As
our culture becomes more accepting of those who differ from us, I have
noticed that there are still those who experience fear or hate when
others do not fall in line with their beliefs. In the
early childhood field, we deal with homophobia and heterosexism not only
among co-workers, but from parents of the children in our care. It
can be a hard situation to deal with when a parent requests that a
center avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian
individuals, such as same-sex partnered families. No matter what a person believes, homosexuals and transgender individuals are part of our world. By
having items that depict these individuals, we are educating and
preparing the children in our care to experience others who might think
and act differently. This type of exposure does not “make” children gay, nor does it condone or condemn homosexual or transgender behavior. It merely educates. When
children are educated on matters such as these, there is less room for
ignorance, and therefore, less chance of fear and hatred. It
is vital that we share these sentiments with families who are concerned
with items in our classrooms that depict homosexuals and transgender
individuals.
As
time goes on, the world of young children has expanded to show more
diversity in the characters that grace our TV screens, books, toys, and
stores. However, most of this diversity is in relation to race/color, not sexuality. It is very difficult to buy clothing for young girls, especially infant and toddler sizes, that is not pink. Toys also come in gender specific colors and only represent certain characters for each sex. For the longest time, Disney portrayed the image of the damsel in distress, a very sexist view. This was altered, and even poked fun at, by Disney’s most recent film, Frozen. Still, there is little to nothing available that represents homosexuals or transgender individuals. This
topic is very real in our world, and it leaves children’s exposure to
it almost exclusively to what they see in public places. Their learning is left to explanations of parents, teachers, and peers. Regardless of a person’s beliefs, we must educate our children about diversity.
