Gender Identity and Roles, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Gender is a widely talked-about topic that has gathered pace in the world today, particularly with society’s more appreciation of individual differences, rights, and freedoms. Gender has also been conveyed in literary pieces, often bringing out the best in human life as far as identity is concerned. The play “M. Butterfly” by David Henry Hwang and “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel both dissect the theme of gender in different ways, but magnifying what constitutes the preservative gender roles and identity. In “M. Butterfly”, Rene Gallimard fixates on the traditional idea of female roles in society in his perception of Song Liling. In “Fun Home”, Alison faces a childhood identity crisis through his torn relationship with his father, who is trying to enforce the gender roles on her while hiding in the social undergrowth. These two pieces thus bring more expressive and evident forms of what makes up gender identity, as discussed forth.

Discussion

To begin with, the position of gender identity is clouded by so much confusion in society, as expressed in the two literary pieces. People who identify with a certain sexuality tend to find it difficult to come out for fear of the unknown, as they would not know whether they would be rejected or accepted. Gender roles are also highly stereotyped, with men expected to do certain roles and look in some way while women are given certain identities and characteristics (McDougall & Anne Marie). In M. Butterfly, Gallimard is a French man who works in Beijing and has a perfect idea of a perfect woman. When he goes to the opera, he meets his idealistic image of the woman he believes fits his description and fantasy in Song Liling, an Asian woman dressed and behaving like a woman. He is obsessed with his idea and tells Song that all he yearns for is a submissive woman, which is why he is attracted to Song because Asian women are famous for their submissiveness. Song asks Gallimard, “It’s one of your favorite fantasies, isn’t it? The submissive Oriental woman and the cruel white man” (Hwang 17). This shows the idealistic gender impression that Gallimard has of a woman that he thinks Song will provide. “Fun Home” also shows a similar impression of how Allison relates to his father. Complex as their relationship is, her father seeks to express the feminism inside him through Alison’s life. From a young age, he trains her to behave, dress, and live like a woman, although Alison is going through an identity crisis. For instance, when Alison is out with her father in a restaurant, a butch-looking woman dressed in a man’s suit passes by, and Alison stares in admiration. This angers her father, who retorts her and demands to know if that is how she wants to look like. In response, Alison feels ashamed and slyly declines, reaffirming her father’s ideal of what a woman should look like.

Through interactions and sensual desires, gender identities emerge and inform people’s decisions on how they should practice their sexualities. In M. Butterfly, Song is placed in a difficult place when he has to report to his master Chin, who needs intelligence on the Vietnam War, and Gallimard is the most reliable person to use to acquire such sensitive information. The song catches Gallimard’s attention, and he pursues him, knowing fully that Song is a man. Gallimard is heterosexual and has a wife who even gives birth to a son. Pursuing Song would satisfy his idea of what a perfect woman should be, as submissive as Gallimard believes. However, Song’s identity is not clearly defined in the play, as his sexuality is not explored at any point. Indeed, when Gallimard asks Song to have sex with him, Song alludes that he is pregnant and disappears for a full year, only to return with a child. Cerezo et al. talk about the difference between feminism and lesbianism by saying, “Feminism is the ideology, lesbianism is the practice.” Since Gallimard is not seen practicing sex, it is not easy to classify her sexuality, and she is perhaps caught up in an identity crisis.

In the same breath, Alison undergoes a casual identity crisis that troubles her throughout her life. When she begins puberty, she grows breasts, which she characteristically describes as painful and shameful. She, therefore, tends to hide them in public places. She admires female models and females who dress as males and disregards her menstrual cycle. She writes, “It was a vicious cycle, though. The more gratification we found in our geniuses, the more isolated we grew” (Allison 28). She continuously feels isolated until she goes to college, where she gets exposed to an environment that is supportive of who she is. She, therefore, feels freer to become whom she desires. There is also another crisis seen in Bruce, who is Alison’s father. While he tries as much to enforce gender roles and identities, he also comes across as queer. He is leading a troubled marriage that is on the verge of collapse. He is silently a gay who engaged in gay behavior during his time in the army. He also seduces and engages with some of his male students, although keeping his sexuality always under wraps. He is too ashamed to come out because of what he believes constitutes his identity. By definition, Alison says, “It’s imprecise and insufficient, defining the homosexual as a person whose gender expression is at odds with his or her sex” (Alison 55). This point sets Alison and his father apart, as she is more accepting than Bruce, who, telling his daughter of his identity, commits suicide by crossing the path of a trailer.

Finally, society has set the tone of gender expectations and identities. Society, therefore, enforces these ideas, which tend to push men to have certain characteristics and act in particular ways, as the same is extended to women (Shimakawa). In “M. Butterfly”, Gallimard reminds the audience that men are supposed to be dominant overall leaders in all societal spheres. When he escorts Song back to his apartment, he knows that there will come a day when Song will open up and let him in physically and emotionally. In the end, Song invites him inside the apartment, and Gallimard believes he has him under control. At that point, Song is supposed to be submissive since he, Gallimard, is the price. When he stops seeing Song in the opera, he believes that Song will still pursue him. He says, “Over the next five weeks, I worked like a dynamo. I stopped going to the opera, I didn’t phone or write her. I knew this little flower was waiting for me to call, and, as I wickedly refused to do so, I felt for the first time that rush of power – the absolute power of a man” (Hwang 32). Gallimard reflects on the lessons he has learned from the society of what should make up a man and knows in himself that the power in him would result in her submission. As it turns out, he is right halfway and wrong the rest of the way. Song likes his company but only uses him to gather intelligence for his master. In the end, Song strips naked where Gallimard is imprisoned, but Gallimard does not want to believe that his illusion is over since what he used to believe to be a woman is actually a man. To this end, it becomes clear that there were two male powers at play all along, and it is Song who emerges to be more intelligent.

Society as the enforcer of gender identity and roles also emerges in “Fun Home”. The main reason Bruce wants Alison to fit the criteria of a woman is because of the perception that she will attract. Bruce has always kept his sexuality secret because he believes society would be so harsh to him when he comes across as gay. He also has a daughter who looks up to him, and he tries as much to enforce dominance in how he handles his daughter but forces her to do certain things that otherwise, she may not have wished to do (Cerezo). Therefore, when Alison learns that her father is also hiding in the closet for fear of being perceived in the wrong light, she says, “I suppose that a lifetime spent hiding one’s erotic truth could have a cumulative renunciatory effect. Sexual shame is in itself a kind of death” (Alison 83). Alison professes that the shame around being of queer sexuality is an emotional death as it renders one’s sexual preference dead. She refers to the time she masturbated and had a “heavenly feeling” since she had no attraction toward any man ever. She, therefore, holds that individual taste and preference should be the ideal subject that one should pursue to live a full life without being influenced by other people to behave or live in a certain way that does not satisfy one’s needs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the two literary texts majorly convey what constitutes gender roles and identities. Ideally, there exist different stereotypes on what men and women should look like or what roles make a perfect man and a perfect woman. In “M. Butterfly”, Gallimard holds that men should be powerful enough to dominate over their women, and the ideal feminine nature is to submit. Through his eyes, it is only through this way that social balance can be achieved conveniently. “Fun Home” also holds the same epilogue in how Bruce brings up her daughter. He expects Alison to behave in a certain way, particularly what she admires and even how she dresses. Bruce exhibits shame in coming out through one’s own identity. However, all these ideals are proponents of society, which pushes the agenda of social normalcy through how men and women live their lives. As such, the two literary pieces explicitly show the discourse of identity crisis and gender roles, as shown in “Fun Home” and “M. Butterfly”.

Works Cited

Bechdel, Alison. Fun home: A family tragicomic. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007.

Cerezo, Alison, et al. “Minority stress and drinking: Connecting race, gender identity and sexual orientation.” The Counseling Psychologist 48.2 (2020): 277-303.

Hwang, David Henry. M. butterfly. Dramatists Play Service Inc, 1995.

Kondo, Dorinne K. “” M. Butterfly”: Orientalism, Gender, and a Critique of Essentialist Identity.” Cultural Critique 16 (1990): 5-29.

McDougall, Danielle Ann Marie. “On Leaping into the Future: Reading Fun Home as a Lesbian Narrative.” 2018 NCUR (2018).

Shimakawa, Karen. “Who’s to Say?” or, Making Space for Gender and Ethnicity in” M. Butterfly.” Theatre Journal 45.3 (1993): 349-362.