by Fiona Joy Green and May Friedman
Demeter Press
2013, paperback
SKU: 9781927335185
Feminist parenting creates unique challenges. As women experience the unique powerlessness of motherhood, they also hold the uncomfortable power of acting as advocates for and as agents of socialization and social control over their children. Fathers may feel the desire for feminist parenting whilst experiencing a backlash and a lack of sup- port, while some parents may attempt to resist the binaries of mothering and fathering in their feminist parenting journey. Feminist parents may attempt to resist gender binaries; they may submit to them while attempting to foster critical dialogue; they may struggle with the dis- play of their own femininity and masculinity or, for some, its perceived lack. This book attempts to cast a lens on the messy and convoluted ways that feminist parents approach parenting their children in gender aware and gender fluid ways.
Reviews:
"Chasing Rainbows is a celebratory exploration of gender fluid parenting through critical contemplation, an openness to multiple gender trajectories and most importantly, unwavering love. Indomitable and inspiring, these individuals and families risk placing themselves on the front line of critical resistance in order to live authentically. Challenging the boundaries of our own gender literacy, Chasing Rainbows facilitates self-reflection on how we parent and how we were parented within deeply entrenched systems, expectations and understandings of gender." —Reece Malone, Certified Sexologist, Sexuality Educator
"Chasing Rainbows dares to ask how we as parents can guide our children—and ourselves—not only beyond the confines of the gender binary, but beyond the notion of gender itself. Inspired by past classics like The Transgender Child and Growing Up Free, Chasing Rainbows is a parenting revolution within the pages of a book. I can’t wait to see how parenting practices, gender “norms,” and in fact, all of society, may change as a result of its publication." —Rachel Pepper, author of Transitions of the Heart
"Chasing Rainbows is an important and engaging addition to the field. It represents that rare theoretically sophisticated academic text that is also a personal and captivating “pleasure” read. Just as importantly, it is also an impassioned manifesto for a community of practice around gender fluid parenting practices." —Jason Laurendeau, Sociology Department, University of Lethbridge, Alberta