Thursday, October 11, 2012
Ch. 3 Fun Home Nick
Although Ch. 3 contains basically no issues with race, ethnicity, or religion, some aspects that go hand and hand with racism are issues regarding sexual orientation. And this book contains a lot of issues with sexual orientation. In the begining of the chapter, the reader sees issues with sexual orientation when Bechdel comes out. She finds out that her father is gay, and has been having affairs with other men. "I'd been upstaged, demoted from protagonist in my own drama to comic relief in my parents tragedy"(58). This makes her feel so insufficient and coming out for gay people is no easy thing and is actually one of the hardest things they have to do because of how a lot of people aren't accepting of it. But in Bechdel's case, its not even seen as a big deal. No one even cares. This reminds me of the issues Precious faces in the novel Precious, by Sapphire. This reminds me of that because throughout the whole book Precious is viewed as a nobody by society. Almost to the point where she is "invisible". Precious' struggles remind me of a less severe version of the struggles Bechdel faces coming out. It's not even as if she isn't getting acceptance, but it is basically insignificant to her family.
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Nick, I found it very interesting that you compared the protagonists of Fun Home and Precious, and I see that connection as well. However, I disagree that there are no issues of religion in this chapter. We must keep in mind that Alison is part of a Catholic family, which explains the motives of primarily her mother. When Alison comes out as a lesbian, her mother says in a letter, “My life is tied firmly at this time to family and work, and I see your choice as a threat to both of these” (77). What the probably means to say is that homosexuality is a threat to Catholicism. In this chapter we also find out about Alison’s father has a history of homosexual acts, and I asked myself why her mother would knowingly stay with him. The answer I came up with, of course, is that divorce is also a sin in the Catholic Church.
ReplyDelete-Amanda
It is very interesting that while the family seems to be so religious yet commits so many sins. From sleeping with younger boys to divorce, Bechdels "perfect" family seems the complete opposite. Also in a way I think it helps to prove her point. She talks about all these fake ideas with such ease as if she has already come to terms with her life and how it has come and gone. I like how you made the comaprison to precious, "Precious' struggles remind me of a less severe version of the struggles Bechdel faces coming out". It is a great point and one that many people fail to think about.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Bechdel seems almost dissapointed in the reaction of her parents to her coming out. There is no huge fight or disapproval and this bothers the author. I think Bechdel would have prefered this because it would have been a moment of normal in her odd life. The typical reaction from a more "normal" family would be with shock and dissapointment. She later receives the letter from her mother but at that point, I think she feels like this momentous point in her life was a mere after thought to her parents.
ReplyDelete-Jordan