Teaching about “Princess Boys” or Not

Abstract

In this article, we deal with the politics of gender embodiment and the significance of queer sociological and transgender theoretical perspectives for reflecting on the pedagogical implications of employing texts such as “My princess boy” to address questions pertaining to the livability and recognizability of differently gendered identities in the elementary school context. We draw specifically on the theoretical work of Judith Butler and Deborah Britzman to examine important questions related to the pedagogical implications for one male teacher in terms of what counts as a viable, recognizable, and legitimate gendered identity. Through adopting a case study approach, our purpose is to unravel and unpack the politics of gender embodiment, especially in terms of addressing the thinkability and admissibility of gender variant and transgender personhood in the elementary school classroom and what this might entail with regard to deploying reading practices as sites of identificatory possibilities or not.