Challenges and Possibilities for Bisexual Picturebooks

Abstract

Since 1979, English-language picturebooks portraying lesbian, gay, and transgender characters have been published in increasing numbers, yet despite this growth bisexual people remain unrepresented within the medium. In this article, we explore the usefulness of naming and portraying bisexuality in picturebooks and argue that the present lack of bi representation constitutes a form of bisexual erasure. We develop a set of criteria for bisexual representation for future use in the picturebook format, the utility of which we test using a Spanish-language example with a bisexual character. Finally, in addition to offering much-needed representation for bi youth parallel to that which is available for lesbian, gay, and trans children, we contend that portraying bisexual characters holds liberatory potential for all children, as a means of challenging a system of attraction centered on gender.

Keywords:

• Bisexuality
• LGBTQ
• children’s literature
• bisexual representation
• bisexual erasure
• mirror and window books

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Alexandra Elbakyan and Jo Michael Rezes for their help accessing literature, two anonymous reviewers for their astute comments during the peer review process, and Abby Norling-Ruggles, Samantha Basch, Elsa Hoover, Elizabeth Fetterolf, and Landry Levine for their invaluable advice, feedback, and support across this project’s lifespan. We also wish to thank the authors, illustrators, and publishers of transgender, lesbian, and gay picture books for their trailblazing work across the medium.

Notes

1 We mirror Byers (2018) who used “middle-grade” to refer to works targeted towards readers aged 8 to 12 years.

2 Star-Crossed has been claimed to be the first (and/or only) middle-grade novel with bi representation (e.g., in Naidoo, 2017). However, Rick Riordan’s The Hidden Oracle (Riordan, 2016), which has a bi protagonist-narrator was published one year earlier. The Hidden Oracle and Star-Crossed are targeted at similar age groups (Coats, 2017; Spisak, 2016), making The Hidden Oracle the first middle-grade novel to feature a bi character. The Hidden Oracle sidesteps the issue of naming bisexuality by avoiding naming any sexual orientations, including lesbian, straight, or gay.

3 One entry in the Hurts of Childhood series, Don't Make Me Go Back, Mommy: A Child's Book about Satanic Ritual Abuse, also by Doris Sanford (1990), deals with daycare satanic ritual abuse in the same tone and style as My Real Family (Sanford, 1993). It is the only book listed in the OCLC’s WorldCat under the subject “Ritual abuse victims – juvenile fiction.”

4 Interestingly, the popular conception of bisexuality as a midpoint between heterosexuality and homosexuality leaves little room for the visual stereotyping of bisexuals. The lack of a distinct “bisexual look” has led to bisexual people attempting a variety of means to communicate their sexual orientations (Hartman, 2013; Hayfield, Clarke, Halliwell, & Malson, 2013). Even explicit visual markers, like pins, jewelry, or clothing utilizing the bi pride flag design, rely on observers’ knowledge of the significance of that iconography (Davila, Jabbour, Dyar, & Feinstein, 2019).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Collin Knopp-Schwyn

Collin Knopp-Schwyn, B.A., is an independent researcher from Minneapolis, Minnesota, currently residing in Brooklyn, New York. Collin has a B.A. in Drama and Earth Science from Vassar College and is interested in portrayals of bisexuality across media as well as interests in open-access publishing and local history. Currently, Collin works at The Tank in Manhattan, is curating PrideFest, a weeklong festival of theater, dance, and comedy starring Queer artists, and is creating immersive theater with MulchHorse.

Michael Fracentese

Michael Fracentese, B.A., is an independent scholar from and currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He has a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology from Vassar College, and his academic interests include digital social science and the portrayal and practice of bisexual identities. He is also a practicing poet.