Det osynliga regnbågsbarnet på förskolan
En enkätundersökning om normer, olikheter och särskiljandets betydelse
Children with homosexual parentsPreschoolDifferencesDistinctionNormsThe heterosexual normHeterosexismRainbow childNuclear familyBarn med homosexuella föräldrarFörskolaOlikhetSärskiljandeNormerDen heterosexuella normenHeterosexismRegnbågsbarnKärnfamilj
The purpose of this paper is to see how differences are handled in preschools, with a focus on children with homo- or bisexual parents. By doing this we wanted to see how the conditions for a child with homo- or bisexual parents looks like, in order to have their family conditions mirrored, confirmed and visualised in the preschool.The foundation for the discussion is a questionaire which has been answered by 229 preschool workers from 24 different preschools in the City of Stockholm. The result of the questionaire has been handled in a statistics program. Our analysis is based on the statistical numbers and the written replies to the open questions in the questionaire.As a theoretical starting point we have used Iris Marion Young?s ideas about how our society is coloured by an ideal of similarity that defines liberation as the transcendence of group difference, where the dominant group cannot see how their perspective is just one of several perspectives. Furthermore, we use Tiina Rosenberg?s thoughts on the two main principles of heteronormativity and her focus on the sexed and sexual norms from which we organize our assumptions about our sex, sexuality and family. We also use Ann Runfors? experiences of how differences are turned in to similarities when immigrant background is dealt with in the Swedish school.Our results show that the nuclear family is still the norm when speaking about family in preschools and that the knowledge concerning children with homo- and bisexual parents is slight. Many of the informants believe that differences are best dealt with by treatin all children equally. A great number of the informants assume that giving attention to the rainbow children contributes to inequality and a negative distinction of the child as different. There are also informants that request more knowledge on the subject to be able to treat children and parents in an inclusive way.We believe that differences have a social significance, which is why we are convinced that preschools ought to become aware of how the heterosexual norm is being reproduced. By reflecting on society?s norms and values, the preschools would be able to help the rainbow child to be proud of its family and in this way counteract heterosexism.