White Boys in Dresses: Transgender Representation in Picture Books Since 2010

• In Event: Roundtable Session 54
  In Roundtable Session: Traversing and Renegotiating Identity Borders: On the Presentation, Representation, and Re-Representation of Fluid Selves in Literature for Young People

Abstract

What are the representations of transgender characters in recently published picturebooks? What are the experiences of the transgender characters in the literature? Expanding on the work of Lo (2011, 2014) that explores gender representation within LGBTQ-inclusive literature, this study argues that diverse representations of transgender characters are limited in regards to race, social class, and gender identity within picturebooks published since 2010. In addition, this research argues that the majority of trans-inclusive picturebooks perpetuate single-stories (Adichie, 2009) and binary performances of gender (Butler, 1990; Jaggar, 2014). Drawing from tenets of feminist and queer theory, this study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative approaches via a content analysis of the eleven picturebooks published since 2010 that specifically include transgender characters.

Author

• Stephen Adam Crawley, University of Georgia