UNHITCHED: LOVE, MARRIAGE, AND FAMILY VALUES FROM WEST HOLLYWOOD TO WESTERN CHINA

Judith Stacey. UNHITCHED: LOVE, MARRIAGE, AND FAMILY VALUES FROM WEST HOLLYWOOD TO WESTERN CHINA New York: New York University Press, (2011 ), 275 pages. ISBN 13:978-0-8147-83 82-5

Reviewed by: Amanda J. Miller, Department of Social Sciences, University of Indianapolis.

In her new book, Unhitched: Love, Marriage, and Family Values from West Hollywood to Western China, Judith Stacey invites the reader to, in her words, "...travel light, leaving behind as much cultural baggage as possible" while exploring the world of family diversity. In it, Stacey draws upon her considerable expertise as a family scholar to explore and combat many Western assumptions about the importance of traditional, heterosexual, monogamous marriage. Along the way she acts as engaging tour guide, leading us through a variety of somewhat new (as well as very old) family types. While Stacey is clear she believes that strong, happy families can come in many forms, she challenges Focus on the Family and feminists alike in in her continual pursuit to demonstrate that no one person, group, or society should have the power to decide what type of family is best for all.