Suicide Awareness: Relating it to Fun Home
Post by Yussef A
Even though I don't relate to the topic of suicide in any way, I do believe it is important to be aware of it, especially in regards to Fun Home since Alison Bechdel believed and still believes up to now that her father killed himself the day he got hit by a truck as opposed to the incident just being an accident, and that it had to do with his sexuality.After reading Fun Home, I came across a letter that Alison's father wrote back to Alison after she sent a letter to her parents that she was a lesbian. He responded by saying that he had moments he would have liked to take a stand (regarding his sexuality), but it was too late, and that expressing your sexuality freely was not even an option during the fifties especially in a small town like Beech Creek (Bechdel, 2006, p. 211). He also wrote that in a way, he sort of wished he could have had the freedom to express his sexuality on campuses like during Alison's time in college as it was more open for her as opposed to his college days (Bechdel, 2006, p. 212).
With the help of a website, I was able to acquire some important information regarding the LGB community and suicide. One fact that really caught my attention was that LGB youth who are from a family who strongly reject this kind of lifestyle are 8.4 times more likely to try committing suicide when compared to LGB youth from families who are more supportive towards that (The Trevor Project, n.d.).
You can read more facts here: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/
Of course, though, Alison's father killing himself is only a theory formed by Alison and there's no actual proof. However, she's confident that her theory is true and it's hard to argue against it. Times were much harder back then especially in Beech Creek which was just a small community of 800 people and close family members were all around. Also, Alison's parents were in the process of getting a divorce just weeks before her father's death, so all of this added pressure could have unfortunately led him to take his own life away.
The topic of suicide is a very important and sensitive topic in many different communities like the LGBT community, and everyone should be aware of that in order to put an end to these unfortunate incidents.
Post Created by Yussef
References
The Trevor Project. (n.d). Preventing Suicide: Facts About Suicide. Retrieved from https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/preventing-suicide/facts-about-suicide/
Bechdel, A. (2006). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Hi Yussef,
ReplyDeleteThank you for connecting the memoir to the serious discussion of suicide awareness. The statistics that you provided on your link are eye opening, to say the least. The fact that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in youth aged 10-24 was sobering, as was the fact that LGBTQ people attempt suicide at 5 times the rate of heterosexuals. It really is a testament to how difficult life still is for LGBTQ children and adults, even in our more open and modern society.
Certainly, Bruce’s secret of his homosexuality caused him some mental health issues. Perhaps, as you suggest, when Bruce thought he was going to lose that carefully crafted façade of husband and father, when Helen asked for a divorce, it was simply too much for him to cope with.
This video explains some of the social determinants that help explain high suicide rates in the LGBTQ population.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtWYLfeoV9I&pbjreload=10
Source Consulted
Fox News. (2017, June 23). Shocking LGBT suicide rates: Emotional story explains why. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtWYLfeoV9I&pbjreload=10.