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'We Don't Have to Take Things so Seriously': Humor, Queer Livability, and Homonormativity for a Rural English Language Arts Teacher

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Title: 'We Don't Have to Take Things so Seriously': Humor, Queer Livability, and Homonormativity for a Rural English Language Arts Teacher
Language: English
Authors: Brandon Haskey-Valerius, Ryan Schey
Source: Rural Educator. 2025 46(1):65-80.
Availability: National Rural Education Association. e-mail: theruraleducator@gmail.com; Web site: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/ruraleducator/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools
Secondary Education
Descriptors: LGBTQ People, Language Arts, English Teachers, Rural Schools, Humor, Teaching Methods, Controversial Issues (Course Content), Interpersonal Relationship, Social Influences, Diversity (Faculty), High School Teachers, Consciousness Raising
ISSN: 0273-446X
Abstract: Extending and challenging existing research about LGBTQIA+ life in rural educational contexts, this ethnographically informed qualitative study describes how Lulu--a white, cisgender, queer secondary English language arts teacher in a rural, public school in the Midwest--discursively constructed the functions of her humor with respect to teaching, queerness, and their interrelations. Drawing on social theorizations of humor, particularly queer theorizations of humor, this article argues that Lulu described her humor as having three functions: building relationships, facilitating learning, and opening possibilities for queerness. These findings illustrate tensions in that Lulu leveraged humor to build a livable, joyous career in which she was able to thrive as an out, queer person and teacher. However, her humor reinforced hetero- and homonormativities with respect to whiteness and assimilationism. These findings suggest that a queered understanding of normativity and humor can offer multiple paths forward for queer educators in and beyond rural English language arts classrooms.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1462535
Database: ERIC
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  Data: 'We Don't Have to Take Things so Seriously': Humor, Queer Livability, and Homonormativity for a Rural English Language Arts Teacher
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  Data: National Rural Education Association. e-mail: theruraleducator@gmail.com; Web site: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/ruraleducator/
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  Data: Extending and challenging existing research about LGBTQIA+ life in rural educational contexts, this ethnographically informed qualitative study describes how Lulu--a white, cisgender, queer secondary English language arts teacher in a rural, public school in the Midwest--discursively constructed the functions of her humor with respect to teaching, queerness, and their interrelations. Drawing on social theorizations of humor, particularly queer theorizations of humor, this article argues that Lulu described her humor as having three functions: building relationships, facilitating learning, and opening possibilities for queerness. These findings illustrate tensions in that Lulu leveraged humor to build a livable, joyous career in which she was able to thrive as an out, queer person and teacher. However, her humor reinforced hetero- and homonormativities with respect to whiteness and assimilationism. These findings suggest that a queered understanding of normativity and humor can offer multiple paths forward for queer educators in and beyond rural English language arts classrooms.
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