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The Trouble with Rainbow Boys

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Abstract

Few pieces of GLBTQ fiction have received the popular and scholarly acclaim awarded to Alex Sanchez’s Rainbow Boys series. Although “problem novels” are rarely taken seriously as literature, the books—the first novel in particular—have joined the few pieces of GLBTQ literature incorporated into educational discourse and curriculum. In this article, the author suggests that although the positive nature and surface construction appeals to those seeking “affirmative” representations of GLBTQ youth, the contributions made by the series may be overshadowed by its reliance on heteronormative gender stereotypes that may actually work to perpetuate homophobic attitudes toward gay sexuality.

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Notes

  1. I follow the lead of Cart and Jenkins and use the rubric “GLBTQ” as opposed to “LGBTQ” or other designations because it reflects “the fact that the human rights movement on behalf of GLBTQ people that began with the 1969 Stonewall Riots was originally referred to as the gay rights or gay liberation movement” (2006, p. xv).

  2. A version of this argument was presented at the Seventh Biennial Modern Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature conference hosted by Middle Tennessee State University on March 31, 2007. This article would not have been possible without the generous and insightful feedback of Lawrence R. Sipe, Kenneth B. Kidd, Laura Apol, Janine Certo, Lynn Fendler, Suzanne Knezek, Jacqueline LaRose, the Children's Literature Team at Michigan State University, and two anonymous readers.

  3. The depictions of intolerant heterosexuals also seem to carry implications about who can be and what it looks like to be homophobic, but innumerable images exist to work against these generalizations. For readers, this series may be the only representation of GLBTQ people they have seen, which means these books carry with them a tremendous amount of power.

  4. By November 2001, Rainbow Boys had the distinction of being Amazon.com’s top selling book.

  5. The Heart Has Its Reasons chronicles GLBTQ young adult literature through 2004 and therefore does not include the final book in the Rainbow Boys trilogy, Rainbow Road (2005).

  6. According to Sedgwick, revisionist psychoanalysts also argue that although they cannot affirm their son’s masculinity, “mothers who display any tolerance of their sons’ cross-gender behavior” (1991, p. 25) contribute to their potential homosexuality, a claim that is also reinforced throughout Rainbow Boys (2001).

  7. It should be noted that (after an initial misstep) Coach Cameron will eventually serve as one of the few positive portrayals of a heterosexual character in the entire series. It is clear he cares deeply for Jason and he does his best to advocate and provide support.

  8. Interestingly, Sedgwick claims revisionist psychoanalysts encourage “predominantly gay young men to ‘reassure’ their parents they are ‘bisexual’” (1991, p. 24). One way of reading this vacillation is to assume Jason is working to avoid normative labels, but its randomness across the series ultimately suggests it is accidental. It is eventually written that Jason “didn’t really like to label himself as ‘bi’ because it made him feel like he didn’t belong in either group, straight or gay” (p. 130).

  9. In Rainbow Boys (2001), Kyle writes “...and proud!” underneath the word “queer” spray-painted on his locker and on page 129 of the 2003 sequel Rainbow High, Jason tells his teammates he’s proud to be a gay male.

  10. This is reinforced in Rainbow High (2003) in scenes in which heterosexual girls ask Kyle, “Which one of you is the girl?” (p. 204) and these misconceptions go unchallenged. It is also reinforced by Nelson’s boyfriend Jeremy. When he meets Nelson’s mother, he is “flattering to Nelson’s mom (‘Those are cool earrings...’); and funny (‘Can I borrow them sometime?’)” (p. 106).

  11. Also included in the second installment is some explicit exposition about the cultural background of the “rainbow boys,” which seems to reflect an awareness that in the field of young adult literature, there is a clear need for “more GLBTQ books featuring characters of color” (Cart and Jenkins 2006, p. 165). Although it is implied in Rainbow Boys (2001) that Jason is Latino (his last name is “Carillo”), in Rainbow High (2003), Jason uses token Spanish terms such as “maricon” (p. 5) and “loco” (p. 6). Additionally, Nelson is established as a Jewish character – at one moment, Kyle points out, “Nelson, you’re Jewish” (p. 42) and later, Nelson uses the Yiddish term “chutzpah” (p. 90). Nelson’s identity as Jewish never reappears in the series and, although in Rainbow Road (2005) Nelson notes that “I’ve never done it with a Latino guy” to which Jason proudly responds: “Dude, we’re the best!” (p. 213), Jason never again uses Spanish terms and his identity as Latino is all but forgotten; this is troubling because it seems to reduce these characters to ethnic stereotypes.

  12. Jason’s intolerant high school principal encourages him to remain closeted because “‘If you feel the need to jeopardize your future with this, that’s one thing. But for you to risk upsetting your team as we head toward the state title...’ He shook his head as if genuinely mystified. ‘I can’t believe you’d do that, Jason.’” (2003, p. 96). Although readers are supposed to be angered by the principal’s position, it becomes legitimized when Jason loses his college athletic scholarship implicitly as a result of revealing his sexual identity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Teacher Education, Michigan State University, 357 Erickson Hall, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Thomas Crisp

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Correspondence to Thomas Crisp.

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Editor’s Note: Rainbow Boys (2001) by Alex Sanchez and its two sequels Rainbow High (2003) and Rainbow Road (2005) have achieved a great deal of critical and commercial success in the US. In fact, as this article points out, these books, at least in North America, have been read by thousands of teenagers and have been used in schools to highlight lesbian/gay issues. Although I, as the North American Editor of CLE, am not in total agreement with the author's arguments, I feel that the books' popularity and the author's carefully considered critique warrant its publication in CLE. The article itself provides enough of a summary of all three books so that readers who are not familiar with them will still be able to make sense of the author's arguments and issues. Immediately following the article, there is an interview with Alex Sanchez, the author of the novels, that provides some interesting perspectives on the critique offered by Thomas Crisp, the author of the article.

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Crisp, T. The Trouble with Rainbow Boys . Child Lit Educ 39, 237–261 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-007-9057-1

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