Response to Drama

Caroline Kunz

Dr. Ellis

EN 499

12 March 2024

Thoughts after reading Drama a second time

    While reading Raina Telgemeier's Drama over break, I was reminded of reading this book for the first time in elementary school. At that point in my life, I hadn't yet seen the LGBTQ+ community represented in literature. My school library certainly didn't supply us with these sorts of texts, and overall, LGBTQ+ representation was less common in children's literature. I remember turning to page 65 and being surprised to read of Justin coming out to Callie. I had always known that it was possible to love and marry someone of the same sex, but as we discussed yesterday in class, I wasn't yet aware of the terminology needed to put a name to these ideas. Despite the fact that I was around 9 years old, and this topic was very new to me, I remember admiring Callie's immediate acceptance of Justin. The characters spoke of Justin's identity with such genuine thought and care, and at the same time, with true a sense of casualness and nonchalance. This lesson is so important for young readers to be exposed to. Representation truly matters in the texts that we choose for our school library shelves, and I am grateful that this book was one of my first chances to read of this representation; because of books like these, acceptance, inclusion, and kindness were all I knew - this treatment towards others no matter their sexuality became the standard from a young age.

    Switching gears a bit, this reaction that I had when reading Drama as a young student made me think of the conversation our class had yesterday about stereotype and assumption. I've started to ponder - if I hadn't already read this book, and my first exposure to it was sitting down to read it for class, would I have assumed that Justin was gay from page 1, simply because he was a boy interested in the performing arts? Because I wasn't aware of the issues of stereotyping in elementary school, it makes sense that I wouldn't have made the assumption back then. However, because of the current books I read, the shows I watch, and the media I consume, I have a feeling that this stereotype may have been present in the back of my mind had my first time reading Drama been this year.

    Thus, the question poses itself: do these stereotypes discredit the work that Telgemeier does to give a voice to the underrepresented? Would the message be more powerful had Justin and Jesse not been theater kids? In my opinion, at the end of the day, these stereotypes aren't pressing enough to discredit this book as a means of positive representation. Just because Justin is involved in theater, as opposed to being a jock or athlete, doesn't make his coming out any less meaningful or important. And further, because this text is meant for a younger audience, most readers of this age are less concerned or aware of these issues of negative stereotype - instead, many of them are just happy to see themselves, their friends, and their family members represented where they may not be otherwise.

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