Writing the Self: Black Queer Youth Challenge Heteronormative Ways of Being in an After-School Writing Club
Abstract
Although contexts for writing have shifted in recent decades, traditional views tend to focus on and perpetuate standards-driven practices for “effective” writing. Literacy scholars have demonstrated the rich possibilities of the English language arts, and of queer-inclusive practices, but few have discussed how the writing of queer youth might disrupt heteronormativity and affirm gender and sexual diversity. Merging an expanded view of authentic writing and Yagelski’s (2011) writing as a way of being, this study explores the writing of Ava, Sanavia, and Anika, three Black queer youth who participated in an after-school writing club. This study examines how normalized literacy participation and ways of being are interrupted when queer youth write the self. In other words, participants constructed identities through the experience of writing and not the extent to which the content or form of their writing conformed to convention or what was “acceptable” in school spaces. Findings suggest that the act of writing enabled the participants to navigate and disrupt heteronormativity and traditional writing practices while being who/how they were. These findings contribute to research that seeks to interrupt literacy normativity and calls for restorative literacies aimed at enabling Black queer youth to (re)claim who they are through their writing.
- Journal
- Research in the Teaching of English
- Published
- 2017-08-01
- DOI
- 10.58680/rte201729198
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- Open Access
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Citation Context
Cited by in this index (3)
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Schey (2025)Written Communication
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Stornaiuolo et al. (2023)Written Communication
-
ife (2022)Research in the Teaching of English
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