Summary

This section begins with a description of an art show called “Puppies and Babies,” in which a variety of paired subjects (male/female, queer/non-queer, human/animal, pregnant/non-pregnant) are photographed in a wide array of arrangements. The author suggests that the show proposes that “caretaking [is] detachable from – and attachable to – any gender, any sentient being” (72). This leads the author to a discussion of homonormativity: the “normalization” of homosexuality, or what she suggests is the absorption of heterosexual values or “normalness” into homosexual orientation and behavior. She then argues against using the principle of protecting the children (often evoked by those opposed to ensuring equal rights for non-heterosexuals and other varied gender identities) as a key element in social – political constructs (such as those that demonize homosexual behavior). The author argues that individual children do still need to be protected, perhaps from...