Week 3--Finding Ariadne's Thread

Cal generally brigns up the idea that he may have learned something from his experience being raised as a girl. If this were not true, it would have been far more frustrating for the reader at the beginning of Book 3 when we find out that there may have been a chance for the discovery of the fact that Cal was intersex much earlier.

The circumstance of what happened in the delivery room is so ironic, because it reflects the theme that became a central one in Cal's life. Dr. Philobosian's sexual interest in Nurse Rosalie distracts him enough that he does not examine Cal as well as he could have. "Five minutes old, and already the themes of my life - chance and sex - announce themselves," (p. 216)

Then, Callie pees in the priest's face during her baptism. This is a comical moment, yet also a somewhat revealing one. The adults just laugh and joke about Father Mike's reaction. Only Chapter Eleven notices anything out of the ordinary, "'That went really far,' marveled Chapter Eleven," (p. 222), but he doesn't exactly know what's going on. Everyone remained oblivious. "In all the commotion, no one wondered about the engineering involved," (p. 222).

Later on it is suggested that it would have taken more than just a simple exam to figure out that Cal was a hermaphrodite before he hit puberty. His pediatrician wasn't entirely sure until then. However, there was always that chance that someone could have picked up on earlier moments in Cal's life and pieced them together in order to figure somehting out. The themes play out completely...chance and sex.

A major thread throughout Middlesex is identity experimentation and intersexism. This fact makes me question why such a novel is read in a feminist studies course. (I thought we would be reading something like “The Yellow Wallpaper,” discussing the unearned privileges of a man and undeserved harm of a woman). I always considered and still consider feminism an issue pertaining to women; when I think of feminist studies I think of women’s studies. By women, I mean to say ‘living organisms’ that biologically and socially identify as women. I do not understand how a trans-man (one who stopped being a woman) or trans-woman (one who joined the realm of womanhood) can be distinguished as a feminist or coincide with issues of feminism. I am not quite sure how Middlesex makes way for discussion of feminism and I express such hesitation because of the way Cal straddles the line between male and female:

“It was unquestionably a male face, but the feelings inside that boy were still a girl’s (445).”

“Now and then I fell out of character. Felling something stuck to the bottom of my show, I kicked up my heel and looked back over my shoulder to see what it was, rather than crossing my leg in front of me and twisting up my shoe (449).”

“I picked out a man’s wallet, too. At the register, I couldn’t look at the cashier in the face, as embarrassed as if I were buying condoms (451).”

“I squeeze my legs together, the girlish fears still operating me (475).”

In my opinion, a feminist is someone who celebrates having the body of a woman or in the words of Cal: “… [Understanding] difficulties and frailties, its glories and pleasures [of a female body] (452).” I think Callie was the most comfortable being a woman (it seems like he is forcing himself to be a man), but fascinated by the idea of becoming a man. Cal even says that he is “fascinated and horrified by penises (452),” just as a girl would be. I think the experience of reading her medical file, realizing that she was biologically an “XY” chromosome, led her to the psychologically transformation from Callie to Cal. I think Callie interpreted the file as: Callie is a woman morphing out of what should originally be a man’s body. We see that Cal runs away from home, leaving behind her family and a concerned Luce just to start a new life as a new person, regenerate herself in unfamiliar environment. In other words, Cal attempts to separate herself from the “Monster” identity. Cal was irriatated that she was a biological test case, a subject for intense analysis, but it is Cal herself who continues on the route of self experimentation. In San Fran, I was frustrated that Bob Presto initially assumed Cal was either gay or a transvestite. Later, Cal gets tagged as a freak. Clearly, the “monster” identity clouds over Cal regardless of his geographic location. I understand that such a transformation is not an easy one to make, yet Cal made the mistake of not fully deciding between a man and a woman. I do not sympathize with Cal’s distress; I think that he led to his own demise.

As we continue our discussion of feminism and of Middlesex, I look forward to discussion on the way others explain how feminimsm corresponds with Cal’s biological and psychological transformation from woman to man. Additionally, I would be curious to know whether others make a distinction between women’s studies and gender & sexuality studies.

First, I wanted to rewind back to the in class discussion concerning incest and the social, biological, and other reasons why it is taboo. I discovered a biological study that could offer an explanation of why Cal/lie’s grandparents were attracted to one another. “In laboratory studies, women who sniff men's sweaty T-shirts find them more attractive when they come from men whose MHC genes don't match theirs. It's not that certain MHC genes smell better to women -- it's the difference that counts.”( http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/13/health/webmd/main4347457.shtml). Why is being attracted to a male with a different MHC gene important? “That difference is actually a survival benefit: The combination of two individuals' different MHC (major histocompatibility locus) genes gives their offspring an advantage in beating back disease organisms.” (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/l_016_08.html). So usually women are attracted to the gene that is different from the one they have inherited.  Desdemona may have been attracted to Lefty because of a different hormonal balance, because studies showed that women picked men with a similar gene after taking oral contraceptives. Another thing suggested by some studies is that this differentiation also applies to queer relationships. Why is it that we discussed the taboo of heterosexual incest but not queer incest? Is it because this kind of incest is much less common?

            Alright, back to this week’s reading. I noticed Eugenides uses “Calliope” (Cal referring to his/her self in the third person) to allow Cal to create distance between some of his female experiences. “Calliope appeared poolside, that first day and every day thereafter, in an old-fashioned one-piece with a skit…I found it in an old trunk” (342). The sexual encounters in the shack are very effectively contrasted through Cal/lie’s first person experience of both. Cal/lie’s passive female interaction is extremely different from Cal/lie’s and Rex’s active male experience. I found it interesting that we don’t find out Cal/lie’s lover’s name. In some ways it protects Cal/lie’s private experiences from our prying eyes. But it also objectifies the Object, which echoes the separation of Cal/lie’s friendship with the Object and their sexual relationship. 

I've been thinking about the signifcance of race in Middlesex, mostly trying to place it in a context to the narrator or some of the other themes we've been discussing in class. It seems like we see "race" first in Book Two when Desdemona begins working at the mosque, and then again, featuring prominently in the beginning of Book Three (unfortunately, so far I've only made it to page 252, so if there are more prominent appearances in the rest of the book feel free to chime in) with the change in condition of Pingree Street and the Detroit race riots.

It seems like the presence of race in the story of Cal/lie thus far is signifcant enough, but I really can't put my finger on what exactly it could be. Could it have something to do with an "outsider" status theme in the book? Might it tie in with the "rebirth" theme (seeing as the riots were referred to as a "revolution?" [250]? I guess I shouldn't be limiting it to Cal/lie, because it seems to affect all the other members of the family in some way or another.

Also, I'm thinking of how Cal/lie made friends with Marius Grimes; could this say something about how Cal/lie views the world? Could it be that Cal/lie had yet to form social/racial/gender/etc. classifications for other individuals in the world or just didn't acknowledge them/let them affect her relationships?

Milt's interaction with Morrison during the riots is also interesting: "The matter with us...is you." (246) Cal/lie goes on to explain how from there on, her father uses this phrase in so many contexts, for every group of marginalized people who are struggling against the grain: "applicable not only to African Americans but to feminists and homosexuals..." (246) Could this play a part in Cal/lie's identity formation? 

Does any one else have an opinion/take on race in the book? 

The idea of gender transition replacing lesbianism in thebook caught my attention. Callie is so ashamed of her desire for women, andpublically humiliated by the Object’s brother for her sexual experimentation.Yet we have not seen humiliation of Cal/Callie for not fitting completely intohis/her gender (at least through book three). As an adult male narrator, Caltells how people don’t notice he was once a woman, and he hasn’t mentioned anyhumiliation. She and the Object’s brother have sex, and he doesn’t notice heranatomical differences. The Object notices, and sexually enjoys Callie’sunusual body parts. She doesn’t say anything to Callie, or recoil. Thiscontrasts with the reactions to lesbianism. Lina had to leave her villagebecause of it, and Callie is shamed.

At the end of book three, I would compare the Object’sdesire for Callie to Callie’s intersexism. Both were secrets, kept inside (literallyfor Callie, given her internal testicles). Both are surprising when revealed.  People assume others are straight andnot intersex. I was surprised about the physical and emotional relationship thatdeveloped between the Object and Callie. Definitely not something I predicted.

I have also wondered why the brother is called Chapter 11.Maybe we learn about him in a chapter 11 in the novel somewhere?

                In addition to questioning the scientific and cultural beliefs surrounding gender, Middlesex complicates the concept of sexuality. Through his various characters, Eugenides demonstrates that sexual desire is not as straightforward or consistent as most of society believes. Instead, we see that although characters may have certain sexual tendencies or exhibit specific patterns, nothing is definite or complete. In other words, it seems that Eugenides would resist classifying any individual as entirely homosexual or heterosexual; rather, each individual fits somewhere along a bisexual scale. This theme becomes apparent in each of young Callie’s relationship with other girls. For example, though Clementine is presented as a fairly feminine, heterosexual character, her desire to kiss Callie clarifies her additional possession of homosexual cravings. Though Clementine attempts to remove the sexuality from her actions by saying that she and Callie are simply practicing, the fact remains clear that she initiates the act and thus is not turned off or repulsed by the idea of kissing another female. Similarly, Cal describes the effect that she had on her peers and their desire to establish a physical intimacy with her. Though one could argue that such girls were subconsciously responding to Cal’s masculinity, it is more important to focus on the fact that these teenagers felt comfortable developing a physical intimacy with someone of the same sex. In addition, on page 327, Cal describes the emotional content of female-female relationships, remarking how closely it resembles heterosexual relationships.  In general, Eugenides seems to be highlighting the fact that people, women in particular, have desires to be physically intimate with both men and women.  The balance of these two desires and the level to which we act upon each depends upon the individual.  Being heterosexual may largely derive from our tendency to listen to our culture and establish normative relationships that reflect “appropriate” levels of intimacy with each gender. Another possibility is that in order for a woman, let’s say, to satisfy her desire for physical intimacy with both men and women, she must become heterosexual.  After all, it is appropriate for women to have limited physical relationships with other women while still being involved with men. (For example, female friends may kiss, hold hands, hug, sleep side by side, etc.) On the other hand, if a woman defines herself as homosexual, it is very difficult for her to have a physical relationship with men. In other words, physical intimacy is highly unusual in platonic male-female relationships. Finally, Eugenides propels what Paul Grobstein referred to as the story of sexuality; people frequently ignore some of their physical so as to create a coherent story about their sexual identity. Our human reluctance to deal with psychological inconsistencies may cause us to bury the truth and design a more consistent narrative.