Angus Bethune Short Story

The Normalities
Fighting against discrimination was difficult for people during the late 1980s and 90s. Gays and lesbians were not accepted and eating disorders were very prominent. Eating disorders peaked in the late 80s, and obsessions to be ¨normal” was commonplace which consisted people wanting to be unhealthily thin. In the short story A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune, Chris Crutcher has manifests these hard time by mimicking his childhood and his own life experiences.
Being gay or a lesbian during the late 1980s and 90s was socially unacceptable; challenging. Aids, which was known as the ¨gay man’s disease” did not support the fact that gays needed to be treated equally instead of “tolerated” (Why). In the short, story Rick
An unhealthy obsession with thinness began in the 90s (Body Image). People thought that because they were not gaunt that they were considered fat; so people started body shaming others and themselves. In the short story, Angus said about himself, “I’m Angus Bethune, Fat Man Extraordinaire, dancing in the limelight with Melissa Lefevre.” Angus was body shaming himself by saying that he was a “Fat Man Extraordinaire” (Angus). He believed that because he thought down on himself of saying that he was fat, that he was amazed that he would ever dance with someone who wasn't. Moreover, eating disorders became prevalent, especially bulimia. Bulimia peaked in the 80s (History). Melissa stated in the story, “I’m bulimic… I’m in therapy for it. A lot of pretty girls are” (Angus). Melissa believed that in order to be pretty, that one has to have the right body figure. If that meant binge eating and then purging afterward to stay thin, people would do it. Throughout this period of time, it was hard to be accepted if one didn’t have the right body image; so people turned to alternative eating habits to be thinner and body shamed
For me, those are things worth exploring and writing about,” says Chris Crutcher, the author. Chris Crutcher drew heavily on his own experiments and on details that have surrounded his life to create his stories. He works as a therapist and is a child protection advocate (Biography). Child abuse and neglect has formed many of his 13 novels and his two collections of short stories. Crutcher wrote stories with the intent of helping people. Chris Crutcher also has worked as director of a k-12 alternative school (Biography). Since he worked with kids and helped them through difficult situations, he knows and understands what they went through. Crutcher realized that kids need to learn to be okay with themselves. His childhood and professional life have greatly influenced his