Stewball: Archives, Longing, and Loss in HBO's Nuclear Family

Keywords: queer, family, childhood, Jewish, law, memory
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 29

Abstract

Nuclear Family, a 2021 HBO docuseries, tells the story of Ry Russo-Young and her sister. Two kids, now adults, whose experiences mirror my own: two moms, two donors, growing up in the 80s and 90s, when lesbians having babies was new. We were firsts.

While the Russo-Young story is not my own, the docuseries intimately addresses experiences of attachment, biology, and law I know well. Nuclear Family unravels the “kids are alright” narrative. To grow up with two moms and a donor is complicated, uneven, scary, embarrassing, beautiful. Russo-Young addresses these myriad feelings through the archives of her queer family. This archive juxtaposes home videos of Jewish queer life with court documents. Russo-Young builds a space, an archival zone, of contradiction, loss, and belonging.

This paper addresses queer archival methods of remembering (and erasing) lesbians having babies. It analyzes the docuseries and examines how it shifts representation for children of queer families. It explores Nuclear Family’s musical archive, which centers Peter, Paul, and Mary’s rendition of “Stewball.” It argues “Stewball” calls upon histories of Jewish progressive politics and entwines them with queer home. Finally, it reflects on an oral history archive from my research. In 2017, I interviewed 15 lesbians and trans individuals in Boston who had children in the 80s, many of whom were Jewish. While the Schlesinger Library funded the research, it did not accession the interviews. My paper considers institutional archives and documentary media in telling queer and lesbian histories across generations.