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Essay on the history of sexuality
Social norms and their consequences on society
Gender in literature
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Throughout history, gender identity and sexuality has been few of the many issues’ people face around the world. Some may identify as having a different gender identity than the one they were given at birth while others may not. People that are attracted to the same gender as themselves are viewed as an outsider. In Fun Home, Bechdel demonstrates what people face in order to discover freedom and self-expression. The graphic novel begins the first scene with the protagonist, (Alison) and her father (Bruce) playing “airplane”; she connects her relationship with her father as the Greek mythology of Icarus and Daedalus. Her story is mainly focused on her parents, mainly her father. Alison discovers that she is attracted to women and comes out at …show more content…
He was an odd person and secretive husband and father to his family. The only time he interacts with his kids is when he requires help furnishing a closet or when he needs them to do chores. One of the many scenes shows Bruce’s three children sitting in front of a Christmas tree and him being in the background shadow, Alison says, "Sometimes, when things were going well, I think my father actually enjoyed having a family. Or at least, the air of authenticity we leant to his exhibit. A sort of still life with children." (Bechdel 13). Bruce lacks the ideal father look; he is never seen interacting with his kids. He was not pleasant with his life and at times he was violent and aggressive towards his family. As Alison continues to figure out the death of her father, she gets to the center of the maze: his homosexuality. Bruce’s family was an illusion of what society wants to see. Society expects him to be a role model for his children by being ‘the man of the house’ but his image in that particular scene happens to be in a shadow because he feels like he could not run away from the darkness that he is hiding. Bruce could not have the courage to come out as a homosexual; He is too embarrassed and ashamed to show his attractions towards other men. In the reading, The Social Construction of Gender, “Men dominate the positions of authority and leadership in government, the military, and the …show more content…
Bruce forces Alison to dress up more in a feminine way like he always wanted to do for himself. At times he forces her to wear a clothing or jewelries that were more feminine. “What’re you afraid of? Being beautiful? PUT IT ON, GODDAMN IT!” (Bechdel 99). She feels forced to follow her father’s orders yet she still did it. Bruce is harsh on his daughter because as a kid he wanted to dress up like a girl and so by deciding what Alison should wear, he is reliving his childhood. In the reading, Bodies and Bathroom, same idea is addressed “…, in which a 10-year-old biologically male student wanted to be known by a female name and dress like a girl. The school, he said, ultimately agreed” (Frosch 245). Although, Bruce feels frightened by the idea of announcing his identity, based on Alison, they could have accepted who he was as a person and a father. If only Bruce has shown his identity and sexual desires, then he could have enjoyed his life and escape the darkness he was living in. While Alison was able to over come her shame while Bruce died with his secret.
To conclude, Ones sexuality or gender identity does not make them less of a person nor does it define who they are as a character. Our society does not provide the equality people still strive to have however, change happens slowly and not only is change needed from society but also from ones
Bruce is the focus of the book because he is dying; well, we're all dying, but he's dying soon.
In the memoir, Fun Home, Alison Bechdel effectively depicted her life as a child all the way up to age nineteen when she finally decided to come out to her family. Growing up Alison’s path crossed paths with struggles that try to hinder her while she attempts to grasp on to the identity of being homosexual. Even though Bechdel encounter struggles she is able to overcome those struggles in a supportive environment. Despite her father, Bruce Bechdel homosexuality, which was unknown to Alison for the majority of her life could possibly be the emotional core of Fun Home. In actuality, it is Alison 's personal coming out party that assists her mother, Helen Bechdel, to expose Bruce 's hidden relationships to Alison. Effectively, the process of writing the memoir has really permitted Bechdel to reminisce about her father through the spectacles of her experiences, later giving her the chance to reveal clues about her father 's undercover desires that she was incapable of interpreting at the moment. In a scene where Bruce takes his openly queer daughter to a gay bar embodies the dissimilarities amongst Bruce and Alison 's attitudes of dealing with their homosexuality. Bruce tussles with the shame of hiding his
Sexuality and Gender in Children’s Daily Worlds article by Thorne and Luria focuses on the relationships between sexuality and gender in the experience of 9 to 11 year old children. The purpose of the authors’ analysis is to illuminate age-based variations and transitions in the organization of sexuality and gender. Throughout this paper we discover how gender and sexuality has become a social and cultural construction that is expressed through young children. At a young age we tend to define and separate ourselves by gender, boys vs. girl. These divisions are enforced around us daily. For example, teachers often tend to separate team by gender whether it’s in the classroom or the playground.
Bruce, an “Old Father, Old Artificer,” uses his art form as a way of whitewashing his past memories and faults. The exclamation of the woman shows the extent her father has covered up the truth. He has put many unneeded items and decorations in the house, distracting people that visit. Alison likes things functional, while Bruce likes things very elaborate and over the top, not needed. These decorations have made people confused from what is there and what is not.
In Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, Bechdel uses the theme of appearance versus reality to highlight her relationship with her father. Bechdel utilizes her illustrations and short sentences to reveal these things about herself and her father. Bechdel opens her memoir with a chapter entitled “Old Father, Old Artificer”. Bechdel refers to her father, Bruce Bechdel, as an artificer because she sees him as a skilled craftsman. Bechdel describes, “His greatest achievement, arguably, was his monomaniacal restoration of our old house.” (Bechdel 4). Her father restored their old house to make it look like a huge mansion. Bechdel knows that this is just the appearance of their household because it is not an accurate representation of their family life inside the house. Bruce created an appearance that was the opposite of reality to cover up the actual wealth of their family. He hides the fact that his family may not be as wealthy and perfect as they appear to be. In this case, Bruce reveals he believes that appearance is more important than the reality of a situation. Appearance is also important on the inside of the home as well. Bechdel mentions, “Sometimes, when things were going well, I
In Fun Home, Alison principally characterizes her desire for a masculine life while trying to find herself in an environment
...within her household. Within her own household, Alison was uncomfortable of being herself; in fact, at times she felt that she almost had no say in the selecting items such as clothes. This was also quite complex when it came to her subjectivity as well. Instances such as the time Bruce wanted Alison to wear a particular dress to a wedding, or when he insisted for her to were a particular set of pearls, would play a pivotal role in her sexual self development. Other factors such as her relationship with her girlfriend and the news she would find out following her fathers death seemed to also play an important part. Alison Bechdel’s battle in her sexual self-development was one full of anguish and pain because of all of its complexities but she now presents the confidence in herself and her sexuality to present in her eloquent and impactful graphic novel, Fun Home.
In Fun Home: A Family Tragic Comic, Alison Bechdel uses the graphic novel technique of bringing visuals and concise text to her audience to reveal the relationship with her father in a perspective that can not be modified through the readers perspective and interpretation. Bechdel employs this type of writing style to help visualize a better interpretation of how she describes the differences in both her and her fathers’ gender roles throughout the novel. This tactic helps discuss and show how these gender roles were depicted as opposite from one another. But, in this case being opposite from one another made them gain a stronger relationship of understanding and reviling that these differences were actually similarities they also shared.
In this article, Shaw and Lee describe how the action of labels on being “feminine” or “masculine” affect society. Shaw and Lee describe how gender is, “the social organization of sexual difference” (124). In biology gender is what sex a person is and in culture gender is how a person should act and portray themselves. They mention how gender is what we were taught to do in our daily lives from a young age so that it can become natural(Shaw, Lee 126). They speak on the process of gender socialization that teaches us how to act and think in accordance to what sex a person is. Shaw and Lee state that many people identify themselves as being transgendered, which involves a person, “resisting the social construction of gender into two distinct, categories, masculinity and femininity and working to break down these constraining and polarized categories” ( 129). They write about how in mainstream America masculinity and femininity are described with the masculine trait being the more dominant of the two. They define how this contributes to putting a higher value of one gender over the other gender called gender ranking (Shaw, Lee 137). They also speak about how in order for femininity to be viewed that other systems of inequality also need to be looked at first(Shaw,Lee 139).
In chapter one, “Old Father, Old Artificer”, of her graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, the young Bechdel generated her identity through the tensions and mysteries that engulfed her family the home. Masculinity, physical strength and a modern outlook were her personality traits as she grew, becoming the “Butch to [her father’s] Nelly” (269) and his opposite in several aspects. A conscious effort was made on her part to set her own pace from what her father expected of her. He was a strong, influential figure within her life. Expressing emotions towards her father was strictly not allowed in the home. Bechdel was left “rushing from the room in embarrassment” (273) on the one unforgettable occasion that she went to kiss him goodnight. She...
It is important to note that I am viewing and analyzing this text from the positionally of a Caucasian, lower-class, female. Not only do I identify as female, but I also consider myself to be a feminist, which is one of my reasons for choosing the feminist framework. I also feel that it is critical to state that I identify as heterosexual, but consider myself an ally to the LGBTIQ community. Therefore, my views on gender may extend to my views on sexuality, since they often go hand-in-hand.
Like most heroes, Bruce’s thirst for justice was brought upon by a horrible act that that quickly brought upon his coming of age. Following a theatre performance with his parents Bruce, Thomas and his mother Martha found themselves walking down ‘Crime Alley’. There they were approached and mugged; in a valiant attempt to subdue their assailant Bruce witnessed both of his parents be brutally murdered at this hands of crime. As seen in some of the original comics it was at this time “Bruce Wayne learned the power of fear…” (Origins), this realization plays a vital role in the development of his alter ego Batman. With such a traumatic event unfolding before his eyes Bruce “swore an oath to rid the city of evil” (Origins), likely to prevent anyone from suffering the same kind of loss he did as a
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s sex and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision whether accidental or genetic can effect that child’s life style views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors.
Gender has been around throughout history; however, within recent years, gender has separated itself from the traditional view of sex, e.i., male or female, and has become centered on ones masculinity or femininity. Of course gender is more than just ones masculinity or femininity, gender has become a way for one to describe, he or she, in a way in which they are different from everyone else. Gender has turned into a sense of identity, a way for one to feel different and fulfilled among all of those around them. Of course gender’s sense of freedom would seem outside of structure and only affected by one’s own agency, however, structure is a key component in establishing gender. We can look into both ethnic Mexican’s culture practices regarding sexuality, children songs and games, and see that cultural traditions still heavily influence gender, creating what is masculine and what is feminine and what is the role of each gender, as well as challenging the notions that gender is solely based on agency.