{"id":1117,"date":"2016-04-28T22:38:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T02:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2016-04-28T22:38:57","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T02:38:57","slug":"geography-and-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/2016\/04\/28\/geography-and-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Geography and Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

While reading Alison Bechdel\u2019s <\/span>Fun Home<\/span><\/i>, I was struck by the prominent role that geographic location plays in the process of identity formation, sexual identity specifically. Because Bechdel\u2019s graphic novel describes the process of both Alison\u2019s and her father\u2019s separate experiences of identity formation, we get two perspectives on how geographic location affects this process. Bruce\u2019s process of identity formation is curtailed by his limited geographic location, while Alison, who moves more freely from place to place, is able to develop her sexual identity with fewer restrictions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bechdel emphasizes how her father\u2019s geographic location curtailed his process of identity formation through two key illustrations. The first illustration maps significant places related to her father\u2019s life (his grave, the place where he died, her family\u2019s house, the house where her father was born) within a circle a mile and a half in diameter (30). The illustration marks these points with the letters A, B,C, and D and places them within a shaded circle with a thick black line bordering it. In addition to emphasizing the smallness of the geographic location in which Bruce Bechdel lived his life, the dark border and shading suggest that the geographic circumference enclosing Bruce Bechdel\u2019s life was unbreachable, and that if Bruce were to cross that thick black line, there would be serious consequences. Overall, the visual that the illustration provides echoes what we learn from the narrative: that Bruce had to enclose all instances of sexually transgressive behavior or desire within a similarly delineated border of privacy. <\/span><\/p>\n

The visuals in Bechdel\u2019s narrative also illustrate how geographic location affected the development of her sexual identity as the character Alison. Unlike her father, Alison crosses geographic borders more frequently. As she crosses and recrosses these geographic borders, the expectations governing her sexual identity change. When the Bechdels go on a family trip to Europe, Alison is allowed to wear boys\u2019 hiking boots, an experience that she describes as \u201cintoxicating.\u201d When she leaves home for college, crossing over the geographic boundary that circumscribes her father\u2019s existence, Alison becomes intoxicated in a different way; she describes herself as \u201cseduced completely\u201d by the experience of being able to express her sexuality freely with Joan (80). <\/span><\/p>\n

The contrast between Bruce\u2019s and Alison\u2019s processes of identity development is striking. While Bruce must constrain his non-normative sexual behaviors and desires to strict privacy, Alison is able to more freely express her sexual identity. The difference in the way that Alison and her father occupy geographic locations mirrors the way in which each is able to express their respective identity. While Bruce must contain his \u201cdeviant\u201d behaviors to the private sphere in the same way that he lives his life within a limited geographic range, Alison is more able to publicly express her sexual identity, similar to the way that she more fluidly transitions between geographic locations. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While reading Alison Bechdel\u2019s Fun Home, I was struck by the prominent role that geographic location plays in the process of identity formation, sexual identity specifically. Because Bechdel\u2019s graphic novel describes the process of both Alison\u2019s and her father\u2019s separate experiences of identity formation, we get two perspectives on how geographic location affects this process. … Continue reading Geography and Identity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3012,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123782],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}