Homosexuality In Alison Bechdel's Fun Home

The term “Sexuality” is used to describe how we identify our sexual interests or desires. Throughout our lives, these preferences can either stay the same or change. Heteronormativity is the viewpoint that expresses heterosexuality, the characteristic of being attracted to the opposite sex as a given, making it difficult for society to accept the idea of homosexuality. Due to differences in social views of sexuality in today’s society and the fear of not meeting established social norms, people are torn between embracing their sexual orientation with pride or being too ashamed to come out to the world. Coming out means making it public and acknowledging that one is gay, lesbian or a bisexual. For example, in the memoir, Fun Home, narrator Alison Bechdel portrays the effects of suffocating societal conceptions of sexuality on an individual, particularly in the parallel conflict between her own sexual awakening and her father’s lack thereof. …show more content…
According to the Human Rights Campaign, gender identity is defined as the “innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither- how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves.”(HRC). On the other hand, sexual orientation is the “inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people.” While gender identity focuses on how we as individuals identify ourselves with the gender associated with our sex at birth, sexual orientation is whom we are attracted to. They could be the same sex, opposite sex, both or neither. Gender and sexuality may overlap, but the two classifications are very much