“As I Am”
In The News
103.3 Radio Interview
February 9th, 2023
Listen here: https://www.thenorth1033.org/arts-culture
As I Am by Celeste Finn, with illustrations by Kristina Neudakhina, follows a child named Kai through a day in the life of a non-binary young person. Kai is met with problematic situations such as the teacher asking students to form two lines; boys in one, girls in the other. “Most of the prevailing messages that children receive around gender are pretty polarizing,” says Finn who has worked as an early-childhood educator for a decade. “There's almost no representation about children in literature who are beyond gender binary.”
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Book with Purpose
Article originally published in the Monitor
May 10 2023
www.monitorsaintpaul.com/stories
“Discussing gender with young children is critically important,” observes Finn. “Gender rules are adopted by children when they are three, four and five, and studies show gender discrimination begins in preschool. Rigid gender expectations peak when children are five and children begin enforcing gender expectations onto each other; this makes authentic gender expression dangerous for some and toxic for many children in most early childhood settings. Gender beliefs adopted in childhood continue to inform beliefs as children become adults, causing transphobia, sexism, and other forms of gender oppression to continue into the next generation.
Reader's View: Tell Stories Beyond the Gender Binary
The stories we are told as children become an inner narrative, a monologue of what is correct, aspirational, and acceptable. The most impactful and revolutionary stories we tell are the stories we tell young children.
Storytelling can take the form of books, movies, television, songs, and toys. These stories inform children how they should appear, behave, and identify in order to be accepted and belong. Children instinctively assemble beliefs around norms and what’s acceptable through keen observation. This is problematic because children lack critical thinking skills and strive to emulate the stories they are told.
With this insight, it's easy to understand why children adopt toxic gender norms at young ages. The stories children idolize, from “The Little Mermaid” to “The Hulk,” are often the most gender-toxic, hyper-binary stories of all.
By the time children are in preschool, they’re experts on gender appropriateness and begin enforcing gender rules and gender segregation. The unquestioned beliefs formed in childhood around gender contribute to vast social inequities, ranging from the lack of representation of nonbinary folks in government, high rates of self-harm and suicide amongst trans youth, and violence against the LGBTQIA+ community.
I believe we must become intentional about the stories we tell children and how we reflect, question, and reject the prevailing transphobic and homophobic gender norms taught to children. As a parent and educator, I strive to create gender-affirming early-childhood classrooms. For this reason, I wrote “ As I Am ,” a children's picture book with a nonbinary protagonist and a 24-page conversation guide for caregivers. When we provide children with storytelling beyond the gender binary, we provide authenticity and freedom of expression. We all benefit from the freedom to live a life of authenticity by removing gender bias from our minds and communities.
