Issues of Self-Worth

I find the issues of self-worth that both Alison and her father face to be interesting ones, because I too (as I'm sure a lot of us do) struggle with similar issues. The Bechdel's household was one that love was seriously lacking in love. That's not to say that her family didn't love each other, but they definitely had troubles expressing it. As many of us have suggested, the emotional issues that the Bechdel's face, probably stem from her father and his own deep-seated emotional issues. Bruce comes from a small (probably narrow-minded) town in Pennsylvania and anyway he lived during a time when being homosexual was not widely accepted anywhere. He writes to Alison about being jealous of the ""new" freedom" Alison has with her sexuality, saying, "in the fifties it was not even considered an option." (212). Due to this, Bruce hid his sexuality. He may have also tried to deny his sexuality because he was molested as a child... He knows what happened to him was wrong, it's clear to see by the way he reacts when John is in the city alone (192), but perhaps it's possible that he blames his sexuality for what happened to him, or that he believes his sexuality stemmed from his molestation and therefore is a "bad" thing. Whatever the reason is, Bruce refuses to accept himself and this creates a lot of self-hatred. Because of Bruce's inability to love himself, he has a hard time connecting with and showing his children love, which is why I believe Alison faces her own self-worth issues.