Hanging Out with Kids Who Accept Them for Who They Are: Using Queer Theory to Understand How Youth Challenge Norms and Explore Identities

ABSTRACT Youth are social actors who not only engage in but transform culture. Promoting plurality often means letting go of preconceived notions of power in youth social circles. Here, we utilize parent-child ethnography and the lens of queer theory to analyse four stories of youth identity exploration and answer the following research questions: 1) how do these youth, as social actors, challenge, recreate, or fit into dominant social structures, and 2) how do adults, who interact with youth, constrain and expand youth opportunities for identity development that run counter to norms. The stories and counterstories offer examples of youth social agency that disrupts dominant norms around sexuality, gender, and race. In lieu of implications, we offer considerations around facilitating conversations grounded in youth experiences, creating space for youth to question norms, and meeting youth’s need for belonging.