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Reader Feedback on "Gender Blender"
(cont)
At the end of the article, you make reference to “the novel's hybrid nature is appropriat[ness] to its theme” and the “the contradictions of its characters.” You seem to find Calliope’s existence dual and contradicted, but intersex conditions are natural and common, occurring in about one in every 2000 people. But children whose healthy genitals do not fit the “standard” for male or female genitalia are routinely surgically “normalized,” as infants, without their consent—mutilated. This intersex genital mutilation (IGM) is epidemic in the United States, not in the past, but in the present day. It is an unacceptable violation of human rights.
It’s not surprising that you didn’t have much information about intersex; very few people do. IGM thrives in secrecy and shame, and it’s important to see how IGM connects to portrayals of “hermaphrodites” in the media. I strongly urge you to visit the Intersex Society of North America (www.isna.org) to find out more about intersex and the intersex patient advocacy movement. I hope the information you find there will help you rethink your viewpoints, and use of language, about intersex.
--fn
09/18 |
You state you “first heard Middlesex described as a novel about a hermaphrodite.” You may be unaware that the present-day term used to describe a person who has a congenital anomaly of the reproductive system is intersex. A smaller subset of intersex conditions is what some doctors term “ambiguous genitalia.” The word hermaphrodite is considered offensive when used by non-intersex people.
Next, you say that, rather than focusing on the character’s intersex conditions and genitals, “the novel's true accomplishment doesn't lie in its subject matter but in its execution.” Yet one of the two quotes you showcased is the author’s “discreet” description of Calliope’s genitals. Why did you find this a necessary quote, if it was not the “true accomplishment” of the book?
--fn
09/18 |
I first read Eugenides' "Virgin Suicides" years ago, and have since pushed copies of the book on any friend I thought would get it. Eugenides writes with a simultaneous combination of hormonal intensity and detatched observation, a paradoxical blend that makes for a still but rampant read. I've been waiting for "Middlesex" for some time now, and now that I've read it I am only more certain of Eugenides' gift. This is at the same time an epic, sweeping story, spanning worlds and generations, and also a sensitive, introspective study of the essential elements of one's identity and personality. Eugenides manages to wind together storytelling styles that would clash in many other attempts, but his fusion of lyricism, reserve, calm, description, intensity, and above all, supreme wit, unite seamlessly in a huge, beautiful work that's definitely worth the time.
--EES
09/15 |
Lordy!
I read an excerpt of the novel in the July 29, 2002 edition of the New Yorker, and from the start, it draws you in.
Although it was nearly one in the morning, I stayed up reading, and cannot wait to get my hands on the full novel.
--myl
09/06 |
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