Boys with gender variant behaviors and interests: from theory to practice

Is This the Right Elementary School for My Gender Nonconforming Child?

“…These presentations contained information about our family's journey and gender nonconformity. They included a series of activities that Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 06:01 03 January 2015 challenged educators to think about gender as a continuum, rather than a binary, and to recognize gender as a social construction (Slesaransky-Poe & García, 2009). In addition, the presentations provided examples that questioned the gender-normative and heteronormative assumptions and practices of schools and society more generally (García & Slesaransky-Poe, 2010;Slesaransky-Poe & García, 2009).…”

The boy who was drawing princesses: primary teachers' accounts of children's non-conforming behaviours

“…Within a diverse school environment, the needs of such students are seldom even heard, much less met. Nevertheless, such deafening silence carries its own negative lessons in terms of enforcing heterosexual constructions of reality and reinforcing sexist and homophobic practices in schools (Atkinson 2002;Politis 2006;Meyer 2008;Airton 2009;Slesaransky-Poe and García 2009).…”

Homo- and bisexual teachers’ ways of relating to the heteronorm

“…That is, the findings strengthen the notion that the binary of public and private cannot be regarded as a clearly separated pair -as Evans (1999) relates, Eribon (2004) describes in terms of movement and Kosofsky Sedgwick (1990) problematize. Slesaransky-Poe and García (2009) provide one example that illustrates the (already made) sexualization of pedagogy accomplished through heteronormativity. The teacher arguing that teaching is about sharing things has indeed accomplished something to be able to overcome a feeling of stepping into a sexualized topic by coming out.…”

“…This is one of homo-and bisexual teachers' dilemmas: A heterosexual teacher can talk about a partner without being accounted for talking about sexuality, whereas the homo-or bisexual teacher is at risk of being understood as talking inappropriately about sexuality (cf . Slesaransky-Poe & García, 2009). Eribon (2004, p. 105) exemplifies with the possible comment from a heterosexual person, said in a situation when a homosexual person has revealed the sexuality what is incessantly talked about by the heterosexual: "Why do gay people always have to be so open about it?…”