Research project Shameless storytelling?

Full project title: Shameless storytelling? The child and gendered visions of the future in controversies around Drag story time in Sweden

Recently, representations of non-normative gender and sexuality targeting children have received increased attention. Whereas proponents of norm-critical pedagogies see children’s culture as a way to foster acceptance, inclusion and diversity, critics argue that such representations may instead be harmful by exposing children to sexualized imagery or disturb their gender identity development.

Departing from this problem, our research project examines Drag Story Time (DST), where drag queens read stories to children. Originally started in the US, and topic of controversies and conflicts, the event has been widely popular, but also contested in Sweden. The aim of the project is to explore DST as a site of meaning-making and contestation in relation to children, gender and sexuality. The project builds on and contributes to different strands within the fields of gender and sexuality studies, such as queer temporality theory and global sexuality politics. Combining multiple methods and materials including participant observation at libraries, interviews with different actors (such as librarians, parents, children, drag queens, local politicians and public officials) and text analysis (on children’s books as well as news and social media), we will uncover different understandings of DST with a specific focus on how the child is imagined in competing visions of future gender orders in the specific Swedish context.