Thinking through Thea: Alison Bechdel’s Representations of Disability

Abstract

In 2006, Robert McRuer published his groundbreaking Crip Theory, which theorized the intersection of queerness and disability. Building on Adrienne Rich’s “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” by developing a parallel concept of compulsory able-bodiedness, McRuer argued that both of these compulsory identities are “contingent” on each other and produce strain on physical bodies (89). By bringing queer theory and disability studies into conversation with each other, McRuer hoped not only to “collectively [transform]” the preexisting system but also to “[imagine] bodies and desires otherwise” (97). Also in 2006, Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home made a huge splash, quickly bringing her mainstream acclaim for her deft handling of the queer identities of herself and her father. In the years since, Fun Home has become one of the most studied and theorized comics, but while critical assessments deftly untangle and analyze how Bechdel’s queerness inflects the memoir, they sideline the shared identity of disability that plays a key role in the comic’s plot and structure. How might not only this strand of identity, but also Bechdel’s embrace of the intersection between queerness and disability here and in her earlier work with Dykes to Watch Out For, make good on McRuer’s hope for the potential of queer/disability studies?