Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Flowers, Dancing, Dresses, and Dolls: Picture Book Representations of Gender-Variant Males

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Children's Literature in Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Over the past fifty years, children’s picture books have made great strides toward literary equity by including more perspectives from and stories about marginalized groups, such as those whose gender identities do not conform to heteronormative standards. While texts featuring gender-variant male characters engage in topics that are far too often shoved into the proverbial closet, what is yet to be determined is the degree to which they adequately reflect the complexity of (gender) identity and to what extent such picture books can counter narratives related to traditional “masculinity.” The purpose of this paper is to critically examine picture book representations of gender variance, as exhibited by male characters, in order to determine the books’ potential for exploring issues of social justice with elementary-age students. This study utilizes a critical multiculturalist lens to challenge the ways in which gender variance is represented in children’s literature and the reasons that young gender-variant male protagonists achieve—or do not achieve—communal acceptance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Stockton (2009) argues that since children do not yet have sexual identities, they can only be conceptualized as “gay children” in retrospect—if they do, indeed, come out as adults. They are, therefore, referred to frequently in scholarship as “ghostly” gay children who far-too-often lurk in isolated margins of their communities.

  2. Fox’s (1993) argument is that children’s literature is filled with an “endemic sexism” from which “boys and men need liberating” (p. 85). She calls for authors to disrupt patterns associated with the feminine-masculine binary discussed earlier in this article.

  3. The books appearing on Naidoo’s (2012) list are accompanied by ratings of Highly Recommended, Recommended, Additional Selection, or Not Recommended (p. 86), and the books included in this study vary according to this rating scale.

  4. While the stories featuring animal characters, particularly Dumpy La Rue and The Story of Ferdinand, can be read generally as nonconformist tales, the activities in which they are expected to engage (rolling in mud, cavorting, snorting, fighting, etc.) are stereotypically masculinized.

  5. See Smulders (2015) for additional discussion about the ways in which Bailey is “increasingly dwarfed in comparison to mother, father, and brother” and how this reflects the way in which “family functions to diminish and belittle the transgender self.”

  6. See Kimmell (2008) for an in-depth discussion of how the “Guy Code” functions to keep boys’ masculinity in check, among other boys.

  7. For a discussion about how homosexuality has historically been viewed as “a white thing” and incompatible with a black identity, please see Japtok and Jenkins (2011, pp. 33–35). For a discussion about “African Americans and the Whitening of Homosexuality,” please see Collins (2005, pp. 105–116).

References

  • Arizpe, Evelyn and Styles, Morag. (2003). Children Reading Pictures: Interpreting Visual Texts New York:RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balacchino, Christine. (2014). Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress Berkeley:Groundwood Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, Erin R. (2011). Surprise! Perez Hilton’s Kids Book is Veiled Gay Propaganda. Media Research Center (http://www.mrc.org). Retrieved from www.mrc.org on October 12, 2012.

  • Browning, Frank. (2016). The Fate of Gender: Nature, Nurture, and the Human Future New York:Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, Judith. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity New York:Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, Evelyn. (2015). 12 Empowering Children’s Books to Add to Little Girls’ Bookshelves. BUST. Accessed July 26, 2016 from http://bust.com/books/13817-12-empowering-children-s-books-to-add-to-little-girls-bookshelves.html.

  • Chatton, Barbara. (2001). Picture Books for Preschool Children: Exploring Gender Issues with Three- and Four-Year-Olds. In Susan Lehr (Ed.), Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Construction of Gender in Children’s Literature (pp. 57–66). Portsmouth:Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chu, Judy Y. (2014). When Boys Become Boys: Development, Relationships, and Masculinity New York:New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clyde, Laurel A. and Lobban, Marjorie. (2001). A Door Half Open: Young People’s Access to Fiction Related to Homosexuality. School Libraries Worldwide, 7(2), 17–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, Patricia Hill. (2005). Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism New York:Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R.W. (2005). Masculinities Berkeley, CA:University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbett, Ken. (2009). Boyhoods: Rethinking Masculinities New Haven:Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crisp, Thomas and Knezek, Suzanne M. (2010). “Just Don’t See Myself Here”: Challenging Conversations about LGBTQ Adolescent Literature. English Journal, 99(3), 76–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • dePaola, Tomie. (1979). Oliver Button is a Sissy New York:Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewert, Marcus. (2008). 10,000 Dresses New York:Seven Stories Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, Norman. (2003). Analyzing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research London:Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fierstein, Harvey. (2002). The Sissy Duckling New York:Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, Cordelia. (2010). Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference New York:W.W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flanagan, Victoria. (2008). Into the Closet: Cross-dressing and the Gendered Body in Children’s Literature and Film New York:Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Mem. (1993). Men who Weep, Boys who Dance: The Gender Agenda between the Lines in Children’s Literature. Language Arts, 70(2), 84–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • GLSEN. (2014). Get the Facts: Realities of LGBT Students and Strategies to Create Safer Schools for All. Accessed July 26, 2016 from http://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/glsen_familiav2014.pdf.

  • Gruska, Denise. (2007). The Only Boy in Ballet Class Layton, UT:Gibbs Smith.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurian, Michael and Stevens, Kathy. (2005). The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life San Francisco:Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurian, Michael and Trueman, Terry. (2000). What Stories Does My Son Need? New York:Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herthel, Jessica and Jennings, Jazz. (2014). I Am Jazz New York:Dial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzog, Ricky. (2009). Sissies, Dolls, and Dancing: Children’s Literature and Gender Deviance in the Seventies. The Lion and the Unicorn, 33(3), 60–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilton, Perez. (2011). The Boy with Pink Hair New York:Celebra Children’s Books/Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, Sarah and Hoffman, Ian. (2014). Jacob’s New Dress Chicago:Albert Whitman & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, Peter. (1992). Literature for Children: Contemporary Criticism New York:Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, Sarah C. and Riggs, Damien W. (2015). Hegemonic Masculinities and Heteronormativities in Contemporary Books on Fathering and Raising Boys. Boyhood Studies, 8(1), 110–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iser, Wolfgang. (1978). The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response Baltimore:The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Japtok, Martin and Jenkins, Jerry Rafiki. (2011). Authentic Blackness/“Real” Blackness: Essays on the Meaning of Blackness in Literature and Culture New York:Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilodavis, Cheryl. (2009). My Princess Boy New York:Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, Michael. (2008). Guyland: The Perilous World where Boys become Men: Understanding the Critical Years between 16 and 26 New York:Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, Michael. (2013). The Gendered Society New York:Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leaf, Munro. (1936). The Story of Ferdinand New York:The Viking Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leland, Christine, Lewison, Mitzi and Harste, Jerome. (2013). Teaching Children’s Literature: It’s Critical! New York:Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCready, Lance T. (2010). Making Space for Diverse Masculinities: Difference, Intersectionality, and Engagement in an Urban High School New York:Peter Lang.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McPhate, Mike. (2016 June 27). Pastors Praise Anti-Gay Massacre in Orlando, Prompting Outrage. The New York Times. Accessed July 26, 2016 from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/28/us/pastors-praise-anti-gay-massacre-in-orlando-prompting-outrage.html?_r=0.

  • Naidoo, Jamie Campbell. (2012). Rainbow Family Collections: Selecting and Using Children’s Books with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Content. Santa Barbara, CA; Denver, CO; Oxford, UK: Libraries Unlimited.

  • Nodelman, Perry. (1988). Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books Athens:The University of Georgia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, Jody. (1999). Transchildren and the Discipline of Children’s Literature. The Lion and the Unicorn, 23(3), 415–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrin, Ellen C.; Menvielle, Edgardo J.; Tuerk, Catherine. (2005). To the Beat of a Different Drummer: The Gender-Variant Child. Contemporary Pediatrics. Accessed July 26, 2016 from http://contemporarypediatrics.modernmedicine.com/contemporary-pediatrics/news/clinical/pediatrics/beat-different-drummer-gender-variant-child?id=&sk=&date=&pageID=5.

  • Pickering, Samuel. (1982). The Function of Criticism in Children's Literature. Children's Literature in Education, 13(1), 13–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, Justin and Parnell, Peter. (2005). And Tango Makes Three New York:Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenblatt, Louise. (1995). Literature as Exploration New York:The Modern Language Association of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saldaña, Johnny. (2011). Fundamentals of Qualitative Research: Understanding Qualitative Research New York:Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Short, Kathy G. (2001). Why Do Educators Need a Political Agenda on Gender? In Susan Lehr (Ed.), Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The Construction of Gender in Children’s Literature (pp. 57–66). Portsmouth:Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smulders, Sharon. (2015). Dresses make the Girl: Gender and Identity from The Hundred Dresses to 10,000 Dresses. Children’s Literature in Education, doi:10.107/s10583-015-9242-6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sommers, Christina Hoff. (2000). The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men New York:Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitz, Ellen Handler. (1999). Inside Picture Books New Haven:Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockton, Kathryn Bond. (2009). The Queer Child: Or Growing Sideways in the Twentieth Century Durham:Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Teaching Tolerance. (2016). Common Roadblocks. Accessed July 26, 2016 from http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/common-roadblocks.

  • Tyre, Peg. (2008). The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do New York:Three Rivers Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wannamaker, Annette. (2011). Mediated Boyhoods: Boys, Teens, and Young Men in Popular Media and Culture New York:Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, Mary Lou. (1974). Censorship—Threat over Children’s Books. The Elementary School Journal, 75(1), 2–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winthrop, Elizabeth. (2001). Dumpy La Rue New York:Henry Holt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zolotow, Charlotte. (1972). William’s Doll New York:Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego State University – Imperial Valley Campus, 720 Heber Avenue, Calexico, CA, 92231, USA

    Katie Sciurba

Authors
  1. Katie Sciurba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katie Sciurba.

Additional information

Katie Sciurba, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at San Diego State University—Imperial Valley Campus. Courses she has taught include Language Arts Methods and Children’s Literature. Her research interests include literacy and social justice, equity, identity and literacy, representation and relevance in children’s literature, and children’s responses to and engagement with texts. She also writes books and magazine articles for children.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sciurba, K. Flowers, Dancing, Dresses, and Dolls: Picture Book Representations of Gender-Variant Males. Child Lit Educ 48, 276–293 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-016-9296-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-016-9296-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation