Fun home is A true story and an autobiography of Allison bechdel.

It is a story

about the relationship of Allison and his father Bruce Bechdel. Allison is a lesbian, she

came out to her parents in the age of 19 and her father is a closeted gay. Her father

Bruce is an english teacher and runs the families funeral home. She once said that He

Could spin garbage into gold. He also Decorates the interior of their house and always

keep his library and the whole house clean.

In the graphic memoir, you can see the traits of Allison as somehow more

masculine and bruce as more feminine. In the graphic memoir, it stated that Allison was

trying to compensate something unmanly in him while bruce is attempting to express

something feminine in her. As for Her mother, Helen never goes outside. There is also a

graphic novel about Allison and her relationship with her mother Helen called “Are you

my Mother?”. Helen also knew all this time that Bruce is gay and he keeps having

affairs with other men and even boys. He wasn’t the ideal husband everyone was

thinking. He has a lot of flaws.

When Allison came out as a lesbian, her father immediately accepted it and even

said that it’s healthy and everyone should experiment. Her mother didn’t accepted it and

also exposed bruce on his secret identity. When she got home after telling her parents

about her sexuality, she had the chance to chat with bruce about their real sexuality and

that both of them wanted to be their opposite sex since they were young. Seeing her

father being secretly gay his whole life and hadn’t had the chance to stand up for

himself and tell the truth makes her wonder if it is because he is afraid of the society’s
reaction because of their different expectation to him. Thus, my thesis statement is we

need to stand up for ourselves and tell the truth because no one but ourselves will be

able to do that.

Why does coming out as a lesbian or gay to our family and society who is not

gay makes it hard for them to accept? It’s not like they are an alien or not human. They

are still human and part of this world. It was harder to come out as an homosexual

during Bruce’s youth time than Allison’s because then, people would judge you like

there is no tomorrow and like you are not part of them or the society. But what is difficult

at Allison’s situation is that the society has already given labels to women that they

cannot do or achieve things even they change as a man in heart. It is hard for Allison to

come out even though the community in her university is somehow open but outside, it

is full of labels and issues with being in a patriarchal time. Is it hard to accept that

woman can do it too. Is it hard to accept that your son or daughter is homosexual. Is it

hard to accept that your own expectation to that person is never gonna happen. It is

never gonna happen because you don’t have the right to decide for them. Homosexual

people is their own person and they will decide if they want to have a same gender

relationship. They will decide if they want to write a book of being a lesbian. It is their

choice and I am happy that people like Allison Bechdell stood up for theirselves and

came out with what they are more comfortable to be.

Why does homosexual people feels like they are a disgrace to society? Because

they feel like they aren’t appreciated even though they dress like us and even though
they finished their studies like us. In the Graphic memoir, Allison shared that she and

her other lesbian friends were 86ed or thrown out to a club where her mother told her

that she used to drink there with her friends when she was in college, they were thrown

out because they were lesbians. Allison and her friends were already old enough to

drink back then but they were a unwelcome customers. The discrimination of other

people just by seeing the looks of one person is still relevant today and needs to be

stopped. That is why people like Allison feels like they are a disgrace to society because

of the undying discrimination and negative judgement of other people. Other people still

live up to the explanation that God only created 2 genders. This world certainly doesn’t

have 2 genders. This world also has gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer

people. Just like how the rainbow is complete with all its colors, our society will not be

complete with all the genders.

Why does people shame their sexuality and think that coming out will be the

death of them? In page 228, Allison thought that suppose that a lifetime spent hinding

one’s erotic truth could have a cumulative renunciatory effect and that Sexual shame is

in itself a kind of death. Self-denial is is bad for a person’s own self-esteem. Low self-

esteem can cause depression to a person. Denying the truth about yourself for a

lifetime can give you nightmares. Allison started denying her true self since she was

four or five. Allison thought that maybe her father’s end was her beginning or maybe

also his end is the beginning of her truth. Since then, when she was four or five, she has

been lying after seeing a woman dressed like a man. Seeing the unsettling sight

sustained in her mind for years and maybe haunted her father also. Maybe bruce’s end
is her start to tell the truth and stop lying. Allison thought if her father committed suicide,

it is because he was a manic depressive, closeted fag and he couldn’t face living in this

small minded small town one more second, Allison thought she could have done that

too if she was still living in their town. Most people, up till now, is so small minded as if

their superiors of this world and that people like Allison is not allowed in the same world

they are living in. So maybe that is why some homosexuals thinks that it would be the

death of them if they come out because of the small minded people that can either

judge you from behind and also face to face. News of some people in the internet who

commited suicide are homosexuals that maybe they felt that they aren’t accepted in the

society and some who came out but felt judged badly.

Why was literature a big help to Allison in finding out her real sexuality? Not only

did literature helped Allison build her true identity but also helped her relationship with

her father. One is the book of James Joyce which is the ‘Ulysses’. Ulysses was her

father’s favorite book and they became closer knowing she took the class in college,

also the day she signed up for the class, she realized she was lesbian. ‘Flying’ by Kate

Millet shares how she is bisexual, how she is involved in women’s movement and

having the feeling of pressure when she came out to the public. There were books by

female authors that presented some lesbian and feminist thoughts in this graphic

memoir. One is Earthly Paradise by colette which her father gave to her before going to

college. She guessed that maybe bruce knew what she was going through because of

the content she read on the book. Allison said that “Colette could write better than

anyone about physical things; she can include the feel of a peach in one’s hand. A man
could only write in this way about a woman’s breast. One siren lead to another in an

intertextual progression. I referred back to Colette herself, basking in her sensualism as

perhaps the sea-ravaged Odysseus had in the ministrations of Nausicaa.” ‘Rubyfruit

Jungle’ by Rita Mae Brown was also mentioned in the graphic memoir which was

considered revolutionary because of its lesbian protagonist. There were also books that

her father read before he died with highlighted phrases that Allison sees as clues

whether he really did committed suicide like the book of the author Proust which is

“Remembrance of Things Past”. In short, Literature was a big part of Allison’s life.

Why is being open better than being closeted? Being open makes you free.

Being open to the world could make you stronger and better. It can make you stronger

than other people because they don’t have the courage to speak and stand up for

theirselves. Just like Allison, being open can make you express yourself more and

creatively. Allison being a lesbian and a woman didn’t stop her from being successful.

Yes, you can also be successful even if you are closeted but there will always be a

person who is inside you that wants to be free. The person inside you that can help you

feel relieved. That person that no matter what happen, will be there to keep you strong.

It will help you be stronger, because coming out itself requires strength and courage.

This is ones step on becoming a better person. Your own sexuality is not business of

other people. It is your own. You don’t need to mind them because they are not stronger

than you. Allison didn’t mind other people in creating her successful graphic novels. She

created her graphic novels for her. She created her graphic novels because she wanted

to share something that not all people wants to hear. That is the truth.
 Truly, in this lifetime, no one can figure out the truth about yourself but yourself.

Fun Home helped me realize more of that. If other people already feel the truth but you

can’t, that just means that you are still confused or not sure. One day, all of us will know

our truth. And if that day comes, we need to stand up for ourselves. We are our own

responsibility, so it is much better if we are the one who tells the truth. Allison took her

responsibility on another level by influencing other homosexuals like her be awake. She

also paved the way for women and men to realize that she is not afraid to voice out her

own opinion and truth.