I wonder since this is from the author’s perspective that perhaps if she wasn’t as close to her mom as she was to her father (although both were pretty bad parents) that maybe that’s why she doesn’t come off as fully fleshed out as the dad where we see both the good and the bad and could almost empathize with him despite the terrible behavior

I actually really appreciated Hillbilly Elegy, I think it was definitely different from the Glass Castle, but I thought it had a healthy balance of holding parents accountable while also showing the importance of family. Just because your parents are fucked up doesn’t mean they should drag you down into their mess, also doesn’t mean you should abandon family in their times of need

I completely agree with this. I don’t think that the term homophobic really fits because there are plenty of people who don’t fear or hate gay people but are part of a religion where it’s viewed as sinful, therefore they don’t want to be associated as gay. Both straight and gay people do this where any form of affection beyond what is considered “standard” in today’s western modern world can be looked at or perceived as gay or someone being in the closet and too afraid to say anything. I’ve definitely heard this sentiment from people across the sexuality spectrum and it’s sad. If people just minded their business and weren’t so quick to judge simple affection, I don’t think it would be as stigmatized