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.
This all ties into my post about the Gay Rights Movements as well. Alison and her father definitely grew up in very different times, and while Alison became a leader in homosexual literature, her father denied himself. It really makes me wonder whether it was really suicide or not that killed Mr. Bechdel. Here is a short slideshow of Gay Rights history, it's really unfortunate that sexuality was scrutinized for so long, as long as people love each other that should be enough.
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that super accessible, informative link! I was especially interested in the part about the 1926 Broadway production of "The Captive", which included a lesbian relationship. I cannot believe that a law was created to ban homosexual relationships in theatre performances! I am even more surprised that it passed.
That slide stuck out in particular because I am a theatre student with a special interest in how the arts can be used to educate and instigate change. Clearly, this production shook things up. Another show that portrays sexual relationships is Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour, written in 1934. It follows the story of two school teachers whose lives are forever ruined by a rumour that they are in love. The twist, however, is that this rumour had 'an ounce of truth' for one of the teachers. While studying acting this summer, four of my peers workshopped a scene from this play. Our teacher emphasized the importance of doing research on historical context, because (in her words) "back in the 30s it was not okay to be gay". Nor was it okay to put on plays about being gay! This risqué production was made into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley Maclaine. Click here to see the trailer, or Click here to watch the full movie online!
I was curious to see how many other plays there are about homosexual relationships... As it turns out, there are hundreds! Check out this extensive list.