“Confronted by faggot”: the counterpoint between masculinity and homosexuality in American psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis

Abstract

In American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis presents a narrator-character who is difficult to trust in. By telling his own story, Patrick Bateman puts himself above everyone around him, combining his yuppie routine with that of a serial killer. Among the social minorities despised by the protagonist are homosexual men, who are used to make jokes or vent anger. This paper aims to discuss the way in which the figure of the homosexual man is constructed within the narrative, working as an opposition to the concept of masculinity. Focusing on Patrick Bateman, the study intends to reveal the protagonist's stereotypical and discriminatory perceptions regarding homosexuality, as well as to highlight the complexities of his own identity. To achieve its purpose, this paper is based on the works of Sedgwick (1990), Oliveira (1998), Foucault (1998), Butler (2003), Connell and Messerschmidt (2013), and others. From a reading in light of these texts, it is possible to conclude that the protagonist works as a representative of the male, white, heterosexual and cisnormative part of society. Acting as a vehicle for the oppression of existences that he positions as inferior to his own, he ends up also becoming a victim of his oppressive nature.