Are the Kids All Right?

B.J. Epstein

Description

Epstein explores why sex, sexuality and gender non-conformity is something that many writers and publishers of children's and young adult lit appear to shy away from. She demonstrates that the information children get from literature matters, and that so called 'difficult' topics can be communicated in entertaining and informative ways.

Uses ideas from queer theory and other research to interrogate the ways LGBTQ characters are portrayed in books for children and young people, and to analyse what messages readers of such books might receive.

Includes detailed analysis of over 60 picture books, middle-grade books and young adult novels by authors such as Nancy Garden, Julie Ann Peters, Alex Sanchez, David Levithan, Lesléa Newman, Marcus Ewart, Cris Beam and many others.

This book brings together literary studies, sociology, queer studies and other academic fields in an accessible manner, where the research supports the detailed analyses of over 50 books for children and young adults. Epstein looks at a range of topics, such as the lack of diversity in many of these works, how same-sex marriage is portrayed, the relative absence of bisexual and transgender characters, the way that many of these books are marketed and intended as 'issue books', and more.

A practical and informative book to inspire writers and publishers to produce better LGBTQ literature for young readers.

Introduction

Motivation

A brief discussion of sexuality and gender

Terminology

Children’s literature

Sexuality, children and children’s literature

Corpus of texts

Methodologies

Structure of this book

Conclusion

 

Issue books

Publishing and practical considerations

Paratexts

Confirmation of normality

HIV and AIDS

Teaching through characters

Controversy

Conclusion

 

Portrayal and stereotypes

Prejudice and stereotypes

A brief history of stereotypes in LGBTQ

Literature

Queerness as a problem

Causes of queerness

Looking queer

Acting queer

Sex and marriage

The gay boyfriend

Positive stereotypes and challenging stereotypes

Reducing prejudice and literature’s role

Conclusion

 

Diversity

Missing pieces

Bisexuality

Transgender

Other shades of the rainbow

Multiple identities

Race/ethnicity

Religion and spirituality

Dis/ability

Age

Class

Weight/size and body image

Conclusion

 

Sex and marriage

Masturbation

Protection

Sex

BTQ sex

Summary of sex

Marriage

Background on LGBTQ parenting

Background on LGBTQ marriage

US books

UK books

Northern European books

Summary of marriage

Singletons

Conclusion

 

Conclusion

A brief summary

A call to arms (or pens): Not a conclusion, but a proposal

 

Notes

References

Annotated bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Lesbian Studies
• LGBTQ+ Studies
• Critical Theory
• LGBTQ
• Children's Literature
• Literary Criticism
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Cultural Studies

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 31 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780956450791
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Are the Kids All Right?
Are the Kids All Right?
The Representation of LGBTQ Characters
in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
B.J. Epstein
Are the Kids All Right? Representations of LGBTQ Characters in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Copyright © B.J. Epstein 2015
The right of B.J. Epstein to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher, except in the context of reviews.
ISBN 978-0-9564507-9-1
Are the Kids All Right? Representations of LGBTQ Characters in Children’s and Young Adult Literature / B.J. Epstein 1. Literary Criticism. 2. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer. 3. Children’s and Young Adult Literature. 4. Cultural Studies.
First published as EPUB 2015 by HammerOn Press, Bristol, UK www.hammeronpress.net
Cover design and typesetting by Eva Megias www.laneutral.com Cover font Depalo Sans by Alex Camacho www.alexcamacho.es
Set in Adobe Caslon Pro and Franklin Gothic Medium
This book is dedicated with much love and gratitude to the two most important people in my life: my mother, Paula Epstein, and my wife, Fi Woodley. Their support and encouragement have meant so much to me, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I love you both very much. Thank you for being who you are.
Acknowledgements
I would like to gratefully acknowledge the help and support of a number of people. Without them, this book would not have been possible.
First of all, the undergraduate students in my courses in children’s literature and queer literature at the University of East Anglia have inspired me with their passion, enthusiasm, and curiosity. I have really enjoyed all our seminars and have found that they have given me new ideas to think about. These students, along with many other people – especially those who are LGBTQ and/or readers of books for children and young adults – have been willing to tell me what literature means to them, what role it plays in their lives, and, in particular, why LGBTQ lit matters. In many cases, such discussions took place at lectures, workshops, conferences, or reading groups, or during informal chats, and sometimes I did not even have a chance to get people’s names. So I am very grateful to everyone who has been disposed to discuss this with me, whatever the setting.
Several of the authors whose work I discuss here were gracious enough to answer questions and to tell me about their experiences as writers of LGBTQ literature for young people. Many, many thanks to Marcus Ewert, Elizabeth Kushner, and Lesléa Newman for their books and for their help.
At HammerOn, Debi Withers has been very encouraging and helpful. Her editorial suggestions have strengthened the book and I appreciate the way she believed in me and the subject matter. I would also like to thank Eva Megias for her vibrant cover design.
Finally, I offer huge thanks and much love to my family, especially my mother, Paula Epstein, and my wife, Fi Woodley. It is in large part due to my family that this particular kid turned out all right.
Thank you all.
Contents
I NTRODUCTION
Motivation
A Brief Discussion of Sexuality and Gender
Terminology
Children’s Literature
Sexuality, Children and Children’s Literature
Corpus of Texts
Methodologies
Structure of This Book
Conclusion
I SSUE B OOKS
Publishing and Practical Considerations
Paratexts
Confirmation of Normality
HIV and AIDS
Teaching Through Characters
Controversy
Conclusion
P ORTRAYAL AND S TEREOTYPES
Prejudice and Stereotypes
A Brief History of Stereotypes in LGBTQ Literature
Queerness as a Problem
Causes of Queerness
Looking Queer
Acting Queer
Sex and Marriage
The Gay Boyfriend
Positive Stereotypes and Challenging Stereotypes
Reducing Prejudice and Literature’s Role
Conclusion
D IVERSITY
Missing Pieces
Bisexuality
Transgender
Other Shades of the Rainbow
Multiple Identities
Race/Ethnicity
Religion and Spirituality
Dis/Ability
Age
Class
Weight/Size and Body Image
Conclusion
S EX AND M ARRIAGE
Masturbation
Protection
Sex
BTQ Sex
Summary of Sex
Marriage
Background on LGBTQ Parenting
Background on LGBTQ Marriage
U.S. Books
U.K. Books
Northern European Books
Summary of Marriage
Singletons
Conclusion
C ONCLUSION
A Brief Summary
A Call to Arms (or Pens): Not a Conclusion, But a Proposal
N OTES
R EFERENCES
A NNOTATED B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
Introduction
In this book, I explore how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and otherwise queer (LGBTQ 1 ) people are depicted in books for children and young adults. I approach this topic from several angles, as will be discussed below, with the overarching aim being to understand what messages about and views of LGBTQ people are offered to young readers and why this matters. I believe that writing – both creative writing and critical writing – can be powerful and activist and that it can contest people’s ideas and potentially even change their lives. My question is whether creative writing that features LGBTQ characters challenges or confirms ideas about gender and sexuality, and my hope is to use my own critical writing in a challenging, helpful, and potentially subversive way.
In this chapter, then, I give background on children’s literature and on sexuality in books for younger readers, and I set out what I plan to do in this book and why.
Motivation
First, it is important to understand what is at stake in a book such as this one, as writing is not only or even primarily an academic act but also a political one. There are a number of reasons why I have chosen to write a book on this topic. A basic one, of course, is that I wonder what children are being told about the LGBTQ community, non-heterosexualities, and non-cisgendered identities through the books they read and whether and how this might reflect the greater society in which they live. Literature says something about the society it is about and in which it is written, edited, published, sold, taught, translated, and read, so what children read is a topic of vital importance because the ideas they get from books – and, of course, from other media – will shape them and their larger culture in the future.
Another reason why this book is needed now is that though recent years have seen an increase in research into both children’s literature and queer studies, there has been little overlap of this research. While some of the newest research in the field of children’s literature looks at the issue of diversity in children’s books (see, for example, Gopalakrishnan, 2011, or chapter 6 in Travers and Travers, 2008), often this is in terms of race and religion and sometimes ability, but not sexuality. Barbara E.Travers and John F. Travers cover the topic of sexuality in only one page (2008:287). Gender is mentioned more often (such as Seth Lerer’s analysis of books for boys versus books for girls, 2008), but sexuality still seems to be somewhat taboo. If sexuality is not studied much, then diverse forms of sexuality have certainly been rarely discussed (one of the few earlier examples is Weisbard, 2001), although this is starting to change, with new works that are wide-ranging collections of essays on gender and/or sexuality, such as Michael Cart and Christine A. Jenkins’ s The Heart Has Its Reasons (2006) or Over the Rainbow , edited by Michelle Ann Abate and Kenneth Kidd (2011). I have not found a monograph that is an in-depth analysis of non-norm 2 sexuality and gender in children’s books. As in any field, it is important to keep up with the latest developments, and for children’s literature, publishers are now producing more diverse books; critics and academics therefore ought to explore these texts.
I personally believe that what the next generation learns is an extremely important and essential topic. I also am concerned about the increased numbers of LGBTQ young people who are being bullied and who, in response to such pressure, self-harm or even commit suicide. Thus, I feel that we need to understand what children and young adults are taught about queer topics or about being queer and how this might impact upon their lives and their routes to adulthood. This means, then, that this book is needed in order to explore how non-norm sexualities and gender identities seem to be understood in contemporary, English-speaking cultures today (see the section below on the corpus of texts for the reasons behind this focus), and what children and young adults are told about queer issues through the medium of fiction.
A Brief Discussion of Sexuality and Gender
In order to explore sexuality and gender, it is important to define what these terms mean. “Sexuality as a social construction is considered to be a fluid, non-linear, multifaceted, complex, contradictory, and unstable relationship that can vary across cultures and over historical periods of time, according to the discourses available” (Robinson, 2002:419), and one could perhaps say that this applies to gender as well. Joane Nagel writes, “By sexuality I refer to ‘men’ and ‘women’ as socially, mainly genitally defined individuals with culturally defined appropriate sexual tastes, partners, and activities.” (2003:8, italics original) Of course this definition depends on an idea of gender, and Robert E. Nye writes, “In a sense, gender makes a social virtue out of the necessity of biological sex, policing the boundaries of the sexually permissible, nourishing ideals of sexual love, and dictating norms of sexual aim and object.” (2004:12) This is to say that much of our understanding of sexuality stems from a gendered perspective, and Nye writes that it was in the eighteenth century that there was the creation of a “‘two-sex’ system” (2004:16) and a view towards biological determinism. Obviously, much of this