Working-class lesbian parents’ emotional engagement with their children’s education: Intersections of class and sexuality

This article examines intersections of class and sexuality in lesbian parents’ educational practices, specifically their emotional engagements with their children’s education. This research draws on Bourdieu’s (1986b) concept of capitals and current research that utilizes the concept of ‘emotional capital’, in theorizing mothers’ emotional investments in their children’s education. Studies of working-class lesbians’ experiences of marginalization within education relevant to this investigation are also consulted. Based on qualitative data, this article examines ways in which working-class lesbian parents’ negative experiences of school are used as emotional resources in three key ways; to protect their children from bullying, to teach their children life skills and to promote values of equality and acceptance. I suggest that in utilizing the concept of ‘emotional capital’, this work begins to make sense of the subjective and material realities of educational involvement for working-class lesbian parents.