Blog Post #6

            This weeks’ lecture and reading focused on a highly debated and controversial topic in our society: homosexuality. The lecture focused on the debated question, “Are we born this way?” I have always found Lady Gaga’s song, “Born this Way,” to be extremely catchy. However, I did not realize the meaning behind the song until the completion of the lecture. Her song exemplifies the main political philosophy used in arguments today regarding marriage equality. Lady Gaga continually repeats the phrase “baby I was born this way.” Gaga is expressing the idea that people are born gay and they have no control over that. She then says, “There’s nothin’ wrong with lovin’ who you are,” and “Don’t hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you’re set,” in order to emphasize the point that no matter if you’re gay or straight, you should embrace and be happy with who you are. I think this song is so significant because Lady Gaga is a very popular figure in today’s society. Her words are inspiring to members of the LGBT community and her song raises awareness to heterosexuals that being gay is natural and there is no reason to discriminate against these people.

            The graphic novel, Fun Home, also focused on homosexuality. The novel begins by explaining the Bechdel family and who they are. From the outside, the Bechdel family seems like the perfect family. The family contains a husband, wife, and children, and they reside in a beautiful home. However, this is not exactly the case. The family is not extremely close, loving or affectionate. There are times throughout the novel that Alison mentions the distance between the family members. Alison states, “we ate together but otherwise were absorbed in our separate pursuits.” They were all very different and interested in different things in life. The family also owns a funeral home, which they call “fun home.” I believe this aspect makes the family a bit dark and mysterious.

            Towards the beginning of the novel, Alison mentions that her father is killed by a truck. However, it’s not clear whether it was an accident or whether he intentionally ran in front of the truck. Throughout the novel, I learned a lot about Alison and a lot about her father. The reader discovers that Alison is a lesbian. Alison’s father died shortly after she came out and throughout the novel, Alison worries that her coming out is what forced her father to kill himself. Alison struggled with her sexuality throughout her childhood and early teenage years. When she was younger, she was nicknamed “Butch” and she dressed in men’s clothing. She also cut her hair similar to a male. At this point, Alison was not comfortable in her own skin. However, she became comfortable with herself when she realized that she was a lesbian. When she told her parents, her father was not upset or mad. He mentioned, “At least you’re human, everyone should experiment.” At the time, Alison did not know that her father was gay. Alison’s father wrote her a letter that somewhat seemed as if he was trying to admit to her that he was gay. He didn’t confide in her and he wrote the letter as if she had already knew. His letter mentioned, “there have been a few times I thought I might have preferred to take a stand.” In his letter, it seems as if he is envious of Alison for coming out so easily. Alison was not ashamed of who she was and she embraced the fact that she was a lesbian. However, her father did not have that courage. Perhaps that’s the reason he killed himself; he lived in secrecy for so long and perhaps it was tearing him up inside.” When Alison tried to talk openly about it, her father was a bit reserved. However, he did mention boys/men that he had been with throughout his lifetime and he admitted, “When I was little, I really wanted to be a girl.. I’d dress up in girls clothes.” Because Alison and her father both dressed as the opposite gender as children, I believe this novel brings up the aspect of being “born this way.” I believe that the two were born gay and realized it at different points in their life. However, Alison had the courage to accept and embrace it while her father didn’t until it was too late. His homosexuality eventually caused his marriage to crumble. I believe her father’s death was intentional. Alison mentions a lot of warning signs throughout the novel such as the highlighted passages in novels, marginal notations in books, novels about death etc. I feel as if Alison’s father was not happy with who he was and wanted to escape the struggle that he faced in his life.