The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Our best family readalong so far (in my opinion) is this epic comics collection by Alison Bechdel.

I only wish I had been a faithful reader of 'Dykes To Watch Out For' since the 1980s and could have followed these characters' lives for the next twenty-plus years, growing and changing with them until they felt like family. Failing that, reading this collection is the next best thing.

I savored this along with my sister and brother and we shared our love and enthusiasm for (and occasional annoyance with) the great cast of characters.

Here are some of our responses shared over email.

At the beginning --

My sister: OH MY GOD i love d2wof. SO MUCH!! i've only read like the first 10 pages, but i've been laughing out loud on every page and i can't put it down! i'm excited.

My brother: I also picked up DTWOF today from on hold at the library! I hid in the bathroom for a reasonable amount of time so I could read it. hee hee!

Me: DTWOF ate me up this evening, I almost didn't even do this job application I was loving it so much.

Getting stuck in --

My sister: DTWOF is fantastic, trying to keep the rest of my life going while i read it.

My brother: Lois is my favorite character. I also just met Rafael's "Male role model" who is great.

Me: I felt like I finally 'entered' the story with the WTO riots in Seattle -- you know I WAS THERE DUDE. 1999 baby.

Reflecting afterwards --

My sister: i'm not sure who i would be. maybe clarice? she was kind of a minor character, but i liked her a lot. i only hope i can do a better job at balancing my home life with my passion for work.

i also really liked sydney, even though she was so unlikeable. i was touched by her ultimate loyalty to mo--both those women had some breakthroughs with their commitment and intimacy issues. i was also drawn to ginger--maybe could have been me if i had gone the academic route.

My brother: I'd probably see myself in Syndney. Loyal, yet cynical about relationships. I do like technology, but I'm not a compulsive materialist like her. On that note, I sold my linux laptop on craigslist today.

I did like Lois the best. I felt like she didn't take herself too seriously, a foil to Mo in that sense, who was always totally wound up. I liked her mischievous side too, like telling Mo she was "transitioning."

Me: I'm trying to decide who I'd be, besides Mo. I'm not really Mo's personality but I like her a lot. I might be Thea? Private, quiet but smart, nerdy and independent?

Niggly bits --

My brother: I was ranting to Marieke about how much I didn't like Stuart. Both for his annoying preachy "do without" environmentalism and just general neuroses.

I thought it was best encapsulated by a scene at the very end, where he's putting in the garden and telling the daughter that "there's not enough room" for her pool. It's a freaking kiddie pool! He's so obsessed with his own environmental impact, his daughter can't even have fun. boo. obviously not in touch with the big picture.

Me: It got depressing toward the end -- partway into Bush's second term, everyone just seemed to give up hope. No one was having sex anymore, their relationships were crumbling and they all had bags under their eyes. The characters just weren't the 'up and coming' lesbian generation anymore.

I'd like to imagine them entering 'middle age' in a more hopeful time, with Obama in office and with new career and personal challenges on the horizon.

That's the thing about this wonderful family of characters, is that they definitely live on even after the last page is turned.

I read this book for the GLBT Reading Challenge and for A Reading Family.