Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist who initially gained recognition through her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. She achieved broader critical and commercial success in 2006 with the publication of Fun Home, a graphic novel memoir that became a landmark work in the medium. Fun Home was adapted into a musical that won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015, bringing Bechdel's work to a wider theatrical audience. In 2012, she released her second graphic memoir, Are You My Mother?, continuing her exploration of personal narrative through the graphic format. Bechdel received the MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the "Genius" Award, in 2014, recognizing her significant contributions to literature and culture. Beyond her published works, she is also known for originating the Bechdel test, a measure of gender representation in fiction that has become widely used in cultural criticism.