A search is under way for two lesbian grandmothers who inspired a new children’s book after a chance encounter with a pantomime dame at Blackpool Pride.
It appears to be a real article, despite sounding like a parody…
The women, whose names are not known, attended a reading by the popular performer Mama G in 2021, complaining to her about the lack of diversity in young literature. Mama G said she had been reading books to children at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens when the women asked if there were any featuring lesbian grandmothers.
Note the pronouns used…
The question left her stumped. “I was like, erm, no. I don’t actually think I’ve ever seen lesbian grandmothers in a story, not even as a subsidiary character,” she said. One of the women, clearly disappointed, told her it was “so hard to find yourself represented in books”.
And yet, this is no female!
The conversation prompted Mama G, whose real name is Robert Pearce, to write a children’s picture book where two older queer women are “front and centre for a change”.
I can remember when drag queens were acknowledged as men in make up and dresses, and confined to working men’s clubs and panto! Far less to be found in libraries reading to children.
Mama G, who is performing at Edinburgh fringe this summer, said the lack of diversity in children’s books was still a problem, despite the efforts of a number of authors and smaller publishers.
I think it’s a ‘problem’ we can well live with. What say you, Reader?
2 comments:
Good spot! I thought the whole point about pantomime dames was that they were men and never claimed otherwise - certainly that was the case for the chap who did the paintwork when I last moved house (naturally they have to earn a living outside the panto season - he did an excellent job).
I’ve been trawling the shelves for picture books recently and I’m sure I’ve seen lesbian or gay grandparents - in the background, at least - more than once. Mind you, it’s hard to remember clearly, since things have moved on rather since ‘Mr Gumpy’s Outing’; where the supporting roles in the plot were once occupied by animals, friendly monsters or anthropomorphised vehicles, the infant reader is now bombarded by a multi-coloured horde of same-sex couples, wheelchair users, hijab-wearers* and men in Rasta hats.
(*One example features a very young girl upset because she and her older sister are not dressed alike for their joint school photo; the sister solves the problem by using the sash from the child’s dress to make her a matching hijab; result = ‘happiness’.)
On reflection:
‘The conversation prompted Mama G […] to write a children’s picture book where two older queer women are “front and centre for a change”.’
Translation: ‘Robert Pearce spotted an opportunity for a nice little earner and hooked the Guardian into advertising it for him.’
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