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“And all the children who came to the zoo could see Tango and her two fathers playing in the penguin house…” (Richardson). This scene comes from the children’s book, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. This excerpt briefly tells that the theme of this story is about an unorthodox family structure that consists of a homosexual couple. Richard and Parnell use this picture book aimed for four to eight year olds to simply describe the real love story of two penguins, Silo and Roy, who can be found in New York’s Central Park Zoo. “Roy and Silo are both boys. However, they did everything together,” like a couple would do and they, “didn’t spend much time with the girl penguins.” When mating season came, they built a nest and tried to hatch an egg, but obviously, that was impossible. The zookeeper noticed this and brought Silo and Roy an egg from another couple that would not be able to take care of both the eggs they had. Eventually, Silo and Roy hatch a beautiful chick which the zookeeper named Tango; this created their little happy family.
This story does not only describe the life choices of the penguins, but also the true-life events that occur with humans. Many individuals in our modern world are homosexual and just like any other couple, they start families. This story is harmless, since it is only portraying what goes on in the real world. However, for this same reason, much controversy is behind this book, so much that it is banned in many schools and libraries. This issue with And Tango Makes Three arises from the fact that the main theme, which is alternative families, involves homosexuality. Many parents believe that exposing their kids to this type of information will confuse them or somehow harm t...
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...e. ""And Tango Makes Three" Tops List of Banned Books." Care2. N.p., 28 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
"Gay Marriage ProCon.org." ProCon.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Marinoble, Rita M. "Homosexuality: A Blind Spot In The School Mirror." Professional School Counseling 1.3 (1998): 4-7. ERIC. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Martino, Wayne, and Wendy Cumming-Potvin. "They Didn't Have 'Out There' Gay Parents--They Just Looked Like "Normal" Regular Parents": Investigating Teachers' Approaches To Addressing Same-Sex Parenting And Non-Normative Sexuality In The Elementary School Classroom." Curriculum Inquiry 41.4 (2011): 480-501. ERIC. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Richardson, Justin, Peter Parnell, and Henry Cole. And Tango Makes Three. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2005. Print.
"Should Students Learn about Homosexuality in School?" DEBATE.ORG. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Mercer, L. R. & Berger, R. M. (1989). Social service needs of lesbian and gay adolescents. Adolescent Sexuality: New Challenges for Social Workers. Haworth Press.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Andrew Sullivan, author of, What is a Homosexual, portrays his experience growing up; trapped in his own identity. He paints a detailed portrait of the hardships caused by being homosexual. He explains the struggle of self-concealment, and how doing so is vital for social acceptation. The ability to hide one’s true feelings make it easier to be “invisible” as Sullivan puts it. “The experience of growing up profoundly different in emotional and psychological makeup inevitably alters a person’s self-perception.”(Sullivan)This statement marks one of the many reasons for this concealment. The main idea of this passage is to reflect on those hardships, and too understand true self-conscious difference. Being different can cause identity problems, especially in adolescents.
One of the many issues that homophobic people have against homosexuals is that being brought up in an “untraditional” home is not good for the children. There have...
Mondimore, Francis Mark. A Natural History of Homosexuality. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
She states that most, if not all, of the movies that make up this new genre of movie “works not to emphasize the difference between humans and nonhumans, as it does in so many other Pixar features, but instead makes the characters into virtual puppets…” (284). Once puppetized, these characters can be made to do whatever they, the directors, please. Such as re-write and re enforce gender roles, as it is shown in March of the Penguins, with how the directors showed how the males were in charge of watching and protecting the eggs while the females left to find food (whereas in human society it is the opposite). Or they can solidify heterosexuality, by stating that all of the penguin relationships are strictly male/ female. Then by taking this bourgeois concept of heterosexuality and advertising it as full of variety and elasticity.
If you have never read the children’s storybook and tango makes three, I encourage you to read it before introducing it to your children. The storyline of this book is about to male penguins who are in love. They spend all their time together and try to do everything the normal couples do. The eventually realize they cannot create an egg of their own. Their zookeeper gives them an egg from another penguin couple who could not care for it. They take turns keeping the egg warm and safe until the egg hatches. After the egg hatches they continue to care for the chick as she grows into a young adult. I think this book should be allowed in elementary schools with no restrictions.
New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1995.
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
The argument sexual orientation interferes with ones parenting skills is common belief that Charlotte J. Patterson identifies as myth in her work, Lesbian and Gay Parents and their Children, suggesting the belief that “lesbians’ and gay men’s relationships with sexual partners leave little time for ongoing parent–child interactions.” In the Who is Mommy tonight? case study, how 18 lesbian adoptive parents, 49 lesbian parents who formed their families biologically, and 44 heterosexual adoptive parents experience and perceive their parenting role, how they respond when their children seek them or their partner for particular nurturing, and how the parents negotiate the cultural expectation of a primary caregiver (Ciano-Boyce & Shelley-Sireci, 2002) is looked at. The empirical data found proposes lesbian parent couples were more equ...
New York, NY. Simon & Schuster Unspecified author. (2011, March 9). The New York Times. GAF score.
21 Dec. 2013. The "Same-sex Classrooms Can Help." St. Joseph News-Press (MO). 2 Jan. 2012: n. pag. Web.
My thesis was wrong because teenage boys do not become homosexuals because of the nurturing of society. The nurturing of society helps the teens with a biological predisposition decide whether they want to express themselves freely or hide themselves to avoid humiliation. In the case of Anne Heche since her father died because he kept his sexuality a secret she decided not to keep hers a secret. Also, because the school that Greg went to accepted homosexuality he felt more open to expose his sexuality.(Nardo, 72)
Baker, Jean M. How Homophobia Hurts Children: Nurturing Diversity at Home, at School, and in the Community. New York: Harrington Park, 2002. Print.
The sexual orientation of a person has been a critical debate over the past several centuries. For several...