Alison discusses her urge to behave and dress in a masculine style, and she accredits this to her longing to be the opposite of her father. She sees her father as feminine, and she wants to see herself as tough. However, I have to wonder if a child would try so hard to be the opposite of a parent, especially with the lack of an opposing role model. Alison was avoiding feminine style long before she saw the truck driving woman in the diner. She immediately took an interest in the woman: "I didn't know there were women who wore men's clothes and had men's haircuts" (118). It is clear from her display of astonishment and admiration that she views this woman as a role model, yet it seems to me that she was already behaving in a masculine way without this woman as an influence.
Dr. Hanrahan shared with us the story of her family at Thanksgiving and the innocence of a little boy wanting his nails painted. I have to wonder if Alison's style was just as innocent. Although as she looks back on her childhood as an adult she sees her masculinity as a rebellion from her father's femininity, I see it as fitting in. Alison grew up with distant parents, and it is clear that she and her brothers had to rely more on each other than on any parental figure. At one point in her childhood she overhears a fight between her mother and her father, and as they listen to the yelling and anger, the children are shown huddled together on the stairs, clearly seeking comfort from one another (70). This bond between the children is shown again during their camping trip. Alison and her brothers are welcomed into the cab of the shovel operator, and Alison tells her brother "call me Albert instead of Alison" (113). I see this as Alison's way of trying to avoid being treated differently from her brothers. Although she enjoyed the same activities, there are stereotypes that go along with being a little girl or little boy. Alison may have disliked her father's feminine behavior because she felt that he did not have to worry about being treated differently, yet he behaved differently on his own. In the broken household in which Alison was clearly raised, the children would have been close knit in order to survive. I have to wonder if her longing to relate to her brothers, and her brothers' influences had more affect on her style and masculinity than her views of her father.
Very interesting!
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