"Fun Home" Title: Hors d'oeuvre to a "great feast of languages" (and graphics!)

One topic which is yet to be fully discussed is that of “Fun Home”. Not the graphic memoir, of course, for that has been the basis of all of our discussion! But rather, the title of this memoir and its possible significance. 

Just as every page in Bechdel’s memoir is full of tragicomic wit, so too does her title concisely and brilliantly capture her desired message. Like much of Shakespeare’s writing, the title “Fun Home” can have many different meanings. ("Click here" to see some ingenious examples of double entendre in Shakespeare.) It can be interpreted to be a short form for FUNeral home, where her father worked. (I had not made this connection myself; one day, weeks after beginning the project, my dad pointed it out to me!) It can also be referring to the “home” in which she grew up, which was anything but “fun”. This sets the sarcastic overtone of the entire novel, with two simple words! It also eludes to a Fun House, which is an obstacle course or maze found at carnivals, full of distorting mirrors and misleading paths. As if in a fun house, Bechdel’s reflection did not match who she felt she was on the inside, and her father put a misleading mask on the life he lead. Also like Shakespeare’s text, Bechdel undoubtedly intended for her title to have so many interpretations. The title “Fun Home” is just a little hors d’oeuvre before the “great feast of languages” (and graphics!) that lies ahead for the reader!

Bechdel Test

As I mentioned before in a previous post, Alison Bechdel founded the "Bechdel Test" which is essentially a system of questions applied to a movie to see whether it comes off as sexist.

On the website Bechdeltest.com posters actually judge new releases and past movies to see whether they pass the test or not, which is really quite interesting. The whole basis is over whether two women in any given movie talk to eachother about anything besides a man. The posters judge as follows:

Fewer than two women in this movie

There are two or more women in this movie, but they don't talk to each other

There are two or more women in this movie, but they only talk to each other about a man

There are two or more women in this movie and they talk to each other about something other than a man^*

There is a comment for this movie

There are links to reviews available for this movie

* Please keep in mind that a movie scoring a does not mean it is at all "good" or feminist friendly, just that it passes all tests.

If there is an exclamation mark over the icon (eg. ), someone who has left a comment doesn't agree with the rating (and hopefully explains why).

If you look at the list of movies and how they were rated you start to see some trends, what I first noticed was that a lot of the popular super hero films do notttt get a pass. Those sorts of films typically revolve around a man in power and the women in his life. By the looks of it there are also several comedies which also fail the test.

After reading up on this I think I'll be paying closer attention to films now to see how they rate.

If you'd like to search a particular movie to see how it fairs, search here.

While the majority of the graphic novel focuses on Bechdel and her relationship with her father, including the differences and similarities of their personalities, I think that there is a lot that can still be explored between them. Bechdel's fathers death was a mystery to Alison, who had come out to her parents not too long before. 

Since Alison was aware of her father's gayness, it might have made it easier for her to come out to her parents, and she was probably curious about his reaction to it. She thought it could create a connection between them, and when she came to visit from college, he began to open up slowly, especially through literature. Though at first Alison was flattered and excited that her dad was starting to take interest in her, it also started becoming a burden to her. Once again she had expectations from him, and she slowly started to move away from books and instead began trying to get him to open up about his past. Maybe this was why Alison began thinking that she was the reason her father committed suicide: not only because he wasn't able to be open about his sexuality, but maybe because Alison was opening up his past wounds and his shameful affairs.

Biography - Part 5

Media Appearances

On Alison's site Dykes to Watch Out For she keeps an up to date list on all of the events she attends as well as her book tour info. Some of her more major stops this year have included Comic-Con and TCAF right here in Toronto. A full list can be viewed here. She primarily stop at bookstores and libraries for her tour, and also seems to attend a lot of literary events and award shows.

Alison Bechdel @ Comic Con 2012

Other Work

Along with her usual interviews and tour appearances, Alison also gives talks and even did a short workshop at the University of Chicago under the title of, "Fevered Archives: 30 years of comics from the not-so-mixed-up files of Alison Bechdel". Here is a link to a video of Alison being interviewed by her co-teacher Hillary Chute. 

Alison also sells original work on her website which is primarily original pages from her graphic memoirs.

A short promotional video of Are You My Mother?

Wrapping It All Up!

In my previous entries regarding the theme of sexuality in Fun Home, I focused on both Bechdel and her father in separate instances, and which factors went into each characters' discovery, exposure, and contributing factors to discovering their homosexuality. As my posting in this blog comes to a close, I've decided to wrap it all off with the "aftermath", so to speak. No longer will I delve into the past of each person, but I will address how the events of Bechdel's father's death affected Bechdel, and her thoughts regarding them.

As most of the graphic novel is a recollection of Bechdel's memories and how her home and family life factored into the discovery of her sexuality, most instances of death are touched on and scattered throughout the story, almost as an afterthought. Bechdel recalls the instance in which she finds out about her father's death while she's in college, and her reaction to it. To her, his death is "absurd", and quite unexpected and random until she begins trying to make sense of his untimely death. Although it is never revealed that her father committed suicide, Bechdel still maintains that the fact that she came out to her parents might have been a contributing factor to his death. One of the last meaningful conversations with her father involved her lesbianism, and Bechdel still wonders, to this day, if this conversation was enough to spur her father to take his own life.

In a sense, with Bechdel questioning the inconsistencies and mysteries behind her father's death, it also allows her to explore the gap between them, as well as the similarities that tied them together; in terms of their respective gender identities and sexualities. Although Bechdel will never know the true manner in which her father died, she is still able to hold onto his history and his memory. Here is a good site that thoroughly covers both the themes of death and sexuality in an in-depth fashion.

Do cartoons imply Bechdel's childhood a joke?

I cannot believe I am already writing my last post! This blogging journey has gone by so fast. In this lecture given given by Alison Bechdel at Cornell University, she begins by showing various Charles Addams cartoons, from which she received inspiration when writing/drawing her own memoir. You can see the influence of Addams’ artistic style on Bechdel’s. 

Particularly in this picture, these houses look like they could both be from the same neighbourhood! Or perhaps the similarity springs not from Bechdel’s admiration of Addams’ fictitious settings in his cartoons, but rather from Bechdel’s identification with Addams’ “disjuncture between appearance and reality”. At face value, Bechdel’s house was manicured and under control; a juxtaposition of the inner turmoil that boiled beneath the surface. Similarly, Addams’ cartoons

often show iconic ‘idealistic’ scenarios ------------------------------>

that are, in fact (upon further examination) shockingly morbid. Unlike Addams’ funny cartoons, however, Alison Bechdel’s childhood was no joke. 

This made me wonder: is it wrong for Bechdel to turn her saddening past into a “tragicomic” story? Or is finding the humour in the situation the only way she could look back on it all?

In doing a bit of research to answer this question for myself, I came across 
this article which discusses exactly that! It examines the psychology of laughter: the reasons why we find humour in the darkest of situations, to "ease the emotional chaos". This reminded me of my Grandmother's funeral. At some point in the evening of visitation, we all got the giggles! I can't even remember what triggered it (probably a wonderful, silly memory) but I do remember how big of a relief it was to smile again. You could feel the tension in the entire room deflate. :)

Distant

Alison’s father could be described as is loving, stern, distant, manipulative, and conflicted, but I think the one that really sticks out is distant. Although he was there for Allison he really wasn't  as Allison described it, it was like he was already dead. I think not being able to come out of the closest, or openly admit he was gay, really impacted his life. I would imagine it would impact anyone’s life keeping such a big issue a secret. Although Bruce tried to live a normal life and make the best of it, I think he could never feel complete, not living his life the way he would like to. This is what created the distance between him and his family, he was doing his duties, and he tried to make the best of it. But in the end there was too much missing and he could not cope with this. I think there is a good lesson here, instead of being what society wants or tells you to be, be true to yourself.

At one point in the graphic memoir, eight-year-old Bechdel and her family travel to Jersey Shore so that her mother can visit her old roommate. Their babysitter, Roy, accompanies them, and they spend days walking around New Jersey and taking in the sights.

While she does so, Bechdel's eyes are open to the very different lifestyle all around her. The LGBTQ community was quite open in these times, and although Bechdel is too young to comprehend and grasp this new and curious concept of flamboyance that surround her, she does not feel threatened.

Looking back at those events years later, Bechdel is surprised that she was so blatantly unaware of the implications of those visits; she finds an old photograph of Roy in his underwear in her father's old belongings. The photo was taken during that visit to New Jersey, and was the first step in realizing Roy and her father's affair.

To further the note on the gay rights movement and its progression throughout the years, the 1970's were the years in which gays everywhere were beginning to flourish and delve into the new lifestyle. Here is a helpful and informative link that describes important milestones in the gay rights movement in America.

Do other graphic memoirs measure up?

      From what I’ve gathered from our engaging group discussions and enthusiastic posts, we’ve all been enjoying our “Fun Home” reading and researching experience. I certainly have! My role throughout this journey has been to discuss the genre of “Fun Home” and to highlight the distinguishing features of a graphic memoir from, well, a regular memoir. As part of this role, I thought it would be fun (no pun intended) to suggest a few other graphic memoirs for you to add to your reading list. From the hundreds I discovered, these are what I predict would be the three most interesting reads:

Dirt Candy: A Cookbook: Flavor-Forward Food from the Upstart New York City Vegetarian Restaurant by Amanda Cohen
A memoir under the mask of a cookbook!

Want to learn more about this memoir? Or better yet, want to book a reservation for Dirty Candy the restaurant in NYC? Click here! 

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Memoirs from a Holocaust Survivor’s son (First graphic memoir to win the Pulitzer Prize- this MUST be good!)

To read more, click here! Fun fact: This is from Time Magazine's "Top 10 Graphic Memoirs" list. And guess who else made it into that Top 10? Fun Home!! :) 

Scenes from an Impending Marriage by Adrian Tomine 

“A collection of short strips chronicling the often absurd process of getting married” 

For more information about this adorable read, click here!

 Have any of you already read one of these? Or what about another graphic memoir?

      If so, how would you compare it to Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home”? Are her tongue-in-cheek ‘grappling graphics’ and ingeniously interwoven ‘tidbits’ of backstory unique to her style of (graphic) writing, or is this a common trait of most graphic memoirists? I look forward to reading other graphic memoirs in the future, though I think Bechdel may have set my expectations a little too high.

"Pictures" speak louder than words

Want to hear my "infomercial" version of this post?? "Click here to listen to the mp3!"

HEY YOU!

Are you tired of reading those regular, old, ordinary memoirs? 

Look no further! We have JUST the thing for you: a graphic memoir!

“A graphic memoir?!” You ask. “What’s that?!”

Well, a graphic memoir starts off just like any other memoir: it’s a personal account describing a significant part of the author’s life. But wait- there’s more! A graphic memoir is chalk-full of PICTURES! That’s right. The author tells its readers a great deal of important information through pictures, rather than using those boring old words. 

Alison Bechdel’s National Bestseller “Fun Home” manifests the saying, “pictures speak louder than words!” (Isn’t that the one??)

#1. (PAGE 107) Bechdel draws herself doing a “double take”:

Would you rather read something like this:

I had to look twice to believe she was talking to me.

Or look at a picture like this:

#2. (PAGE 97 & 75) Bechdel subtly sets the mood of her era:
Would you rather read something like this:

We listened to The Seekers on the radio. Those big spheric chairs were popular.

Or look at a picture like this:

#3. She shows rather than tells.

Would you rather read something like this:

I began inventing little symbols to write in my diary, to allow for the possibility that I had remembered the events in my day incorrectly.

Or look at a picture like this:

#4. (190) Some things are much easier to describe with a picture than with words. 

Would you rather read something like this:

They wore tight pants that showed off their ‘package’.

Or look at a picture like this:



#5. She juxtaposes what she was thinking with what she was actually saying. 

Would you rather read something like this:

I wanted to tell him exactly how I felt, but all I could say was ‘no’. 

Or look at a picture like this:

You look at the examples, folks! And tell me which memoir you would rather read...

Biography - Part 4

 Interviews

In Alison Bechdel's memoirs, there is an extreme honesty in her recollections and realizations of her past, and when asked about these traumas in interviews she is very open.

In this interview, Alison goes in depth about her methods when creating her comics. She shows a step by step process with images and even goes as far as saying how she wouldn't be able to work without 'google image search' which is interesting. Even in a memoir research and reference is still really important.

 Here Alison discusses Fun Home and also reveals that she has no inhibitions about writing about her past, though her family wishes she weren't so in depth.

Also, Fun Home is currently being adapted in a theatre performance!

In The Guardian, Laura Miller describes Alison's newest work Are You My Mother?,

  "Like all of Bechdel's work, Are You My Mother? is furiously literary, full of citations and quotations, and crafty symbolic parallels to the books its author is so often depicted reading with furrowed brow. The presiding genii of this particular work include Adrienne Rich, Sigmund Freud, Alice Miller and, above all, Virginia Woolf and the British psychoanalyst DW Winnicott. ("I want him to be my mother," cartoon Alison says.) The concepts Winnicott contributed to object relations theory (the "good enough" mother, transitional objects, the true and false self, etc) provide themes for each of the book's seven chapters, but its swirling, circular structure derives from Woolf."

Source

Biography - Part 3

                                                 Works
-A series of compilations of her comic Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008)
-Fun Home (2006)
-Are You My Mother? (2012) *Companion to Fun Home*
As well as stories for various media (mostly magazines)

Awards

Fun Home won:
-2006 Publishing Triangle’s Judy Grahn Nonfiction Award
-Lambda Book Award
-2007 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based work
-Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award from the American Library Association’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table
-Nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award
-Also topped multiple "Best of the Year" lists in magazines/papers/online
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For won the 2008 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction

Career Lows and Highs

A considerable high for Alison would have to be when her first work was published in the 1983 issue of Womannews. From there she built up her collection of comics in the DTWOF series, which eventually included repeating characters and a more direct storyline, eventually becoming a full time cartoonist in 1990. Not that it was exactly a career low point, but Alison kept this up for 23 years before publishing her graphic memoir Fun Home, which had massive mainstream success in comparison. Her companion memoir Are You My Mother? seems to be continuing Alison's previous success, though only published a little earlier this year.

An interview of Alison Bechdel with Wall Street Journal editor Chris Farley, discussing Are You My Mother?

Stereotypes

Even though, Allison was always more interested in masculine things growing up, rather than feminine things, I do not believe she ever actually wanted to be a man.  I think she was proud to be a woman even though she was interested in more masculine things. I think this is an interesting and empowering view, just because she was interested in masculine things I do not think this should label someone as wanting to be that gender, or even being bi, or gay. I think it is a simple matter of interests, and being more interested in something that men generally are interested in should classify what a person is. This is one thing I kind of disagreed with, is how Allison started to realize she was gay. I do not think it should have been all the small things she liked for example, dressing in her dads clothes, that made her realize she was gay. She should have realized that when she felt attracted to another woman, not by her interests.  I just don’t think those stereotypes are always true, and drawing conclusions on them seems kind of…wrong. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aymmiResC38&feature=relmfu

This is a video I think is well suited for this post. It’s about a girl that dressed up as a man for over a year and then wrote a book about her experience.

Ties of Sexuality Between Bechdel and her Father

The issue of Bechdel's father's concealment of his homosexuality was a stark contrast from Bechdel's own revelation during her college years. While Bechdel was able to explore her newfound sexuality and, although she was on her own, took initiative to go to her college's gay alliance meetings, Bechdel's father was not so lucky to openly experiment with his gayness. The generation that he was born into simply considered it taboo, and so his lovers were kept in secret, solidifying his need to closet himself and let his feelings of internalized homophobia fester and project onto his children, namely Bechdel herself.

This also plays into the house as a whole -- Bechdel's father pours his heart and soul into the old funeral home; a product of his upbringing and the era he grew up in. They were times of duty, not choice, and now that he was able to free himself of those confines, he could focus his energy into his own choices. The house was the haven of his immaculate nature, all embellished and decorative, in order to hide something else, something that, to Bechdel's observant eye, was made much more obvious as she continued to explore her sexuality.

I stumbled upon a very interesting article about internalized homophobia and heteronormativity that totally hit the nail on the head. While reading the entry, I instantly thought of Bechdel's father, and how, in his society and era while growing up, was probably instilled with the very same notions that only a woman and father could join together and raise a family together, and that there were very clear and separate gender roles that were designated to each parent. It made me wonder how this sort of mindset may have conflicted, and ultimately, caused him lifetime unhappiness.

Themes and understanding

When further examining the theme of fun home, these 3 really stand out; gender roles, homosexuality, and fatherhood. And what is really interesting to me is the way she talks about these issues. Bechdel tells her story joining these entire themes one graphic novel that’s equally as complicated as her childhood. I think through writing this book Bechdel was able to draw connections and realize things she was never able to as a kid. While reading the book you get clear visuals and I understood her childhood, but only in the way that she herself was able to come to understand it. We only truly understand Her father and her own struggles with gender roles near the end as it all clicks in, and how because they were both struggling with realizing their homosexuality; homosexuality which caused her father to act the way he did when she was a child. In the end we realize, in the culmination of everything, her father offered an unconventional shade of fatherhood that she too was able to finally understand.

 Allison's father trys to assert his power and masculinity, and at the same time tries to repress Alison's masculinity. 

"Timbits" of Information

      Alison Bechdel’s drawings contain little ‘tidbits’ that provide a tremendous amount of subtext. What is "subtext"? I personally like to think of them as ‘timbits’ because, like those small spheric pastries, they give you a little taste of what the larger doughnut is like.) Bechdel often points out these significant elements of a drawing that otherwise would go unnoticed. For example, on page 16 she draws an arrow pointing to her furniture polish which reads “incipient [def’n: in its initial stage] yellow lung disease”. Though passive, this comment gives the reader an insight into Bechdel’s attitude towards her youth of polishing antique collectibles... I personally gained a lot of insight about how Bechdel felt through this ‘timbits’ of information.

 

Bedchel also points (tongue in cheek) the value of several pieces in her living room.

   

       If I drew a picture of my bedroom (or perhaps took a picture of it, knowing my artistic abilities), there are several things I would point out to give people a better understanding of me/my attitude towards the people and events in my life.

Biography - Part 2

Historical Context 

-Gay Rights movements throughout the 1900's and continuing on today, picking up pace in the 1970's
-Throughout Alison and her father's lives there were varying levels of homophobia/gay rights
-It was taboo for her father to come out as a homosexual, but Alison seemed to have embraced her sexuality from a young age
-It was only in 1973 that homosexuality was taken off America's list of psychiatric disorders
-Alison claims that,"The secret subversive goal of my work is to show that women, not just lesbians, are regular human beings"Source She believes that men can be generic and almost everything is catered towards them, but when a woman is clearly the audience the message is for the woman to serve or impress men.
-She was personally affected by removal of her rights when her same-sex marriage license given by San Fransisco was revoked
-She wrote for a feminist newspaper, inspiring many people
-Her strip "Dykes to Watch Out For" was one of the longest ongoing representations of lesbians in pop culture

"Milk" is about Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay politicians in America

Influences

-Chas. Addams
-Mad Magazine
-Norman Rockwell
-Edward Gorey
-At 22 she, "picked up a copy of “Gay Comix,” an anthology comic book edited by Howard Cruse. It was seeing his work there, along with stuff by other early gay and lesbian cartoonists like Mary Wings, Jennifer Camper, and Jerry Mills, that made [her] realize [that she] could draw cartoons about [her] own queer life." Source
-Cartoonist idols are Hergé and R. Crumb
                                                      

                                                        Tintin by Herge

 Fritz the Cat by R. Crumb

More Themes on Sexuality

At one point in the novel, Bechdel recalls several moments of her childhood which piqued her curiosity and made her aware of her sexuality, in a more innocent sense.

Bechdel and her father sit in a diner  and a rather masculine-looking woman enters. She is a truck driver, and young Bechdel can't help but stare at her in wonder and in awe. These are the years in which she's uncomfortable with her feminine roles and expectations pushed on her from her father. She refuses to wear dresses and partake in conventionally feminine roles, such as cleaning the house. She becomes interested in playing dress up and wearing her father's clothes, and at one point, insists that her younger brother call her "Albert". So, it is inevitable that Bechdel would hold such a close, fleeting bond with this rather "butchy" truck driver, and that it's a memory that stays with her so clearly throughout her entire life.

Interestingly enough, it would seem that Bechdel's father already sensed the connection from Bechdel's fascination with masculinity and her chance exposure to lesbianism in the diner. Surprisingly, in today's world, female truck drivers are not so uncommon. Although back in Bechdel's time as a child, women who were more masculine and, as such, not much of a threat to mens' sense of entitlement, now this isn't the case, and more women are seeking jobs as truck drivers. Here's an article outlining the history of truck drivers and where gender comes into play.

Voice and Tone Regarding Bechdel's Sexual Orientation

Bechdel's recollections and discovery of her sexual identity and orientation are a major theme of Fun Home. Although the memoir focuses mainly on the complicated relationship with her closeted father, it is also a pinnacle step in which Bechdel discovers that she is attracted to women. In certain instances throughout her life, Bechdel begins noticing her own peculiar behaviour when it comes to her sexual identity. For example, from a young age, she is open about her disdain for dresses and, much to her father's chagrin, her disinterest in aesthetics and anything considered traditionally "feminine". 

Throughout the graphic novel, Bechdel keeps a very frank, almost detached way of describing many events that would typically be considered "eye-opening", in terms of discovering her sexuality. When she first realizes that she is gay, she is in the library looking at books, and it hits her suddenly, in an almost flippant manner. There is no fancy dialogue for how she feels. Funnily enough, she has had many hints towards her lesbianism, exhibited even earlier on in her childhood. 

In many ways, Bechdel's discovery of her sexuality and her tone and voice of which she writes about it can be dissected and mulled over, in relation to her relationship with her father and her experiences in childhood.

There's a Tumblr (a blog social networking site) called When I Came Out in which different Tumblr users can share their stories and revelations of their sexualities. Although we live in a different time than Bechdel, I wonder that if these social networking sites were available to Bechdel, or even her father, during their adolescent years, would the tragedy of Bechdel's father's death have happened at all? Would Bechdel have discovered her lesbianism much earlier on, and how would that affect her family?

Fun Home

When looking at the theme of “Fun Home” I could not help but noticing and relating to the relationship of Alison and her father. They are so disconnected, and distant from each other that they have never been able to open up and share things. Even though Alison was gay, and her dad as well, and I do not share this similarity I am still able to relate to this relationship.

Growing up I was a very private and closed off person, and so is my father, we never had any sort of bonding experiences, not until I grew up and we found common interests to bond over.  Just like in Fun Home Alison and her father were pretty distant until they found a common interest to bond over (literature).  Even if the bonding was a bit awkward I think that is a pretty common thing for many relationships with fathers, it definitely was for me

Grappling Graphic Memoir!

        I'm realizing just how exciting memoirs are.

        Rather than absorbing factual information off of wikipedia about Alison Bechdel and her 'unique' (to say the least) relationship with her father, I felt as though I had plunged into that significant time of Bechdel's life surrounding her father's death. I was a fly on the wall during her most intimate moments, an invisible third sibling living through her family's tragic, yet surprisingly understandable story. 

       What made Bechdel's personal account even more compelling were the expounding graphics! Though obviously cartoon, I was given perfect mental images, sounds and even smells of her family (and 'friends') from these detailed drawings. This picture, for example, speaks louder than any combination of words ever could. Her entire childhood is summarized by these telling expressions: her father's unconcealed discontentment, her mother's begrudging eye-roll, Roy's deltoids and Alison's edged-forward, brow-raising curiousity.

       While researching the genre of graphic memoirs, I happened upon this really interesting one-weekend workshop in how to create your own graphic memoir! It is advertised as a crash-course in "preserving the significant moments in your life in a new and exciting way". This to me really captured the essence of what makes graphic memoirs so "exciting": their graphics! Unlike a thick book of personal stories, a graphic memoir is "accessible": since you gain so much information from the pictures alone, you absorb a lot more info a lot more quickly! I think this is why graphic memoirs reach a much wider audience than ordinary ones- they are more accessible. Had this workshop been a little closer to home, I would have loved to go. It is offered by San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum, whose mission is to "preserve, document, and exhibit this unique and accessible art form". Want to learn more about this unique museum? Check out this video tour! Fellow group members- I think you would appreciate this place, especially considering your passion for animation/illustration. :) 

Biography - Part 1

Alison Bechdel's Personal Website

 Early Life

-Alison Bechdel was born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania to Roman Catholic parents
-Her father, Bruce Bechde,l was a high school English teacher and funeral home director
-Born September 10, 1960 (52 years old)
-Musician brother named John
-Her family owned and operated a funeral home
-She attended Simon's Rock College and Oberlin College
-Graduated in 1981
-Came out as a lesbian at 19

Adult Life

-Moved to New York and applied to art schools but was rejected
-Worked office jobs in the publishing industry
-Began her comic "Dykes to Watch Out For"  based off a single drawing that she sent to Womannews
-Gradually began multipanneled strips and other outlets picked up the strip as well
-The comic started off with constantly new characters and no consistent storyline, but over time it began to focus around a core group of lesbians
-In 1986 all her strips to date were published in a book together
-Developed the "Bechdel Test" which is essentially a method used to identify gender bias in fiction. A work is thought to 'pass the test' if it includes two female characters who talk to each other about something aside from a man
 -In 1988 she wrote "Servants to the Cause" about the staff of a queer newspaper
-Written and drawn autobiographical strips and done illustrations for websites and magazines
-Full-time cartoonist in 1990
-Currently lives in Bolton, Vermont
-In 2004 married partner, Amy Rubin, in San Fransisco, but all same-sex marriage licenses at the time were voided by the California Supreme Court
-They separated in 2006
-In November 2006 she was invited to sit on the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary
-Fun Home published in 2006
-

Circus

Just testing out the layout