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Gianna Lerma

Buttler

ENGL-1301

18/03/2021

Gender Identity and Sexuality Spectrum, Where are Emily and Homer?

Emily Grierson was a woman who “equipped herself with a good amount of phallic

paraphernalia” (Basinger 839). Homer Baron also comes with “violent phallic images” (Basinger

840). A person might think two people with such strong themes of masculinity would not fit

together in the same story, that is where some people get confused in this story. With there being

a lot of evidence pointing to Homer Baron being a homosexual and Emily Grierson being

considered picky or even being thought of as a lesbian people are drawn to assign gender

identities and sexualities to these characters and that is incorrect. William Faulkner wrote this

short story with small hints to Emily’s sexuality which is ambiguous along with her gender

identity. Faulkner did the same with Homer Baron, Emily’s husband.

When I was reading "A Rose for Emily," I picked up on the clues that Emily might

identify herself as non-binary because of the mix of masculine and feminine symbols that are

connected with her. I do agree with Basinger and her idea that the town assigning Homer and

Emily with set gender identities and sexualities shows how prejudiced the town is. From the first

time I read "A Rose for Emily," I saw how independent and unwilling to marry Emily was and it

struck me not as her being "picky" but just maybe she didn't love men. I am not assigning Emily

as a lesbian when there is no proof, I am just stating that maybe she was not a heterosexual

woman. Basinger pointed out that it might have been the town's fault that we never got to see a
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correct depiction of Emily and Homer's sexuality and gender identity and I agree one hundred

percent because that is evident in communities to this day. We all see it maybe not in our own

communities but possibly in others'. Where a woman is trying to hide who she is so she hides

everything about herself because maybe she is having conflict within or conflict with others

about being homosexual, or a man hanging out with a large group of men to make himself seem

more masculine to hide the fact that he could be homosexual.

When Basinger pointed out that Emily has symbols of both masculinity and feminity I

thought that Emily might identify as non-binary or possibly be a lesbian but when I looked back

and reread the story with a newer perspective about Homer and Emily's supposed gender

identities and sexualities I see the story a little differently than Basinger does, but that does not

change the fact that I agree with one of her last points. Basinger points out that Emily might have

killed Homer out of rage "for her unrequited love" (Faulkner 842). Bringing up the fact that even

when people's sexualities are undefined, that people are tempted to assume sexuality and gender

identity in binary terms.

Bailey Basinger was very smart in her analysis of this short story, I think that her idea

that the character that the most is revealed about is not Emily, nor is it Homer, but the town. The

townspeople are small-minded in their approach to assign Emily and Homer with gender

identities and sexualities. The town had tried to come up with reasons as to why Emily was not

yet married. They would say things like “[n]one of the young men were ever quite good enough

for Miss Emily” (Faulkner 790). The town would rather have the reader assume that Emily was

too picky or not interested enough to marry someone rather than face the possibility that Emily

might be a lesbian. Basinger puts it perfectly when she says that, “the town chooses to believe

Emily is a heterosexual woman and creates evidence to support their beliefs regardless of
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Emily’s seeming androgyny” (Basinger 840). With avid evidence that Emily’s androgyny is not

accepted by the town, we as people who read the story now have to tie in the fact that they are

doing the same thing to Homer Baron.

Homer Baron, still being placed with the same phallic imagery as Emily, might be a

homosexual, as he spends most of his time “with the younger men at the Elks’ Club” (Faulkner

793). Basinger brings up great points in this area of her analysis, she says things such as,

“Explaining his preference for men and his distaste for marriage, it is possible that Homer is

attempting to tell the town that he is not heterosexual” (Basinger 841). I do think that it is

possible that Homer was a homosexual but th that still doesn’t change the fact that the town is

not willing to accept that possibility. Homer might have had to go his whole life without being

himself and that is the fault of the judgmental people who live in the town.

Basinger’s analysis made me truly think about the ambiguity of Homer and Emily’s

sexualities and gender identities but it opened my mind to something I had overlooked. The fact

that the town has assumed their identities and preferences and even went through the trouble of

fabricating lies about the couple. That is a real representation of how in today’s world if you

don’t fit into someone’s small margins of identities and sexualities you might be considered

something you are not.

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Citations Page:

Basinger, Bailey. ​Tension, Contradiction, and Ambiguity: Gender Roles in “A Rose for

​ . W. Norton, 2018
Emily”. W

Faulkner, William. ​A Rose for Emily. ​Forum, 1930