comment on Language and Meaning

Gender references are significant in the novel because the references to Bug’s gender are mostly nonexistent. The novel is written from the first-person point of view so most of the references to Bug are in the form of the first-person pronouns: I, me, and my. Notice that the use of male and female pronouns is fluid depending on the situation. For instance, Moira and Sabrina (Bug’s mother) are always referred to using female pronouns. Uncle Roderick is generally referred to using male pronouns with the exception of one instance. When Bug dreams about her uncle dressed as his drag character Anita life, she describes him using the female pronouns: “Thick, curly silver hair cascading down her shoulders, dramatic makeup, long eyelashes framing her warm eyes” (150). This change in pronouns signifies that when Roderick made himself into Anita, he thought of himself as female.