Gender And Sexual Identity Within Funhome - 1536 Words

Gender and Sexual Identity within â€Å"Funhome† In the novel â€Å"Fun Home†, the main character and author, Alison Bechdel, struggles to identify her sexual orientation while discovering that her father is a closet homosexual pedophile. The theme of sexual and gender identity is very apparent throughout the novel mainly due to the fact that Alison is struggling to identify that she is a lesbian and the fact that her dad is also gay.Alison and her dad struggled to assume the â€Å"proper† gender roles because they all yearned for something more, but in the end they both came to terms with their true identities and accepted their sexual orientation. Alison’s father, Bruce Bechdel, struggled with sexual orientation his whole life. He turned to little boys and decorating his house in order to satisfy his needsâ€Å"He appeared to be an ideal husband and father, for example†¦.. But would an ideal father and husband have sex with teenage boys†. Bruce seemed as though he was the perfect family man due t o his outer persona 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. He kept the house spotless and perfect, revived pieces of art, and took on projects,and worked on the family business to distract himself. Behind closed doors, He was never very affectionate with the family and was also very verbally abusive his family . The only time that Bruce