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[CCBC-Net] Dramarama, fluff, and supporting teens coming out
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From: Lesley Colabucci <lcolabucci>
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 13:38:09 -0700 (PDT)
I think all this is so context-dependent. While there are more positive images of GLBTQ people in books and other media, I'm not so how "much" easier it is for young people today. Recently I cotaught a Women Studies class and the media prof I worked with had students track the music they listen to and monitor for racism, sexism, and homophobia. The results were just plain depressing. Plus, I live in a very conservative area and homophobia certainly is ever-present in the lives of the young people I know. I want there to be a balance of books with characters that just happen to be gay and books in which being gay is a at the heart of the story. I certainly think heterosexism and homophobia still need to be exposed and critiqued in our literature. We might do a disservice to GLBTQ young people by denying them the chance to talk about the struggles they face and the rights they are denied.
This may be why I like Woodson's "From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun" so much. Heterosexism and homophobia are addressed. They are blatant forces in the lives of the characters, but the gay character herself is not struggling with her sexuality or any kind of self-hate. I loved last year's "Some Day this Pain will Be Useful to You" by Cameron. That protagonist was definitely living in a context where being gay not only might not be an issue, but might actually carry social capital. It seemed very appropriate that his sexuality be only an "aside" in the story. Yet, I couldn't help but doubt that he would never encounter any kind of homophobia, no matter how confident and comfortable he is with himself. Am I just a pessimist?
Lesley
Lesley Colabucci, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Elementary and Early Childhood Education Millersville University of Pennsylvania PO Box 1002 Millersville, PA 17551-0302
51 Lyte Road 322 Stayer Hall
(717) 871-5462 (fax)
(717) 871-5618 (office)
lesley.colabucci at millersville.edu
--- On Fri, 5/30/08, Nancy Silverrod <nsilverrod at sfpl.org> wrote:
> From: Nancy Silverrod <nsilverrod at sfpl.org>
> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Dramarama, fluff, and supporting teens coming out
> To: "Elliott BatTzedek" <ebattzedek at cliontheweb.org>, ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Date: Friday, May 30, 2008, 3:07 PM
> I agree that everything shouldn't be all serious, and
> it's great that
> there are more and more books where the sexuality of the
> protagonist is
> not the focal point of the plot. This one just didn't
> do it for me.
>
> One of the things I've been thinking about lately is
> the sense that
> today's young LGBTQ teens are having an easier time of
> accepting
> themselves, coming out, and being accepted, and have no
> idea of what we
> all went through in the past. What's sadly true, is
> that while they may
> have no sense of our history and struggle, they are often
> still going
> through the same type of rough times. My seventeen-year-old
> stepson, the
> child of lesbian moms, who grew up among a loving gay
> community in San
> Francisco, has been through a terrible time of depression
> and drinking
> in the last couple of years, which (hopefully) seems to be
> abating as
> he's now in his first relationship with a man. He's
> never been pressured
> in any way about his sexuality or gender identity, and when
> we've talked
> in the past to him about future relationships, and about
> safe-sex, we've
> always made a point of referring to girlfriends or
> boyfriends. We've
> wondered over the years about the implications of his
> tendency to
> cross-dress, but have supported that as well. It's been
> painful to see
> that despite our openness and acceptance, he has had such a
> hard time.
>
> Unfortunately, despite being the child of librarians,
> he's only become a
> willing reader in the last year or so, and he reads adult
> books--so he's
> missed out on all of the great LGBTQ YA books that might
> have helped
> where we didn't seem to be able to. As a librarian, I
> wonder about how
> to better reach kids like him--kids who are non-readers,
> but could
> really benefit by what we have to offer.
>
> Nancy Silverrod, Librarian
> San Francisco Public Library
> 100 Larkin St.
> San Francisco, CA 94102-4733
> 415-557-4417
> nsilverrod at sfpl.org
>
> Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from
> one to another
> mind. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat
> (1819-1891)
>
> A closed mind is like a closed book: just a block of wood.
> -Chinese
> Proverb
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
Received on Fri 30 May 2008 03:38:09 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 13:38:09 -0700 (PDT)
I think all this is so context-dependent. While there are more positive images of GLBTQ people in books and other media, I'm not so how "much" easier it is for young people today. Recently I cotaught a Women Studies class and the media prof I worked with had students track the music they listen to and monitor for racism, sexism, and homophobia. The results were just plain depressing. Plus, I live in a very conservative area and homophobia certainly is ever-present in the lives of the young people I know. I want there to be a balance of books with characters that just happen to be gay and books in which being gay is a at the heart of the story. I certainly think heterosexism and homophobia still need to be exposed and critiqued in our literature. We might do a disservice to GLBTQ young people by denying them the chance to talk about the struggles they face and the rights they are denied.
This may be why I like Woodson's "From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun" so much. Heterosexism and homophobia are addressed. They are blatant forces in the lives of the characters, but the gay character herself is not struggling with her sexuality or any kind of self-hate. I loved last year's "Some Day this Pain will Be Useful to You" by Cameron. That protagonist was definitely living in a context where being gay not only might not be an issue, but might actually carry social capital. It seemed very appropriate that his sexuality be only an "aside" in the story. Yet, I couldn't help but doubt that he would never encounter any kind of homophobia, no matter how confident and comfortable he is with himself. Am I just a pessimist?
Lesley
Lesley Colabucci, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Elementary and Early Childhood Education Millersville University of Pennsylvania PO Box 1002 Millersville, PA 17551-0302
51 Lyte Road 322 Stayer Hall
(717) 871-5462 (fax)
(717) 871-5618 (office)
lesley.colabucci at millersville.edu
--- On Fri, 5/30/08, Nancy Silverrod <nsilverrod at sfpl.org> wrote:
> From: Nancy Silverrod <nsilverrod at sfpl.org>
> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Dramarama, fluff, and supporting teens coming out
> To: "Elliott BatTzedek" <ebattzedek at cliontheweb.org>, ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Date: Friday, May 30, 2008, 3:07 PM
> I agree that everything shouldn't be all serious, and
> it's great that
> there are more and more books where the sexuality of the
> protagonist is
> not the focal point of the plot. This one just didn't
> do it for me.
>
> One of the things I've been thinking about lately is
> the sense that
> today's young LGBTQ teens are having an easier time of
> accepting
> themselves, coming out, and being accepted, and have no
> idea of what we
> all went through in the past. What's sadly true, is
> that while they may
> have no sense of our history and struggle, they are often
> still going
> through the same type of rough times. My seventeen-year-old
> stepson, the
> child of lesbian moms, who grew up among a loving gay
> community in San
> Francisco, has been through a terrible time of depression
> and drinking
> in the last couple of years, which (hopefully) seems to be
> abating as
> he's now in his first relationship with a man. He's
> never been pressured
> in any way about his sexuality or gender identity, and when
> we've talked
> in the past to him about future relationships, and about
> safe-sex, we've
> always made a point of referring to girlfriends or
> boyfriends. We've
> wondered over the years about the implications of his
> tendency to
> cross-dress, but have supported that as well. It's been
> painful to see
> that despite our openness and acceptance, he has had such a
> hard time.
>
> Unfortunately, despite being the child of librarians,
> he's only become a
> willing reader in the last year or so, and he reads adult
> books--so he's
> missed out on all of the great LGBTQ YA books that might
> have helped
> where we didn't seem to be able to. As a librarian, I
> wonder about how
> to better reach kids like him--kids who are non-readers,
> but could
> really benefit by what we have to offer.
>
> Nancy Silverrod, Librarian
> San Francisco Public Library
> 100 Larkin St.
> San Francisco, CA 94102-4733
> 415-557-4417
> nsilverrod at sfpl.org
>
> Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from
> one to another
> mind. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat
> (1819-1891)
>
> A closed mind is like a closed book: just a block of wood.
> -Chinese
> Proverb
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
Received on Fri 30 May 2008 03:38:09 PM CDT
