(Re)producing and Dismantling Heteronormative Spaces in Schools

Session Submission Type: Paper Session

Abstract

This panel of speakers examines the ways in which heteronormativity is challenged or reinforced through schooling. The first paper examines the role of objective and subjective spaces in (re)producing heterosexism in an Icelandic upper secondary school. The following paper builds on this discussion of space by exploring how homonegative speech marginalizes students in “safe” and “politically correct” spaces, complicating the very possibility of such contexts. The third paper examines the tensions and contradictions in school spaces and practices that claim to support all students while simultaneously (re)producing normative masculinities. The session concludes with an exploration of how rural sex educators create spaces that are inclusive of queer students.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Queer Studies

Chair

• Timothy G. Larrabee, Oakland University

Papers

• The Role of Space in (Re)producing Heterosexism/Heteronormativity in Icelandic Upper Secondary Schools - Jon Ingvar Kjaran, University of Iceland; Ingolfur Asgeir Johannesson, University of Iceland

• Speech That Silences, Silences That Speak: Examining Safe Space for Sexuality and Race in School - Susan Walker Woolley, University of California - Berkeley

• Boys, Bodies, and Negotiated School Spaces: When Boys Fail the Litmus Test - Jim Burns, South Dakota State University; Michael D. Kehler, University of Western Ontario

• Queering Sex Education: Rural Sex Educators’ Perceptions of Queer Issues - Jennifer M. deCoste, University of Wisconsin - Platteville

Discussant

• Mary Louise Rasmussen, Monash University