Ourselves, looking at others, looking at us
This week, reading Books Three and Four, I found that the story in Middlesex changes once Cal turns the focus on himself. “Up until now it hasn’t been my world,” he says in the beginning of Book Three (217). The story’s style and quality is right to change; it’s harder to talk about oneself than others, and people to tend to discuss themselves differently. Similarly, Cal is not making anything up (using his imagination to recreate Desdemona and Lefty’s experience), but telling us what happened to him. The book therefore loses some of its dreamy quality.
Cal states, “Can you see me? All of me? Probably not. No one ever really has” (218). This line is poignant because everyone has felt this way at some point or another. It takes on a different meaning with Cal because the way he feels has not always been at peace with how others see him. The words that Cal chooses to describe his life are interesting to note. Like his clothes and habits (cigar-smoking), words are a means through which Cal can define himself to the world.
What is the significance of Middlesex as the name of the Stephanides house? Middlesex is an area of England (now absorbed into London). Middlesex then is a place, a base, and a unit unto itself. Cal is very attached to his home. “My body was reacting to the sight of home. Happy sparks were shooting off inside me…Here was my home, Middlesex” (519).
What is the significance of Marius Wyxzewixard Challouehliczilczese Grimes? In one way, he is a symbol of new time to come. Perhaps he is even heralding the time when transgender and intersex fight for their rights. Though the sentiment is referring to blacks, the following quote applies to the LGBT world today: “We wanted to include them in our society if they would only act normal!” (240).
This leads us to the case of Christine Jorgensen. Media, and then by extension, society, accepted her when it was assumed that she was a pseudo/hermaprodite who became the woman she always felt she was. However, when it was discovered that she was transsexual, all of a sudden her actions were not ‘normal’ enough to be accepted. In his essay, David Harley Serlin brings up an interesting point. He states, “American postwar culture understood gender” in “binary terms” (389). This makes sense in the context of Middlesex. Dr. Luce wanted to make Cal/lie into the girl she had always been. For him it was either being a boy or a girl, and no in between or other.
Dr. Luce made me mad for a number of reasons. However, the scene where he and Cal are watching porn put me on edge. First, the situation was a bit raw for a fourteen year-old from the Midwest. Second, what/who turns you on does not necessarily point to who you want to be with sexually. I think we all saw in the Museum of Sex that people have varied fantasies. I found it simplistic that Dr. Luce assumed that a penis, and not breasts, would turn on a straight woman.
Our brain is designed to recognize people, places, and things and to make associations with them in order to save time and energy. A wrapped box means it is a present, which is a good thing. A large furry animal is probably a bear, and one should be afraid. Someone in a suit is a male (Cal), and someone wearing pearls is a woman (Christine Jorgensen). We are used to making broad assumptions and using gender markers. Is this right? On one hand, it can be frustrating not to dress a newborn in certain colors for fear that the baby’s gender will be confused by others. On the other hand, it is helpful to gain information in one glance. What do you all think?
I know this post is a bit all over the place, but I wanted to note down my musings (ha—Calliope is one of the Muses). I look forward to hearing/reading what everyone else has to say about our last book of the class!
Tags: Gender Identity, hermaphrodite, Middlesex
