Into the closet : cross-dressing and the gendered body in children's literature and film / Victoria Flanagan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Flanagan, Victoria, 1976-

Series:

Children's literature and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children's literature--History and criticism.

Children's literature.

Sex role in literature.

Sex role in motion pictures.

Cross-dressing in literature.

Cross-dressing in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

xviii, 278 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, [2008]

Summary:

Into the Closet examines the representation of cross-dressing in a wide variety of children's fiction, ranging from picture books and junior fiction to teen films and novels for young adults. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the different types of cross-dressing found in children's narratives, raising a number of significant issues relating to the ideological construction of masculinity and femininity in books for younger readers.

Many literary and cultural critics have studied the cultural significance of adult cross-dressing, yet although cross-dressing representations are plentiful in children's literature and film, very little critical attention has been paid to this subject to date. Into the Closet fills this critical gap. Cross-dressing demonstrates how gender is symbolically constructed through various items of clothing and apparel. It also has the ability to deconstruct notions of the relationship between sex and gender. Into the Closet is an important book for academics, teachers, and parents because it shows how cross-dressing, rather than being taboo, is frequently used in children's literature and film as a strategy to educate (or enculturate) children about gender.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Children's Literature and the Cultural Discourse of Cross-Dressing 1

Chapter 2 Three Models of Gender Disguise 19

Chapter 3 Iconic Female Cross-Dressing: The Problem of Gender in Children's Retellings of the Story of Joan of Arc 63

Chapter 4 Reframing Masculinity: The Destabilizing Effect of the Female Cross-Dresser 99

Chapter 5 Funny Boys: Masculinity, Misogyny, and the Carnivalesque in Children's Male Cross-Dressing Literature 133

Chapter 6 (Mis)Performing Gender through a Lens: Cross-Dressing in Children's Cinema 173

Chapter 7 Emerging Identities: Cross-Dressing and Sexuality in Adolescent Fiction 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-271) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780415980081

0415980089

OCLC:

82286939