Literacy Matters Winter 2022

“Straight privilege is bumping into a potential partner in the grocery store:”One Student’s Queering of the #MeToo Movement

by Brittany Adams

CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT/ABUSE

the complex social powers at play in texts, think critically, and take action to change unjust situations in their localized environments (Freire, 2014; Hooks, 1994; Luke, 2012). Educators dedicated to critical literacy use cultural analysis, critique, and action to support students’ honing of their critical consciousness and agency (Bishop, 2014; Janks, 2000; Lewison et al., 2015; Rogers, 2018; Vasquez et al., 2019). It is well established that children’s and YA literature often function as windows and mirrors, to access views and experiences of the world that readers might otherwise never know and to help readers understand their own experiences as part of a larger human experience (Bishop, 1990; Ivey & Johnson, 2013). Many educators leverage YAL to teach about critical social issues or taboo topics, such as death (e.g., Beckelhimer, 2017), eating disorders (e.g., Collins & Lazard, 2020), immigration and deportation (e.g., Rodríguez, 2019), Islamophobia (e.g., Ginsberg & Glenn, 2019), and more ‘disturbing’ topics (Ivey & Johnston, 2018). Numerous scholars have taken up YAL as a pedagogical avenue for discussing sexual harassment and assault with students who are often socialized into harmful beliefs about survivors (e.g., Author, 2020; Alsup, 2003; Cleveland & Durand, 2014; Jackett, 2007; Malo-Juvera, 2014; Park, 2012). Such studies demonstrate how students can shift their thinking and disrupt dangerous misconceptions regarding sexual violence and victim-blaming. Furthermore, Gee (2017) advises that stories “can be important means for extending real-world experiences,” as they are types of “vicarious experiences” (p. 38) where students can find their perspectives on the world expanded. This is particularly important for sensitive topics because reading a novel about police brutality or sex trafficking significantly lowers the “cost of failure” (Gee, 2017, p. 71) so students can explore, take mental and emotional risks, and empathize with others without experiencing trauma first-hand. Additionally, there is a growing movement to the experiences of protagonists in YAL to relate to students’ lived experiences and promote dialogue to bear critical witness to one another’s lives (Dutro, 2019). In this study, undergraduate students read and discussed a YA novel to explore issues of rape culture and sexual violence in the United States. Feminist scholars define rape culture as “a complex social phenomenon that is not limited to discrete criminal acts perpetrated by a few violent individuals but is the product of gendered, raced and classed social relations that are central to patriarchal and heterosexist culture” (Ferreday, 2015, p. 22). The surge of sexual assault allegations beginning in 2017 against powerful figures—from Hollywood to the Supreme

ABSTRACT: This paper reports on one undergraduate student’s experiences as he engaged in a book study with peers in which they read and discussed a young adult novel about sexual violence and rape culture. Positioning himself as an ally at the onset of the study, Tim expected to listen and learn but not teach. Over time, Tim began to question the absence of LGBTQ+ experiences in the novel and the absence of LGBTQ+ voices in public discourse about rape culture. His questions ultimately propelled the book study group to assume a critical, intersectional orientation to issues around sexual violence. Tim’s story bears important implications for educators seeking to enhance students’ understanding of rape culture and the #MeToomovement, particularly for LGBTQ+ identities. Introduction In the fall of 2018, Tim (a pseudonym) was one of 12 undergraduate underclassmen who signed up to take part in a book study of a young adult (YA) novel focused on rape culture and the #MeToo movement. The book study was part of a series sponsored by the university’s honors program, which offered students one college credit in exchange for the time committed to personal growth. Students read, discussed, and wrote about the YA novel each week throughout the semester. I studied what took place to explore how young adult literature (YAL) might be employed in the classroom to support students’ development of critical literacy about contemporary social issues. Tim, one of two male-identifying students who joined the study, enrolled at the encouragement of a close friend. Tim began the study self-positioned as an ally; there only to listen and learn. Yet over the proceeding weeks, Tim began to question the absence of LGBTQ+ voices in the #MeToo movement and ultimately prompted the group to ask important questions about the heteronormativity of the movement. What Tim learned as he participated in the book study— and, perhaps more importantly, what I learned fromTim—is the subject of this article. Specifically, this paper explores the questions: • How did Tim navigate the reading and discussion of a novel related to rape culture? • How did his lived experiences prompt a unique critical perspective of discussion around the novel and his learning? Critical Literacy, Young Adult Literature, and Rape Culture Critical literacy refers to instructional approaches that emphasize helping students develop agency to interpret

Literacy Matters General Articles

Literacy Matters | Volume 22 • Winter 2022 | 15 |

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