For example, in “That Sexe Which Prevailith,” Fausto-Sterling discusses at length the history of hermaphrodites and intersexuality, which she claims to have spawned from Ancient Greek mythology. Fausto-Sterling argues that there are at least two Greek myths that incorporate the idea of transgendered individuals; one, she claims, tells the story of Hermes and Aphrodite, who “produced a child so thoroughly endowed with the attributes of each parent that, unable to decide its sex for sure, they named it Hermaphroditos.” (Fausto-Sterling, 32) Interestingly enough, Desdemona and Lefty, the incestuous grandparents of Cal in Middlesex, come from Greece; in reading this again, I couldn’t help but question Eugenides literary choices and whether or not he considered the history of Hermaphrodites in relation to Greek myths.
In a similar vein, I never once thought to question why Eugenides chose to make Cal born a girl, who then later chose to become a man; why not the other way? Fausto-Sterling cites a study conducted by a Johns Hopkins urology professor which revealed that most hermaphrodites ultimately choose to identify as male. Indeed, Fausto-Sterling quotes a hermaphrodite named James who said, “It is easier to be a man, You get more money (wages) and you don’t have to be married. If you’re a girl and you don’t get married people make fun of you” (Fausto-Sterling, 42). Again, Fausto-Sterling’s observations and arguments present an alternative way of looking at the construction of the various characters and plots in Eugenides’ Middlesex.
I think that Lauren makes a really interesting connection between the ancient Greek mythology that Fausto-Sterling discusses and the fact that Desdemona and Lefty are of Greek decent. Middlesex provides a unique account of an intersexed individual due to the fact that Cal has the brain chemistry of a male, but is raised as a female, which as Cal states provides a a case study of "nature vs. nurture." This immediately made me think of the differences of how we view biology and socially constructed gender roles.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that Fausto-Sterling once again touched on this obsession of placing people into categories, and this theme seems to be coming up repeatedly. However, every time I try to think of ways in which people need to change their ideology and move towards viewing sex and gender on a continuum I am not very optimistic in finding a way to do so. I almost think that this challenge is in some ways harder than solving racial discrimination and discrimination towards women because people use sex as their primary way to identify others, and blurring this line and challenging these categories of "male" and "female" seems like a daunting task.
Like Lauren, I too read Middlesex sometime during high school and am similarly appreciating re-reading Eugenides's novel especially in the context of our last class discussion as well as Fausto-Sterling's "Sexing the Body." I think what makes all of Eugenides' works so incredibly moving is his great attention to detail, thus I believe Lauren is spot on in assuming that he has considerable background knowledge on the subject matter and uses the historical context of Greece and hermaphrodites to frame his larger story. Additionally, I think one can easily see that although in Book I he is mostly setting up the plot and introducing characters, we can also see Eugenides sneaking in hints and glimpses at times of later problems and issues that Cal later must deal with.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I noticed that in Book I, Eugenides seems to be making a clear effort to reinforce traditional gender roles as often as possible. Knowing that his protagonist, as a hermaphrodite, will inevitably be struggling to reconcile his sex and gender, I believe that Eugenides is sure to create a world that is polarized by the 'male-female' dichotomy. Eugenides writes that while Dr. Philobosian "kissed his wife, Toukhie, and his daughters, Rose and Anita, goodbye; he slapped his sons, Karekin and Stepan, on the back" (45). Even with matters as insignificant as the latter, Eugenides clearly appears to be constructing the same polarized world as we currently live in that Cal must learn to navigate through later in the novel.
Also, at times I also found Eugenides to be foreshadowing realities that Cal will have to deal with later in the book as a hermaphrodite. On pg. 41, Eugenides manages to construct a fleeting yet telling instance: Cal observes a passerby, telling us that "The bicyclist was Asian, at least gentically," yet he then adds that "I had a hunch she was American." I think Eugenides has cleverly drawn a parallel here between race/ethnicity and nationality and sex and gender. The bicyclist may be genetically descended from Asian ancestry yet she easily could be German or Russian or any other nationality. National identity, although historically was often based off a shared racial and ethnic similarity, is in fact entirely constructed, much like gender. And while Cal has obviously had to deal much more with a gender continuum than most, we even see him subscribe pretty strictly to these exact gender roles that he has been forever trapped by. Cal remarks, "I've lived more than half my life as a male, and by now everything comes naturally. When Calliope surfaces, she does so like a childhood speech impediment. Suddenly there she is again, doing a hair flip, or checking her nails" (41). This comment made me think back to our last class discussion and forced me to consider whether or not these tendencies are in fact natural to Cal or whether he suppresses them in order to fit the 'male mold.' Similarly, are these 'girly' tendencies actually part of his own person, or are they simply a result of having been raised as a girl within a strict social construction which teaches these habits? While I'm sure these issues will continue to appear in our readings and discussions, I'm interested to see how Eugenides will tackle these questions throughout the rest of his book.