Poofy and freckles: Un/belonging in the Australian school system
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
In this chapter, the author employs autoethnography to explore and make meaning of how the author’s own coming-out story and experiences of childhood bullying, harassment and discrimination at school impacted the author’s life. At school, the author’s best friend and the author were called ‘Poofy and Freckles’ by many of the other students and some of the teaching staff. In many ways, the author’s personal experience reflects the content of young adult (YA) imaginative literature that was being published at the time. While same sex attraction was becoming increasingly visible and more tolerated in some parts of the world, this was not the case in the author’s local area. Through autoethnographic reflections and diary entries, the author examined own experiences as a gay male, a student, teacher, and more recently as an Initial Teacher Educator (ITE). A small selection of imaginative literature texts with gay male characters was examined. The first YA novels with themes of same sex attraction were slowly beginning to be published in the United States and in Britain during the 1970s, but these were unknown to me. Throughout the author’s critical reflection, the author sought to explore solutions to bridge the lack of information on same sex attraction that was available to me in the author’s own youth and promote positive discussions about sexuality in schools.
Keywords
autoethnography, gay male, gay male literature, Sexuality, sexuality education, young adult literature
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Rainbow Futures in Research and Teaching: Queering Methodology and Pedagogy in Australia
Publisher
Emerald
School
School of Education
RAS ID
99964
ISBN
[9781837082698, 9781837082681, 9781837082704]
Copyright
free_to_read
First Page
205
Last Page
217
Recommended Citation
Rhodes, D. (2026). Poofy and freckles: Un/belonging in the Australian school system. In J. Chen, W. Cumming-Potvin, & B. McKenzie (Eds.), Rainbow futures in research and teaching: Queering methodology and pedagogy in Australia. Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83708-268-120261034