The first quote written by Hilton Als  that I chose to respond to was “ All the women in my family wanted me to become a black male for the same reason: they wanted to define themselves against me”, I felt as if this quote was significant towards the story. Ever since Als was a child he enjoyed roleplaying as if he were a woman. However his actions were not something his mother and siblings felt comfortable seeing. His father was absent during his childhood and he was brought up in a women household which may have contributed towards his interests. He never had a male role model to look up to but his family wanted him to be this strong man that was meant to be the man of the house. However this did not interest him one bit he wanted something else for his life.

The second quote that showed great importance was when Hilton Als said “I avoided explaining that when I sat in parked cars with one man and then another, I felt closer to her experience of the world than I ever did in her actual presence.” I believe that he is saying he enjoyed being accompanied by other men, or that he felt something when he was around them just like how the mother felt better if she still might have had his father or any other man in her life. I think the mother did not want that for his son especially with her expecting her son to be this masculine man. This looks like the only real connection that the son and mother may have had. Which is really sad because I would not let my daughter feel different if she preferred woman instead of a man.

Complete the Insta post