The politics of normative childhoods and non-normative parenting: a response to Cristyn Davies and Kerry Robinson

Article

Chapman, Amy and Saltmarsh, Sue. 2013. "The politics of normative childhoods and non-normative parenting: a response to Cristyn Davies and Kerry Robinson." Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. 14 (1), pp. 60-65. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2013.14.1.60
Article Title

The politics of normative childhoods and non-normative parenting: a response to Cristyn Davies and Kerry Robinson

ERA Journal ID20170
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsChapman, Amy (Author) and Saltmarsh, Sue (Author)
Journal TitleContemporary Issues in Early Childhood
Journal Citation14 (1), pp. 60-65
Number of Pages6
Year2013
Place of PublicationOxford, United Kingdom
ISSN1463-9491
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2013.14.1.60
Web Address (URL)http://journals.sagepub.com/home/cie
Abstract

This article offers a consideration of the ways that the politics of normative childhoods are
shaped by discourses of happiness predicated on heteronormativity. Responding to the work of Cristyn
Davies and Kerry Robinson (2013, this issue), the authors argue that non-normative families and in
particular, non-normative parenting, are obliged to secure, protect and police their children’s perceived
entitlements to normative ‘happy’ childhoods in order to achieve social legitimacy. Such obligations,
they contend, locate non-normative parents and families, rather than societies, as responsible for the
effects of discriminatory social norms to which they are subjected. Informed by the work of Jonathan
Silin, the authors support a politics of childhood that gives discursive legitimacy to children’s voice and
experience regarding the ways in which normativity is enforced at their and their families’ expense.

KeywordsCristyn Davies; Kerry Robinson; normativity; childhood; parenting
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020440599. Gender studies not elsewhere classified
Public Notes

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Byline AffiliationsAustralian Catholic University
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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