Crushes and Kissing: Children's Romantic Play as a Lens to Consider Queer Theory

• In Event: 18.072 - Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: 18.072-18 - Expanding Understandings of Genders and Sexualities in Early Childhood and Elementary Education

Abstract

In this presentation I discuss how young children engaged with one another in an afterschool reading club about family diversity. By examining emergences of romantic talk and play during the club, I explore intersections of queer theory, childhood studies, and education research. Additionally, I consider how my multiple and shifting roles as adult-in-charge, educator, researcher, and collaborator affected our interactions and my understanding of how heterosexual norms shaped our shared time and space. By deconstructing and reimagining ways to record and present children’s play during these literary encounters, I identify and present data of moments when heteronormativity influenced and defined the scope of their interactions. This research highlights the importance of listening to children’s talk and expanding queerness beyond identity.

Author

• Rachel Skrlac Lo, Villanova University