Socially Punished

I feel like the characters are punished for stepping outside of social conventions until the very end of the book when the young girls, Liza and Annie, are talking to the teachers, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson.  The young girls finally find some comfort and understanding in the older women but not without warnings of what might be to come.  Throughout the book we see Liza struggling to deal with her feelings and punishing herself.  She doesn’t allow herself to understand why she loves Annie and has a very hard time expressing her feelings for Annie at first. 

Once Liza is finally able to spend considerable time with Annie and becomes vulnerable, her and Annie are caught.  This reinforces negative feelings and the social punishment the girls feel.  Liza also has to deal with the way students and staff at Foster view her after being caught with Annie. For example, all the girls leaving when Liza walks into the bathroom or the brave few who walk right up to her and ask about her sexuality or the incident.  Since it is Liza telling the story, we realize she does not feel comfortable at school.  Even Liza’s family does not do a good job making her feel comfortable. Liza’s mom didn’t want to believe her daughter loved another woman.  Liza’s dad seemed more understanding, although he agreed with Liza’s mom saying they did not need a lawyer for Liza’s hearing (198).  Chad, Liza’s brother, did a good job being supportive in front of Liza, although Liza noted him crying at other times.  Annie said she would tell her family about her and Liza, but never could bring herself to break the news, showing us the social pressure felt in being honest with the people who love them most.  Liza also never tells her parents the complete truth; even though she really wants to be honest the social pressure is too much. 

Finally Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson are not only heavily judged by Ms. Poindexter and Ms. Baxter, but they also lose their jobs because they may be influencing students.  Ms. Stevenson was discharged from the army and the two lost their jobs as teachers, even though they were a tremendous asset to the school and great teachers, according to Liza.  Instead of fighting the school or trying to be teachers somewhere else, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson decided to move away and start fresh, as they had done in the past.  The move shows us it is socially very had to be openly gay in this setting, because as demonstrated throughout the rest of the book the teachers do not give up easily on the things they believed in, especially Ms. Stevenson.

Annie and Liza finally catch a break after going to visit Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson at their house after the teachers had lost their jobs at Foster.  Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson had calmed down and realized the young girls are just like they were when they were young and falling in love; scared, uncertain about the present and the future, and not sure where to go next.  The women explain being gay might not be easy but they have found love is worth fighting for no matter whom you love.  They tell the girls about their previous hardships of sneaking around so their parents would not know they were seeing one another and when Ms. Stevenson was discharged from the military and how Ms. Widmer thought it was her fault because of the letters found by the army.  Ms. Widmer even explained her difficulty in admitting she was gay as the reason for her guilt, which we found out later is Liza’s reason as well (234). All of the stories seem to be intended to inspire the girls and let them know they are not alone. On the surface, it appears the characters are finally being affirmed, but the teachers are still warning about more hardships and struggles ahead.