The figure of the queer child had long disappeared from the world of popular children’s literature. Even if the queer-coded child character existed, in children’s books this “queer child is distorted, manipulated and forced to appear heterosexual in order to appeal to the adult’s conception of the normative heterosexual world order,” according to scholar Sarkar noted. The rise in representation of relatively recent queer experiences is only recent.
In addition, in 1979, more than 45 years ago, “When Megan Went Away,” the first published picture book with queer characters, appeared. The picture book revolves around two lesbian mothers and their impending divorce. Since then, the subgenre of queer illustrated fiction has been expanded to include stories about queer animals. And “Tango Makes Three,” a real-life story about gay penguins in New York City’s Central Park, is one of the best-known and most widely read queer picture books, a subversion of heteronormative wedding traditions and a celebration of children exploring their gender identities through creative outlets.
When Megan walked away
This final narrative device will be the focus of this piece, and to explore “gender creativity,” two picture books by South Asian authors will be used as primary texts: Guthli Has Wings (2019) by Kanak Shashi and The Boy and the Bindi (2016) by Vivek Shraya and Rajni Perera. Guthli sees himself as a fairy, and the unnamed boy in The Boy and the Bindi has a revelation about his gender through the bindi on his mother’s forehead.
How do authors and illustrators go beyond the linear process of gendering when writing and constructing these narratives? Do illustrations reinforce queer stereotypes, or is it essential to rely on stereotypes to provide access to their early perceptions of queerness? This piece examines the representation of the trans and gender non-conforming experience of the child character in queer illustrated fiction and how the use of LGBTQ+ terminology is therefore gender creative.
Gender creativity 101
The term “gender creativity” first appeared in Diane Ehrensaft’s resource book for parents on raising gender creative children: The Gender Creative Child: Pathways for Nurturing and Supporting Children Who Live Outside Gender Boxes. The term is used to describe “children whose unique gender expression or sense of identity is not defined by a checkbox on their birth certificate,” Ehrensaft said. However, gender creativity is about much more than that, as it helps children use their imagination to understand and integrate their gender into the world around them.
In this article, gender creativity is a model for rethinking alternative ways of representing gender exploration and expression that go beyond discovering labels online. For children just learning to enter the world and find themselves, accessing the Internet to find labels that fit their gender identity is a far-fetched concept. Children are naturally curious about the world and understand themselves and the world around them through experiences, be they cultural or fantastical. They cling to a symbol that accelerates their identity formation and explore it fully until they feel comfortable with it. The symbols in the texts range from dresses and fairies to accessories and cultural markers such as bindis.
Gender creativity through illustrations
Symbols and illustrations in picture books easily attract children. These books not only help them reflect their experiences of gender through images, but also provide insight into outdoor representations. The format of the picture book makes it easier for children to understand perspectives and assume “subject positions” because the “subject” is their age (Sarkar 16). The narrative focuses solely on the child character, with other characters such as parents, friends and society playing a supporting role in pushing it forward.
The two main texts use illustrations in different ways, according to the tone and characters of the narrative. Guthli Has Wings introduces us to Guthli, a young, playful girl and the youngest member of her family. She is like any other child; She draws fairies, roams the Satpura hills for hours and collects leaves of various kinds (Shashi 7). However, she wears her sister’s clothes and receives scathing comments from her mother for dressing “like a girl” because [she is] like her brother, not like [her] Sister” (Shashi 13). Guthli’s illustrated character has no eyes throughout the book, which may be the author-illustrator’s way of universalizing Guthli’s experience of her gender identity with other children worldwide. By deliberately deleting one of the most distinctive features of her face, the author presents Guthli as a representative symbol of the gender-creative child.
The picture book’s paper-cut art style also reflects the disharmony Guthli feels between her body and her mind. The random paper cuttings also reflect many aspects of Guthli’s life at this point: the constant ridicule of her family, especially her mother, about her gender identity and presentation, followed by her feelings of loneliness and sadness after the spiteful comments. She isolates herself during Diwali and doesn’t talk to anyone. The isolation then takes the form of a dysphoric experience as her family invalidates her identity by referring to her as a boy. “Interestingly, the illustrations do not depict Guthli as a boy or girl, but rather as…” [genderless] Child with her disheveled hair (Sarkar 16).”
The uneven sections of Guthli’s hair are also messy and experimental, serving as a way for her to navigate her trans identity by experimenting with the length and shape of her hair as they represent her. It is possible that Shashi is also commenting on the very nature of the process of gender determination with this art style; Discovering and coming to terms with one’s gender identity is not a linear process and involves several ups and downs and setbacks from society and oneself. The paper cutouts are also a conscious choice to keep the target audience in mind as children also develop hobbies by engaging in practical activities such as arts and crafts.
In addition to the irregular brushstrokes and cutouts, the color palette also adapts to Guthli’s changing moods throughout the story. As she retreats into herself, Guthli’s entire physical form becomes dark and unclear, becoming indecipherable, unlike her earlier and later, more colorful illustrations. When Guthli’s mother finally accepts her as she is, the color palette becomes traditionally feminine, aligning with established societal norms in which certain colors are associated with certain genders – girls like pink and boys like blue.
Gender creativity through language
In addition to the illustrations, Shashi and Shraya leave their protagonists’ gender identities unlabeled. The interpretive writing style also complements the gender playfulness available to these characters.
“The Boy and the Bindi” is about a young boy’s curiosity about a single object that triggers a spiritual journey. He watches his mother put on a bindi and is curious about its shape and function. As soon as his mother gives him a bindi to wear, he feels confident in his own skin and experiences something spiritual, something he cannot clearly name.
He says that bindis come in all hues, which could be interpreted more metaphorically as genders having many hues and thus a variety of genders beyond the binary to choose from. While the message of the book is more spiritual and aimed at a broader cultural revelation of the child, Shraya has also kept in mind the target audience and their optimal reading level. There’s a rhyme scheme from AABB on almost every page, which when read aloud sounds playful and not as didactic as a book of the same genre, but one aimed at a much older audience. Some examples include “She peels it off and sticks it on like a sticker/Gently with her thumb and finger” and “Ammi, why are you wearing this spot? What’s special about this spot? (Shraya)”
Although stereotypes ranging from mildly dysphoric experiences to the use of pink and blue as primary colors to represent gender are projected onto the pages of queer picture books, they are essential in forming children’s first impressions of gender. Such stereotypes help them to be creative and experimental with their gender, as demonstrated in both texts. Instead of exploring complex words like “transgender” and “non-binary,” children playfully experiment with their gender identity and gender expression using cultural symbols and fantastical elements.
References
- Ehrensaft, Diane. The Gender-Creative Child: Ways to Encourage and Support Children Who Live Outside Gender Boundaries. The Experiment, 2016.
- Sarkar, Ananya. “Why do you keep saying I’m a boy when I’m a girl?: Exploring queer desires, identities and expressions in Indian children’s illustrated fiction.” Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, vol. 46, No. 3, 2022, pp. 14–25. jcla.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/JCLA-46.3_Autumn-2023_Ananya-Sarkar.pdf.
- Shashi, Kanak. Guthli has wings. Tulika Publishers, 2020, anyflip.com/njumx/mizs/basic.
- Shraya, Vivek. The boy and the bindi. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016.
Ayushi Pandey recently graduated from FLAME University, Pune and holds a BA in Literature and Cultural Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Interdisciplinary Studies and Research. You have a keen interest in queer literature, publishing and modern South Asian studies and want to pursue these disciplines further.