Fighting fairies, gazing at men: How to become a queer reader

Abstract

The author argues that masculinity is strongly associated with universal heterosexual desire during late childhood and early adolescence, but children can resist it by becoming “queer readers,'’ finding intentional or unintentional sites of resistance in mass media texts. Five television programs from the author’s own childhood are analyzed, and three strategies of resistance are suggested: male physicality, same-sex plotlines, and lack of heterosexual interest.