Faculty and staff

Dr. Sol Underwood teaches broadly in sociology, with a special focus on the sociology of families, sexualities, gender, and qualitative methods. Sol also integrates an historical and political economic analysis of race and class in their teaching. 

Sol's research focuses on 2SLGBTQI+ parenthood, families, and communities in Canada, particularly male co-parents. Thanks to the broader 2SLGBTQI+ movements of the last century that won same-gender couples’ rights to marry and parent together, gay fathers are forming families that represent a historically novel social unit. Yet, gay fathers must navigate many barriers to their full participation in the world of parents. They lack easy access to the means of reproduction and become primary caregivers to children in a society that is organized around straight parents and heteronormativity. Sol's research shows that the many paths gay men navigate are often dizzying, complicated bureaucratic paths, over which they may experience little control. Then, once they achieve fatherhood, their intentions as male parents are often called into question. They must contend with suspicions ascribed to male primary caregivers, on the one hand, and stigma ascribed to gay male sexuality, on the other. Despite the many advances that 2SLGBTQI+ people have enjoyed in Canada over the last century, Sol's research highlights the many barriers and inequalities that persist among 2SLGBTQI+ families. At the heart of Sol's research focus, they highlight the profound commitment that Canadian gay men bring to their roles and jobs as fathers as they pave the way for future generations of primary caregiving co-fathers.  

PhD, Sociology, University of Toronto

MA, Sociology, University of Toronto

BA, Sociology and English literature, Simon Fraser University

• Underwood, S. W. (2027). Feminine fatherhood? Rethinking masculinity, care, and parenthood through gay fatherhood. In M. Pulsford, A. Dolan, & E. Langley (Eds.), The Routledge companion to gender and fatherhood. Routledge. Forthcoming. 

• Underwood, S. W. (2027). No straight road: Navigating pathways to gay fatherhood in Canada. In M. Pulsford, A. Dolan, & E. Langley (Eds.), The Routledge companion to gender and fatherhood. Routledge. Forthcoming.

• Underwood, S. W. (2026). The gay parental turn: Canadian gay fathers and the reorganization of care and community. Canadian Review of Sociology, forthcoming.

• Underwood, S. W. (2024). Gay Dads to Be: Reflections on Gender, Sexuality, Family, and Race in Adoption and Surrogacy. LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 1-16.

• Underwood, S. W. (2020). Dahlia among Orchids: Neither a Boy Nor Girl ‘on The Inside’, but Gender-Chaotic ‘on The Outside’. In Twist, J., Vincent, B., Barker, M., & Gupta, K. (Eds.), Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.