Reflecting on “This Book is Gay” and Other Books Targeted Towards Adolescent Health

 


Tyra Alexander

25 March 2024

EN*499

Dr. Ellis

Reflecting on “This Book is Gay” and Other Books Targeted 

Towards Adolescent Health 



After finishing Dawson, there was a lot on my mind. However my main connection sprouted from my childhood and the damned American Girl ‘Care and Keeping of You’ book. If you don’t know what this book is, then you’re in for a treat. This book acted as a holy text for young girls. When you turned around the age of ten, you were given (or in my case, handed down) the tell-all for what it means to have a growing body as a young lady. It touched on topics such as periods, puberty, hygiene, and how to deal with feelings and friends; with the sole purpose of assuring that younger girls who are experiencing changes within, are making healthy choices. What made this book stand out to me was similar to Dawson; it’s pictures. If you've experienced this book while you were younger then you remember the “graphic” drawings. “Care and Keeping of You” was the first time I saw anatomical parts of a woman in a book, let alone a book geared towards children. So as a kid, those sections were particularly the ‘cringe parts’. Believe it or not, I can recall this book being in my classroom library in upper-elementary school. The body part pages were blacked out but it still was accessible for all students to read.

“This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson I found has the same purpose as the American Girl book. Dawson wrote this book essentially to act as a guide for the younger queer audience to ensure that they are carrying out healthy practices. Yet, it's banned. Why? Well, Dawson’s book completely debunks the false narrative surrounding queer people. It shows that those part of the LGBTQ+ community can practice safe sex, they can have children, and they can live healthy-happy lives. It is the perfect guidebook for everyone– queer or not and provides the perfect guide for all things that are often left unknown. But, it’s banned for sexual education. Meanwhile, a book with the same level of content is praised up and down as the perfect aid for educating girls on their bodies. 

I believe that both the American Girl book and Dawson should both be on the same pedestal when it comes to health education books for children. We live in a world where sexual education isn’t taught at all– regardless of orientation. This is highly dangerous as the youth gets older because basic practices, such as contraceptives and how to build healthy relationships with people are lost. It is crucial to have a wide variety of health education books for children since books are a very prominent source of education for adolescents. This includes health for girls, boys, and for queer individuals. What's wrong with being healthy?


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