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'My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad. If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do.' Michel Foucault, 1983
Discussion relating to sexuality in early childhood is 'dangerous business'. Dangerous because conversations about sexuality in early childhood force us to discuss those sexualities that are normalised and celebrated and those that are marginalised and silenced. These conversations are rarely held in our field. We have seen time and again how conversations on sexualities in early childhood are often silenced in the name of childhood innocence and developmental appropriateness, with spaces for discussion and publication made all too often for 'safe issues'. These critical conversations must be had in order to remedy a long history of silence, oppression and discrimination inflicted on gays and lesbians, queer communities and those who challenge dominant ways of 'doing' sexuality and gender.
As editors of this special edition, we come to define sexualities as how individuals, including young children, understand their body and its relationship to others. We believe that researching sexualities in early childhood is an examination of sexualities within a system, as well as an examination of the ways the system informs our understanding of diverse sexualities.
This special themed edition of AJEC brings together authors from Australia, New Zealand and the United States to help highlight the topic of sexuality in early childhood through multiple voices and international understandings. They invite us to explore sexuality through a diverse range of theories including queer theory, poststructuralism and feminism as they focus on such issues as curriculum, identity, gender, literacy, teacher education and working with families. They explore sexualities in early childhood through theoretical examinations, practical application and narrative forms. There is something for everyone within this special edition.
Building on her pioneering work of gender and sexuality, Blaise draws from findings of a qualitative and collaborative study of young children's understandings of sexuality. The use of a range of collaborative and participatory data collection methods enables children to show their expertise about sexuality discourses. Influenced by Butler's notions of performativity and the hegemonic heterosexual matrix (1990), children's knowledge about sexuality shows how they understand (hetero)sexual discourses, including the importance of (hetero)sexual romance and the role it plays constructing gender and sexual norms. This paper addresses the need for the field of early childhood to 'open up', rather than 'close down' possibilities for engaging with new theoretical understandings about gender, sex and sexualities in order to generate new pedagogies that will support healthy sexuality for all children.
While, for some, sexualities might be seen as an abstract concept, DeJean showcases how they are a reality experienced from the moment one prepares to enter the field of early childhood education. His paper explores the perspective of one lesbian early childhood preservice teacher who must negotiate her identities within the location of university studies and early childhood placement concurrently. This 'tug of war' is made visible through narrative form, surfacing the voices of both the researcher and participant. The paper concludes with recommendations on ways to improve queer teacher education in order to support preservice teachers entering the early childhood field.
Lee provides an insightful analysis of legislation in Aotearoa (New Zealand), suggesting a liberal and accepting attitude towards diverse families in that country. Research into families and wha–nau in early childhood settings in Aotearoa (New Zealand) has largely ignored lesbian-led families. In her article Lee shares findings from a research project and discusses the powerful place of heteronormative expectations on the actions of gay mothers in the early childhood context. The findings from her study of 17 gay women revealed that these women were, for the most part, satisfied with the welcome they and their children received in their early childhood programs. While the mothers appreciated the work of the teachers and reported that their children were happy in the early childhood settings, the nature of these families was mostly invisible in the early childhood setting.
Robinson and Davies argue that childhood is a queer time and space, a period in which children can take up multiple performances of gender, challenging both the boundaries of hegemonic femininity and masculinity, and of childhood itself. Taking a retrospective account, utilising the memories of experiences identified by women, Robinson and Davies examine the complex ways gendered identity is constructed and negotiated in childhood. These experiences, which represent critical points in the process of gender construction in early childhood for each of these women, have practical implications for early childhood professionals working with children today. These experiences provide some insight into the complexities of girls' relationships with each other, extending understandings of girls' desires and friendships. Participants' memories of being gendered subjects focused on heteronormative regulations to which children were expected to adhere, with each carrying a sense of injustice throughout their lives.
Sapp provides a historical analysis of more than 40 gay and lesbian themed early childhood texts. This literature is analysed through lenses of homophobia and heterosexism, relationships, language, stereotypes and erasure. We are reminded that it is necessary to analyse children's texts outside of development appropriateness and that a queer equity lens provides a framework for combating injustice which develops in children's early years. In addition to providing a foundation for understanding the historical development of gay and lesbian themed early childhood texts, Sapp's work provides educators with an extensive list of literature they can use within their curriculum to ensure inclusive practice for all.
Surtees and Gunn draw from several research studies on sexualities matters in early childhood education to illustrate the ongoing silencing of these in the contexts of initial teacher education and practices with children and families. Using methods informed by ethnography and Foucaultian discourse analysis to explore data, they wonder why, despite an apparent openness to diversity and awareness of theoretical perspectives that help them think about difference, practices in both contexts remain marked by heteronormativity. How does this investment in heteronormativity lead to or diminish possibilities for high-quality teaching and learning? The paper considers this question and resists the status quo while (re)marking possibilities for the future.
Taylor suggests that childhood innocence is a bedrock assumption of contemporary Western thinking which permeates the professional field of early childhood. Axiomatic to this assumption is the widespread belief that sexuality is both antithetical to childhood and a threat to children's 'natural' innocence. Adult concerns over the 'loss of innocence' are easily mobilised, and periodically resurface in debates over the controversial relationship between children, sexuality, popular culture and the media. Taylor argues the need for early childhood professionals to interrogate their own investments in childhood innocence before they can begin to respond effectively to children's sexualities and their vulnerability to exploitation.
In reading the articles in this special edition we reflect on a quote from Foucault who reminds us 'to do criticism is to make harder those acts which are now too easy' (Foucault, 1981). This special edition of AJEC is one small opening to troubling normalised practices in early childhood, enabling often-silenced conversations located on the borders to enter the mainstream. We hope that, through engaging with the articles, early childhood education moves one step closer to becoming a site of inclusion, hope and possibility for all.
Anthony Semann
Semann & Slattery
PhD Candidate Macquarie University
Dr William DeJean
Macquarie University
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood – Volume 35 No 1 March 2010, pp. ii–iii.
Don't forget, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood is tax deductible for early childhood professionals
You can purchase this issue of the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood now.
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