September 6-9, 2016 BarcelonaSlide2

2Slide3

Act 76/2016 on Civil Unions

3This law ratifies a disparity between

families and, above all, it is mutilated, since it lacks

an essential component: it does not

recognize

the

parentality

of gay and

lesbian

people

and

it

offends

all

the

sons

and

daughters

of homosexual

people

,

who

are

deprived

of

protection

just

because

of

the

sexual

orientation

of

their

parents

.

Rete

Lenford

, “

Approvate

le

unioni

civil

”Slide4

Stepchild adoption and surrogacy

4We want to address the European institutions - the European Council, Commission and Parliament - to ask that surrogacy be outlawed in Europe and banned on a global level. SNOQ Libere,

“What freedom”It is clear that the real aim of this sudden

interest on surrogacy is to bury stepchild

adoption

and,

maybe

,

even

the

whole

bill

.

It

seems

frankly

baffling

to

us

how

some

activists

from

the

lgbt

movement

are

reacting

to

this

manipulation

:

that

is

,

asking

gay

couples

with

children

to

take

a

step

back,

not

to be visible. In

one

word

, to

go

back in

the

closet.

Famiglie

Arcobaleno

, “

GPA e ddl Cirinnà: parlano le mamme di FA

”Slide5

Debate on same-sex civil unions

5Considering the moment we are living, do you really think that the regulation of civil unions and de facto couples is the priority of the country? [...] Would it not be right and proper to help families in need, instead of dealing with the false right of same-sex couples to marry? Remigio Ceroni, Forza Italia - PdLInstead

of working to solve Italians’ real problems, the Government deals with gay adoptions, it offers citizenships to immigrants.Nunziante Consiglio, Lega NordAgainst civil unions 1:“

This is not a priority”Slide6

Debate on same-sex civil unions

6I just want to to recall the words of God on the incompatibility of the family, generated by a man and a woman, with homosexuality.Domenico Scilipoti,

FI-PdL The heterosexual family, as the natural family based on marriage, is the only one recognized by the Constitution, since it is oriented to procreation, maintenance and education of children and protection of motherhood. Piero Aiello, Alleanza Popolare

Against civil unions 2:“Family is

heterossexual”Slide7

Debate on same-sex civil unions

7It is the attempt to reshape our society through ius soli, short divorce, uterus for rent and gay marriage; a society [...] in which, through gender pseudoculture, men are created without a soul

, a face and an identity. Francesco Aracri, FI-PdLThis is the so-called gender ideology, which presents itself as the transition from sexual duality (being male man [sic] or female) to the concept of gender, an open term which abandons sexual bipolarity of human beings and proposes

five genders: male, female, hermaphrodite, homosexual, transsexual. Nunziante Consiglio, Lega Nord

Against

civil

unions

3:

Gender

ideologySlide8

Debate on same-sex parenting

8Civil society is not

ready yetPublic opinion [is] still not ready [...] for the adoption of children by same-sex couples, or for the practice of uterus for rent. Maria Rizzotti

, FI-PdLOn the one hand you have a very serene private space, but then you realize that in the public space your families are belittled, they are a target of social stigma, and the fact that the [...] Parliament didn’t manage to pass a law that recognizes the full dignity of these families, clearly doesn’t help to overcome such stigma. Sergio Lo

Giudice

,

Democratic

Party

Our

system does not allow for discrimination

among children

, based on the legal framework of the relationship between their parents, and does not allow discrimination between heterosexuals and homosexuals in relation to the assessment of their ability to be parents, nor it admits discrimination between children according to how they are born.

Monica Cirinnà

, Democratic

Party

Stepchild

adoption is a tool that seeks to protect all those children

who already

exist,

who are

already living within same-sex families, and

who are

already looked after by two men or two women. [

…]

But, unlike other children, they are not protected.

Donella Mattesini

, Democratic

Party

 Slide9

Debate on same-sex parenting

9Child’s best interest

The family is just one, and no one should even remotely dare to violate the sacred right of children to be born to a mom and a dad. Paolo Arrigoni, Lega NordThinking of a child in a different way from the natural one means to want it at all costs as a project of one’s own ego satisfaction. Patrizia Bisinella, Fare!

Almost forty years of research on homosexual parents and families attest that the affective sexual orientation of mothers and fathers is not relevant to the emotional, mental and physical development of their children. Nadia Ginetti, Democratic Party 

It

is clear that the child’s best interest to the stability and continuity of

affection

must

always prevail. They are children, they are citizens of this country, and today we will decide about their future: they deserve to be recognized and protected.

Monica

Cirinnà

,

Democratic

PartySlide10

Debate on same-sex parenting

10Same-sex couples are unstable

Another element that affects children entrusted to same-sex couples is related to the stability and exclusivity of the couple’s relationship: elements that are lacking in same-sex couples. Francesco Aracri, FI-PdL

A large majority of young homosexuals (around 90%) plans or dreams of a stable couple life, and a large majority of them (around 60%) plans or dreams of having children. Alessandra Bencini, Italia dei ValoriProbably in the idea of a homosexual couple that wants to have children, there is much the idea of a traditional family, I suppose. That certainly happens in our case [...] An idea of family which is a little more comforting, a little more traditional. Carlo, gay father, 32Slide11

Debate on same-sex parenting

11Having children is

not a rightParenting is not an absolute right. Maria Rizzotti, FI-PdL A wish is not a right. Having a child is not a right. Stefano Stefani, Lega Nord 

You cannot have everything, there are limits due to the reality of things. The male homosexual couples is a sterile couple by nature. Luisa Muraro, “Utero in affitto, mercato delle donne” (2015)We are in favour of the full recognition of civil rights for lesbian and gay people, but we say to everyone, including heterosexuals: the desire to have children cannot become a right to be vindicated at all costs.

SNOQ

Libere

- “What Freedom”Slide12

Debate on surrogacy

12PatriarchyThe law must protect everyone, first of all the rights denied to who doesn’t talk, of the woman and the children.Laura Fasiolo, Democratic

PartyThe illicit trade that inevitably would be made of women who, for economic need or, worse, greed, would offer to get through pregnancy renouncing their own biological child [...] depriving the child of their biological parent, and breaking the symbiotic relationship that develops between mother and child from the moment of conception. Giuseppe Cucca

, Democratic Party[Surrogacy asks

for

]

nine

months

of [

one’s

]

life

and

the

occupation

of a human

body

, a

body

which

will

not

be

allowed

to imagine

anything

about

the

baby

it

hosts,

like

in normal

pregnancies

,

because

the

baby

it

feels

as

it

moves

,

will

not

be

its

and so

it

[

the body] will have to think about something else […] or it will not think at all, in case thinking would be too painful.Alessandra Bocchetti, “Solo corpi che nulla possono immaginare sul bambino che ospitano”Slavery precisely entails that the child is taken away from her mother. Luisa Muraro, “Utero in affitto, mercato delle donne”

For

centuries we have been forced to be mothers, we could not avoid the path of blood and the [bodily] functions connected to it, if not at the price of a strong social disapproval.

Feminist

struggles were the one who forced society to rethink motherhood until it came to define

mother

just the

woman who consents

to be one,

turning

fate into individual choice.

Michela

Murgia,

“

Non

chiamatela maternità

surrogata

”

If

there is something immensely more

shameful

for a woman than surrogacy,

that

is being thought by others.

SNOQ

Factory,

“Motherhood

is a choice, not

fate”. Slide13

Debate on surrogacy

13Spending 80,000, 100,000 or 120,000 euros, anyone can go to get the oocyte with a eugenic selection in some countries that ensure that the person would be white, beautiful, tall, healthy; of course, contracts provide for abortion when things go wrong. Carlo Giovanardi,

GALThe difference between women and men is blurring and the difference between rich women and poor women is getting stronger. Alessandra Bocchetti, “Solo corpi che nulla possono immaginare sul bambino che ospitano

” Neoliberalism and class differences

One

of

the

reasons

that

should

make

us

think

before

we

call

for

a

ban

on

surrogacy

could

be

precisely

the

preoccupation

that

such

ban

,

stimulated

by

an

idea of

protection

and

respect

of

the

integrity

of

people

,

could

risk to push such practice back to the black market and cause an even greater and unmanageable exploitation of the women who do it. SNOQ Factory, “Motherhood is a choice, not fate”Slide14

Debate on surrogacy

14The freedom of the action lies in its gratuitousness, and the freedom of women lies in the awareness that this is a very complex and multifaceted issue. Arcilesbica Nazionale, “Utero in affitto, la parola alle donne”. il Manifesto Free will doesn’t have to do with money, but rather with the conditions in which you decide. [...] The presence of money is not inherently evil, it is not a sign of slavery [...] What we should do is to be sure that there are not infringements, nor violations.

Chiara Lalli, “Nesuno scelga al posto delle donne sulla maternità surrogata” I don’t understand why we have this idea of gratuitousness. I mean, women have this gift mystique. [...] You cannot talk about money when it has to do with love. [...] This idea that if I do something for an amount of money, then I’m selling something to you. I’m not selling anything to you. You are paying for a service I’m doing for you. Susanna Lollini, lawyer

  Commercial Vs. altruisticSlide15

Debate on surrogacy

15In the plague of uterus for rent the question of slavery comes later, the first issue is relational: between a pregnant woman and her forming baby there is a relationship, which is one of the highest values (Nietszche, “Everything about woman is a riddle, and everything about woman has one solution: It is called pregnancy") Luisa Muraro, “Utero in affitto

, mercato delle donne”Sacred motherhoodBefore we start discussing about motherhood I think we should better define how we should understand motherhood in 2016. If we refer to the physical and/or psychological dimension which joins procreative desire and the disposition to assume parental responsibility for someone else’s life, we cannot talk about surrogating iy

, since that is an inalienable act of will and awareness. It is already too obvious to say that to get pregnant is not enough to talk about motherhood, but maybe it is not as much obvious to remember that such statement is a pretty recent civil right achievement. Michela Murgia: ‘Non chiamatela maternità surrogata

’

[

The surrogate] was paid for that, she agreed (we reasonably suppose she did...) Is that enough? No, unfortunately it is not, since what she did and undid, together with the aspiring parents, pertains to the domain of the unavailable. This is the point [...] it is a point of civilization.

Luisa Muraro, “La maternità non è in vendita

”Slide16

Concluding remarks

16No se trata solamente de un tipo de feminismo instrumentalizado por parte de todo el espectro político, y en especial, de los movimientos de extrema derecha (parecería que esta instrumentalización es totalmente ajena a su voluntad y por lo tanto, sería víctima inocente de la voluntad del patriarcado imperante en la esfera política), sino que además el feminismo hegemónico trabaja de manera consciente y activa para uniformar las prioridades de la lucha feminista, pero únicamente a su imagen y semejanza.

Natalia Andújar, “¿Es el etnocentrismo malo para las mujeres?”Slide17

Thank you

tatianamotterle@ces.uc.pt