We’re Here, We’re Queer, But We’re Just Like Heterosexuals - A Cultural Studies Analysis of Lesbian Themed Children’s Books

Oct 15, 2026

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A cultural studies analysis examines how lesbian-themed children’s picture books represent family, normalize lesbianism, and yet reinforce heteronormative assumptions. Using Heather Has Two Mommies and four other texts with lesbian mothers, the discussion links narrative strategies to marginalization, including the use of “love plots” and assimilation into heterosexual ideals. The analysis also contextualizes publication and backlash in the 1990s, including bans and school library challenges, shaping how lesbian families are depicted.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Queer Theory and Normalization

Heteronormativity, marginalization, and love plots

Representation in Children’s Picture Books

Selection of analyzed texts

Historical Context and Publishing Backlash

Rainbow Curriculum and nationwide challenges

Emerging Themes in the Texts

We’re Here, We’re Queer, But We’re Just Like Heterosexuals: A Cultural Studies Analysis of Lesbian Themed Children’s Books By Jennifer Esposito Jennifer Esposito is a professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia. In the heartwarming children’s picture book, Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman, the main character Heather must grapple with the fact that her family maybe different from her playmates’because she has two mommies but she does not have a daddy. The story begins rather quaintly with a description of her home “with the big apple tree in the front yard and the tall grass in the backyard.” Mama Kate and Mama Jane “were friends for a long long time.” After they finally fell in love, they decided they wanted to have a baby. The family seems perfect.“On sunny days they go to the park. On rainy days they stay inside and bake cookies.”At Heather’s playgroup, she learns that some other children have daddies.“Heather feels sad and begins to cry.” The teacher decides to have every child draw a picture of his or her family so that Heather can see that families come in all types of configurations. By the end of the story, we are taught the lesson that “it doesn’t matter how many mommies or daddies your family has.” What Newman leaves out, however, is that it does matter how many mommies or daddies you have. It matters so much, in fact, that the illustrator of Newman’s book was careful to portray Mama Kate and Mama Jane as nothing more than good friends. It matters so much that even Newman’s “picture-perfect” portrayal of a lesbian family did not deter her book from being banned from various schools and libraries. In fact, Heather Has Two Mommies is number eleven on the American Library Association’s “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 .” Queer Theory and Normalization In an attempt to subvert the notion of lesbian as “Other,” Newman attempts to normalize lesbianism. This is not a new tactic. Walters (2001), in her analysis of gay culture, argues that in many texts which feature gay characters, gay identity is kept invisible or made legitimate only through assimilation into heterosexuality. Heather Has Two Mommies, like other children’s picture books about lesbian mothers and their children, inscribes heteronormativity on the lesbian family. The idea of heteronormativity is utilized in a ways similar to Berlant and Warner (1998): the institutions, structures of understanding, and practical orientations that make heterosexuality seem not only coherent—that is, organized as a sexuality—but also privileged. Its coherence is always provisional, and its privilege can take several (sometimes contradictory) forms: unmarked, as the basic idiom of the personal and social; or marked as a natural state; or projected as an ideal or moral accomplishment. (p. 548) Heteronormativity creates heterosexuality as the quintessential ideal of sexuality, as the most natural state of being. This normalization, in turn, marginalizes homosexuality so that it becomes viewed as unnatural and immoral. Berlant and Warner (1998) go on to argue that one way heteronormative forms of intimacy get reinscribed is through love plots. This idea is important because the storylines of lesbian families in children’s picture books often represent heteronormative love plots. As Rofes (1998) argues, often “a lesbian couple simply serves to replace a heterosexual couple as the source of knowledge and authority within the family”(p. 18) . Such a substitution of a lesbian couple for a heterosexual one means that social issues like homophobia do not have to be addressed. The lesbian family, in this instance, lives and loves just like the heterosexual family. Thus, in the world of children’s picture books, the lesbian family becomes insulated from its own marginalization. It is, therefore, important to understand how lesbian families are represented in a heteronormative society.

FAQs

How does the analysis describe efforts to normalize lesbianism in children’s books?

It argues that the strategy is to normalize lesbianism by inscribing heteronormativity on lesbian families, making heterosexuality appear as coherent and privileged.

Why does the analysis emphasize heteronormativity’s effect on homosexuality?

It states that heteronormativity marginalizes homosexuality by framing it as unnatural and immoral, which can insulate lesbian families from confronting homophobia.

What historical events influenced the creation and dissemination of these picture books?

The discussion links 1990s debates, Joseph Fernandez’s Rainbow Curriculum, and subsequent protests and bans—often involving school libraries—to constraints on what publishers could release.

Oct 15, 2026

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