Children's media -- books included -- are significant sources of socialization. Kids learn the unspoken norms of culture by watching. Unfortunately, most media depicts very heterogeneous families. Furthermore, the creepy early-sexualization of girls emphasizes heterosexual romance as the pinnacle event of a girls life. It takes intentionality to open up the possibility that romance, love and family is expressed in a huge range of ways. However, the books don't have to pedantic (in fact, they shouldn't be) - - Everywhere Babies is my favorite -- a board book about the daily life of babies that mixes in images of all kinds of families.
Two Lives Publishing specializes in books for LGBTQ families -- they publish a baby book (journal) which looks beautiful. The online catalog allows browsing by age of intended reader and also has a section for schools. (An alternative baby book, The Making of Me, also looks wonderful and has gender-neutral language).
Mountainmeadow provides a booklist for children with LGBTQ parents, but these books (for children ages 2 - 12) would be great for all kids. (They also have a list for teens and young adults)
Rainbow Rumpus is a magazine for kids with LGBTQ parents and also has a resource page for parents -- many of the same books are reviewed here.
The Center for Children's Books has a bibliography through 2004 and many links. (This bibliography is unfortunately not annotated, but the newer ones are).
Resources for Schools / Teachers
Hardy Girls, Healthy Women produced Ugly Ducklings: a film "designed to educate and inspire people to take action against bias-based bullying and harassment gay and lesbian youth." The film is FREE for all Maine school districts and is available for purchase nationwide. They provide links for hate violence and suicide prevention.
The Safe Schools Coalition provides links to curricula, books, etc for different age ranges.
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network is one of the most established national organizations, provides resources for LGBTQ teachers and students and for increasing diversity education in schools.
Frameline produces and distributes films, including many made by/for youth (7th grade and up)
Maine Resources
Equality Maine is the leading activist organization in the state. Check with them for up-to-date information, actions and speakers, etc.
The Maine SpeakOut Project: "The mission of the Maine Speakout Project is to create a society that is inclusive and respectful of people of differing sexual and gender orientations by providing opportunities for non-divisive dialogue."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment