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Reason, Season, or Life? Heterorelationality and the Limits of Intimacy between Women Friends

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  • Maree Martinussen

Abstract

Studies of personal life over the past three decades have provided rich accounts of new forms of togetherness, with some pointing to a loosening of hierarchical lines between friends, kin, family, and long-term sexual partnership. While acknowledging the importance of these queering perspectives, I suggest that asking how people use ‘traditional’ relationship distinctions remains valuable. Reporting on research centred on practices of intimacy between women friends in early midlife, I examine how the competing demands of long-term sexual partnerships and family are managed alongside friendship, asking what forms of intimacy between friends are sanctioned or disparaged. I show that the organising logics of heteroromantic orders prevail, working through the contemporary cultural pushes of postfeminism and individualisation. As a result, friendships become constructed as bonus entities in relational life – necessary, but always supplementary to the mainstays of sexual partnership and familial relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Maree Martinussen, 2019. "Reason, Season, or Life? Heterorelationality and the Limits of Intimacy between Women Friends," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 24(3), pages 297-313, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:24:y:2019:i:3:p:297-313
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780418816334
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    References listed on IDEAS

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