For my argumentative CLEW I read Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and analyzed the characterization in the story, through my analyzation, I am trying to prove that the actions of the parent (Alison’s dad in this case), may influence the actions and lifestyle of their child and through the story the author reveals this by showing how in some ways the father acts like a woman and how he is trying to push gender roles onto his daughter, whereas she acts more like a boy. If you pay attention, throughout the story you see how the father is characterized as more feminine and the daughter more masculine. This is most prominent towards the end of the story where Alison proclaims, “This is the wallpaper for my room? But I hate pink! I hate flowers!”(128)
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Let people be who they want to be, let a girl have short hair and dress like a boy if she wants, just because that was unheard of 50 years ago, does not mean it should be an issue now, especially since we claim to be so societally advanced. Another instance in the story where we can see gender roles come into play is when the father is wearing very short shorts and says, “Wash these old curtains so we can put up the hand-embroidered lace ones I found in Mrs. Strump’s attic,”(126). First off, the reason the short shorts were mentioned was because typically men do not wear the style pants worn by the dad in the story. Another reason this quote was used was because normally men do not pay that much attention to detail when it comes to curtains, women are mainly the ones who pay attention to and deal with those things. This is another part in the story where the dad is characterized as more feminine, where typically the man is supposed to go to work while the woman stays home, cleans, and takes care of the house and the kids. This is another good example of how this story breaks gender roles and goes against the social …show more content…
However, if you look closely in the photos you can tell that the father’s facial features are obviously more masculine and if you look even closer you can notice the dad had arm and chest hair, however, he does not have leg hair. As stated previously, this may just be too much attention to detail or it may be something that was not made a big deal out of. If you go by gender norms, men typically do not shave their leg hair, however, women do and since the father is more feminine it would not be a surprise if he did shave his legs. Although some men may find it more attractive and may be more comfortable with women shaving their legs, it still all relates to the fact that people should be allowed to express themselves freely, no matter what society says. So although the father is characterized as more feminine it is obviously his choice to do so, you can see this in the very end of the story when it reads, “...and who answered not to the laws of society, but to those of his craft. Historical restoration wasn’t his
Let people be who they want to be, let a girl have short hair and dress like a boy if she wants, just because that was unheard of 50 years ago, does not mean it should be an issue now, especially since we claim to be so societally advanced. Another instance in the story where we can see gender roles come into play is when the father is wearing very short shorts and says, “Wash these old curtains so we can put up the hand-embroidered lace ones I found in Mrs. Strump’s attic,”(126). First off, the reason the short shorts were mentioned was because typically men do not wear the style pants worn by the dad in the story. Another reason this quote was used was because normally men do not pay that much attention to detail when it comes to curtains, women are mainly the ones who pay attention to and deal with those things. This is another part in the story where the dad is characterized as more feminine, where typically the man is supposed to go to work while the woman stays home, cleans, and takes care of the house and the kids. This is another good example of how this story breaks gender roles and goes against the social …show more content…
However, if you look closely in the photos you can tell that the father’s facial features are obviously more masculine and if you look even closer you can notice the dad had arm and chest hair, however, he does not have leg hair. As stated previously, this may just be too much attention to detail or it may be something that was not made a big deal out of. If you go by gender norms, men typically do not shave their leg hair, however, women do and since the father is more feminine it would not be a surprise if he did shave his legs. Although some men may find it more attractive and may be more comfortable with women shaving their legs, it still all relates to the fact that people should be allowed to express themselves freely, no matter what society says. So although the father is characterized as more feminine it is obviously his choice to do so, you can see this in the very end of the story when it reads, “...and who answered not to the laws of society, but to those of his craft. Historical restoration wasn’t his