Criança queer/criança viada: questões de gênero em The little prince (ss), de Moxie Peng, e My pricess boy, de Cheryl Kilodavis

Abstract

The word Queer, which for a long time was pronounced as an offense, an insult towards those who did not conform to social norms and hegemonies, is now proudly articulated as an identification category. That said, based on an exploratory research, bibliographical study and comparative methodology, using Queer studies, gender and masculinity as theoretical material as categories of analysis, we propose the following general objective: analyze how Dyson and Gabriel's gender performances, from the works My princess boy and The little prince(ss), can be problematized in the light of Queer studies. To achieve this, we developed the research with the following specific objectives: (i) conceptualize gender from feminist and Queer perspectives; (ii) describe Queer studies and the relationship with children's literary and cinematographic productions; (iii) present the works My princess boy and The little prince(ss) and their critical fortune and, finally (iv) investigate the ways in which gender operates in social institutions such as family, friends and other social circles in the selected works. As a consequence, it is noted that society, when observing the deviant – and, therefore, Queer – Dyson and Gabriel gender performances, punishes them with crooked looks, curses, insults, and here we observe a kind of policies of non-deviant childhood updating, gender technologies, bearing in mind that there is always talk about protecting children, but never without asking which ones. We understand, based on readings such as Butler (2003, 2019), Louro (2014, 2018), Miskolci (2012), Conell (2013, 2016, 2017), it is concluded that in the works there is the intention of refuting cisheteronormative expectations regarding objects, colors, dances and clothes designated for male kids, consequently, highlighting the relevance of these works to advance discussions on Queer identification and studies.