Tony Kushner challenges traditional understandings of gender by showing the reader that not everything is at it seems. For example, Louis Ironson is openly gay, but one cannot tell from his mannerisms around his family. When Louis is at home, he exudes the masculine confidence commonly associated with a heterosexual man. The author uses Louis's character to show that not every man with a butch character is attracted to women. The other character that Kushner uses to redefine traditional gender roles is Joseph Porter Pitt. This court clerk is married to a woman named Harper. One wouldn't normally expect a married man in a heterosexual relationship to be attracted to men, but Joseph does exactly that. He goes even further and leaves his wife for another man, before going back to her. Joseph's actions show that it is possible for a man to fall for both a woman and a fellow man.
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