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Inner Identity
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 08 May 2014 16:43:14 -0500
What excites me about "I Am Jazz" is that it looks to speak to inner identity--beyond the issue of clothing or activities.
The discussion of books that look at not princess-y/alternative princesses, etc can help us identify books that may speak to some kids who live outside the traditional roles society expects . But it seems to me that while kids who are born in bodies that don't fit how and who they understand themselves to be may turn to clothing as one way to express this (sometimes then embracing what we might consider a stereotype of the opposite gender in how they dress), the harder thing to get at in books for young children is that internal sense of identity, which has been something that really struck me about several young adult novels, especially as the characters reach puberty and feel such a disconnect with their developing bodies.
Maybe this goes back to KT's earlier point about not wanting to label kids so young, but of course there ARE kids who know from a very young age that their bodies do not reflect who they are. I think it's also great to have books that allow for wondering--that don't give a reason for a boy wearing a dress, for example--it broadens who can see themselves in it. But as with so many other issues of diversity and representation, we need both types of books, and not just a handful of them.
Megan
Date: Thu, 08 May 2014 16:43:14 -0500
What excites me about "I Am Jazz" is that it looks to speak to inner identity--beyond the issue of clothing or activities.
The discussion of books that look at not princess-y/alternative princesses, etc can help us identify books that may speak to some kids who live outside the traditional roles society expects . But it seems to me that while kids who are born in bodies that don't fit how and who they understand themselves to be may turn to clothing as one way to express this (sometimes then embracing what we might consider a stereotype of the opposite gender in how they dress), the harder thing to get at in books for young children is that internal sense of identity, which has been something that really struck me about several young adult novels, especially as the characters reach puberty and feel such a disconnect with their developing bodies.
Maybe this goes back to KT's earlier point about not wanting to label kids so young, but of course there ARE kids who know from a very young age that their bodies do not reflect who they are. I think it's also great to have books that allow for wondering--that don't give a reason for a boy wearing a dress, for example--it broadens who can see themselves in it. But as with so many other issues of diversity and representation, we need both types of books, and not just a handful of them.
Megan
--
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503
schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
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Received on Thu 08 May 2014 04:45:39 PM CDT
