Welcome back silver spoon. April 21, 2010

I like how family is a reoccurring theme in Middlesex. Family is something almost everyone can relate to or at least have some knowledge as to what family is. Throughout the lives of Cal’s family, someone was always there for someone else. All the way through the craziness the family endured, no one was ever left in the dark. Cal’s family was accepting and loving, always. Incest was an interesting topic in “Book 1” but now I think it is special how they kept the love they had for one another in the family. When Cal was undergoing the studies with Dr. Luce, Tessie and Milton were so encouraging. Granted they were just as confused as Cal they never once allowed Cal to think there was something terribly wrong with him. I think Tessie was more afraid than ever about what Dr. Luce had to say but that only brought her closer to her son, Cal. For as long as family will be around then so will traditions. I think family itself is a tradition. The closeness of family comes from traditions and old tales. “She was smiling. And then she said, ‘My spoon was right’” (Eugenides 527). It may not have been seen at first but Desdemona was right all along. She was always right when it came to her spoon. She was the one who predicted what each family had in store. Desdemona moved to Detroit with her husband to start a family and when her son was ready to start a family Desdemona was there foreshadow the life her grandchild.

*I would like to use some of this for my final essay.

Nayeli Garza.

book 4 April 20, 2010

Though they had been through alot together, cal seemed throughout the book to always be able to be dependent on them. Even when he was kidnapped Milton found his way to get to him, and when Chapter 11 went to get Cal from the jail, they are always there to help one another. throughout the beginning i started to feel as though cal was alone. eSPECIALLY WITH THE WAY THAT she/he was. It seemed as if in the beginning no one understood exasctly what cal had been going through. Their family kind of reminds me of my family. They dont understand all the time or may not understand it all but if you were to call or need anything they would be quick to be there. The death of milton kind of reminds me of my grandmother and grandather, it was kind of unexpected. Though most of the time you dont want it to all good things seem to come to an end. The love of the family or the people that cal could really count on seemed to be the very people who taught all they could in the lessons that they did in some sort. Cal began to finally realize the person that he was and why he was the person that he was towards the end though throughout the story it gives you the reasons leading up till then.

bRITTANY m tHOMAS

Book 4

Throughout the book of Middlesex, it can be deduced that family has a very large impact on the overall identity of an individual, but in the end, genetic make up seems to have the final say. The impact of family on an individuals identity is first made evident in the case of Lefty and Desdemona, as they felt that they should keep the true identity of their relationship hidden from their family in the first place. I feel that societal pressure had a direct relationship with the response that they assumed they would get from their family. They may have thought that their family would have felt as shocked and appalled about their incestuous relationship just as society normally would with any relationship of the such. Assuming that these feelings are true, it could be said that Lefty and Desdemona had similar feelings in comparison to those that Cal seemed to have had when he was finding out that he was something other than what his family assumed, and raised him as. In both situations, it seems that both parties- Cal and Lefty + Desdemona- may have felt that the reaction they would receive from their family, if they announced their secrets, would be similar to the perceived reaction of society to situations like theirs; These reactions could be anywhere from confusion because of unfamiliarity, to disgust because both cases seem to be unnatural. The fear of disappointing their families may have made it difficult for them to reveal their truths, but in the end, genetics seemed to make it much easier. Facing genetic inevitability, Cal’s transformation to a man made it okay for him to play the male gender role as well. “And so it was I who, upholding an old Greek custom no on remembered anymore, stayed behind on Middlesex, blocking the door, so that Milton’s spirit wouldn’t reenter the house. It was always a man who did this, and now I qualified” (Eugenides 529). With this newfound confidence, it is made evident that in society, and individual’s sex plays a big role in that same person’s gender identity, as Cal was genetically a male, and that could not be denied.

-Jake Morse

Family will always be there

As Callie learns that she was born as a boy she tries to run away from her past. But what she doesn’t realize is that her past follows her and it is not her fault she was born both a boy and girl. The chromosome defiency because Lefty and Desdemona had children when they were brother and sister. Also Milton and Tessie were also cousins making the chances of genetic mutations higher caused Callie to turn out the way she did. Callie runs from something that will always follow her. She ends up in California and meets Zora who happens to have the same genetic mutation as her, “though XY like me, she had developed along female lines” (Eugenides 487). She learns a lot in the fact that this type of mutation has been around since Plato. As she lives with Zora she becomes somebody older than she really is. A few days go by and the police eventually find Callie and she calls home from jail. This is the moment when she knew her family would always be on her side and that she was really missing them. But the cost of having her family come find her was Milton’s life. Her dad cared about her so much that he gave up his own life for her. This shows how her family will stand by her no matter what even during the time when they found out she was born a boy. Also they stood by her during the time when she had run away. This is a true family bond that they were there for her no matter how hard it was. Callie changed her identity to try and hide from it but it wasn’t long before she couldn’t take it anymore.

Olivia

Stephanides Family Identity

The family history of the past three generations before Cal was more than significant in the role of determining his future. As a result of their decisions, Cal’s grandparents and parents caused Cal to face a lifetime filled with various emotions. Although Cal was apart of the Stephanides family he was much different, not only sexually but in his outlook towards life and those around him. There are many examples in the text that show how Cal was viewed by others but I thought that the most significant were those including his parents. In book two Cal describes his sexual differences and also tells of how Milton saw it in his eyes as he says, ” My father was even more squeamish. In the rare times he diapered me or gave me a bath, Milton studiously averted his eyes”. (Eugenedies 226) I believe this helps to explain the avoiding of reality that both Milton and Tessie portray throughout the text. Another important area of the novel is discussed in book four when Cal states “My parents had at first refused to believe the emergency room doctor’s wild claim about my anatomy.” (Eugenides 401) Cal’s parents had chosen to deny the truth, just as they had been for so many years suppressing reality. Milton and Tessie were fully conscious of their decision when they chose to have children just as Lefty and Desdemona, but each were blinded by emotions and the control of what they thought was true love. Cal was so much different than everyone else I think they were  confused on who he really was. He was born with  both genital characteristics but Cal was still a real person, therefore the choice is to look beyond what our eyes can see and then we can understand what lies inside.

Raymond L.

Book Four

In Book Four, the final part of the novel, of Jeffery Eugendies’ “Middlesex”, Cal leaves his family and runs away to Berlin because they were going to “cut him up” (Eugenides 516). He is finally on his own and sees himself as “a new creation” (445). Cal’s once feminine side is starting to disappear and his masculinity arises. He “adopted a swagger” that “lots of adolescent boys put on, trying to be manly” and “rarely smiled” (449). At the same time however, at this point in his life he still did not understand everything he was feeling and now and then “fell out of character” (449).  While he was in Berlin, his father drowned and Cal goes back to go to the funeral. Even though he doesn’t go to the funeral because he feels like he’d be a distraction, his family is glad he is home. I think Cal relates to his family members because throughout most of their lives, like Desdemona, he wasn’t sure of himself. He was never confident until he became who he was meant to be- a man. At the end of the novel, he has finally begun to figure out who he is and who he always has been. It seems like deep down inside he always felt he was a man more than a woman. Desdemona as well was not confident in herself until she was married to Lefty. She truly felt beautiful in her corest. Cal felt transformed when he got his hair cut in Berlin. I guess Desdemona’s silver spoon was right all along.

Danielle Harteau

I would like to use some of my points about Cal in this blog for my final essay.

man to woman, woman to man.

Throughout the book Callie related more to her mother, than to her father. Her mother seemed to understand her needs and help her through her hardtimes when she was between genders. In book 4, it is all about fourteen year old Callie going to a clinic to complete her transformation from a girl to a boy. Her parents took her, and felt it was the right thing to do at the time. Little did they know, Callie wanted no part of the operation soon to follow. She ran away and made a new life and disguised herself with short hair and boyish figure. Her parents were distraught and blamed Dr. Luce who was meeting with Callie regularly and who would perform the operation. Callie’s parents claimed that Dr. Luce must have scared Callie. Milton and Tessie did everything possible to get Callie back. Callie finally came back when Milton died, and nothing from then on will ever be the same. She came back to question Desdemona and her family for their past, and her present today. I feel that throughout the book, Callie related most to her mother because her mother tried to understand her, and not question her as an experiment. Milton seemed more cautious around Callie and didn’t really know how to react to her. It wasn’t until later in the book when Milton and Callie began to connect. Milton treated her like a human being, and loved her none the less. Tessie blamed herself later on for Callie’s problem. “Was it her fault? Should she have resisted Milton when he tried to bend nature to his will?” (Eugenides 423). Desdemona may have caused it. Her and Lefty with the incest issue. Milton and Tessie being cousins. What truly caused the genetic mixup in Callie? It was all of that combined. They all contributed to Callie’s Chromosomal messup. I feel that Callie is her own person, just like you or I aren’t anyone else. Callie isn’t like anyone, because nobody she relates to is like her. She tries to relate to other people, but there is always something they cannot relate to. Her running away was the last time she was ever milton and tessie’s daughter. She is now a he, and somewhat happy with her decision.

-Caitlin Tefend

relationships strengthened

Each generation involved in Cal’s life show what i feel to be what would have been very typical responses to those generations in their times upon learning Cal’s change to a man. While all three generations, her mother brother and grandmother, showed Cal the same amount of acceptance and care, they all had their separate reasons. Desdemona’s response is almost a relief to her when she realizes that it was Cal in her guest room the morning of the funeral. Immediately Desdemona understands what had happened genetically and blames it upon herself. “I’m sorry honey. I’m sorry this happen to you” (Eugenidies 529). Cals brother seems to enjoy having a brother, constantly joking with each other. Cal claims “it was a lucky thing that my brother had taken so much LSD as he had” as she explained he had a “personality this prepared” (Eugenidies 516). Cal’ mother showed her acceptance of Cal’s change by not having any major changes in their relationship. I feel that through these different reasons of acceptance, Cal’s relationships with her mother brother and grandmother were all strengthened. They all can relate to each other in a brand new and different way that seems to be just as positive as it was before Cal ran away. Everyone except Milton that is. I got the sense that Cal was almost relieved that he didnt have to face the new relationship with his father. I dont sense any real sadness or remorse in any of what she says upon hearing the news.

Nick Vecellio

Taking Pride in the Mundane

In figuring out his identity by diving into the past, Cal discovered that his family members, too, were living to discover their identities. A saying goes, “you pass by your destiny every day.” Cal was so interested in the “Obscure Object” that he tried to convince himself as well as Dr. Luce that he was interested in men. He realized that he was the only one who could define himself.  A red-head from Gross Pointe fell in love with him and it was fate. I’m not sure if this is the same girl he was referring to as the “Obscure Object,” but it seems about right. He became the person he wanted to be and at that time, he could let himself truly love others simply because he did not fully love himself.

Detroiters know the past because it was what once made us one of the largest cities. Detroit can be viewed as an obscure object because people have to kind of tilt their head and squint to see it for what it is. A saying goes, “always try to see the good in life, even if you have to squint.” This is true. The only people who love Detroit are those who can relate to it and those who have grown up here. It shapes our identities.

Cal’s parents cared for him and wanted him to be happy but they could not feel to the full extent what he was going through. At the end of the book, Desdemona explains to Cal what happened and he is content. She apologizes and his response to her is, “I like my life, I’m going to have a good life” (Eugenides 528). He spent his whole life wanting people to know who he was. He began to find variation in the mundane. He says, “I offer the same truism: it’s amazing what you can get used to” (Eugenides 520).

Detroiters are used to Detroit. Whether they are satisfied with it or not, they find variation in it. The bad is not always a constant. I am pretty sure everyone does not walk around with frowns all of the time. We are used to it. we make use of the cards we have been dealt and wait for a new round to begin… a new birth.

Quote of the day:

“The joy of life is made up of obscure and seemingly mundane victories that gives us our own small satisfactions.” -Billy Joel

Lori E. Allan

 

 

I can transform ya.

The fourth book of Middlesex basically goes through Cal’s transformation from woman to man. This book reveals many secrets like finding out about Cals real gender to Desdemonda telling Cal about the incest and why he is the way he is from that.  Cals transformation was not an easy one. He had to constantly be thinking like and boy and telling himself to act like one to. “Like a stroke victim, I was having to relearn all the simple motor skills.” (Eugenides 441)  I think that this quote really defines what Cal had to do to become a man. He needed to learn to talk the talk and walk the walk. Cal was always concerned if someone was to start to think he wasn’t really a boy. He didn’t want anyone to find out what was going on inside of him. He had to overdo the whole manly thing. “Like a convert to a new religion, I overdid it at first.” (Eugenides 449) Cal felt like in order for no one to find out he had to play the male role to the tee. He bought a suit and carried around a briefcase to get more into character. Cal explains it best by saying that the swagger he was trying to put on was not that much different from other teenage boys trying to act more manly. I believe this statement to be very true. I remember back in school when the boys would try to act way older then they were to impress the girls. Most people will think the overacting is rediculous but in Cals mind that was the only way to kind of trick himself and other people into believing  he was a man.

Brittany Cifka

family family family

Throughout the entire book, one of the main themes is family, and for a good reason.  The experiences and hardships that Cal’s family has had to endure play a huge role in everything that happens to Cal, whether she knows it or not.  One thing that has never changed in the novel,though, is how much Cal’s parents truly adore her, no matter what Cal thinks of herself or what anyone else thinks.  She is their entire life and nothing in the world can change that.  “In the narrow entryway carved from a former suite, cockeyed, dim, the two of us stood hugging and crying” (Eugenides 438).  Sometimes the smallest things mean the most to people, and the way Cal and her mom stand there hugging as though they will never see each other again is so heartwarming.  Her parents stand behind her in any decision she decides to make and that is true family.  With everything Cal goes through with the diagnosis of Dr. Luce, she needs to have support now more than ever.  Its inspirational to see how her famiy pulls together, even if it means death, to protect each other.  Nothing can replace the love that a mother and father have for their children and that in itself is truly amazing to me.  Her father loses his life essentially trying to save his daughter. I know my parents would do the same for me in a heartbeat and im not sure if i can even fathom that because that is so much feeling to have for one person.

-Breanna Perez

Hidden Anger April 19, 2010

Father Mike wasn’t a prominent character throughout the novel but he quickly became a character of importance at the end of Middlesex. Father Mike seemed to be a calm passive person with a great relationship with God. He was in love with Tessie from the start. And he almost had her but Milton won her over. As time passes, the anger builds up inside of him resulting in Milton’s death. Father Mike symbolizes something a little different. He represents the hidden secrets throughout the novel. Desdemona hides her and Lefty’s brother/sister marriage. Tessie hides her love for Milton for a while until he comes back from the war. Sourmelina gets sent to the United States and married off so that no one finds out about her love for other women. Cal hides her love for the Obscure Object and her genetic situation. Father Mike is still feeling the investment he made in Zoe instead of getting what he wanted, Tessie. “…who married Milton’s sister, Zoe,  instead, a choice that had sentenced him to a life of invidious comparisons, of Zoe always asking why he hadn’t invested in the stock market when Milton had, or bought gold when Milton had…” (Eugenides 504-505).  Father Mike periodically showed himself throughout the novel reminding us of his love for Tessie that still lingered and was kept secret for so many years. Desdemona and Lefty kept their secret until after the death of Lefty and 5 years previous to Desdemona’s death. And the only person that knew about the incest was Cal, who had a secret of her own. Father Mike was a great character in this novel. He represented more than I had thought when I read the ending.

~Alexandria Vintevoghel

*Might use in essay*

Ties within.

In the end of the book, a lot of interesting things are revealed. We realize that anger and jealously can build up inside one man to the point of no return. We also realize that even though those who cannot remember clearly can remember just enough to come to certain conclusions and be forgiven for old sins. Throughout Middlesex certain symbols and foreshadowing are revealed allowing one to assume that these events would occur, but the truth is once they were revealed we never seen it coming. This can be related to how none of the Stephanides ever seen the complications of Cal Stephanides coming their way.  In this book everything ties together in the end, everything relates. Just like the symbols throughout the book relate. Throughout the entire book of Middlesex symbolism is used to illustrate many different points. One example of this symbolism is when Cal finds out that he indeed is genetically a boy. Throughout Cal’s life up to this point, while he was known as Calliope, he kept his hair long. He knew he was awkward and not like the rest of the girls, therefore he used his hair to hide his faults. Once he decided to go along with being a boy, he decided it was time to get rid of his hair. He chopped his hair off, in a way this symbolized his change from going from Calliope to Cal or from boy to girl. This quote shows how much it truly represented his change “And in the mirror I didn’t see myself. Not the Mona Lisa with the enigmatic smile any longer. Not the shy girl with the tangled black hair in her face, but instead her fraternal twin brother.”(445)Hair can be tied back into Cal’s grandmother Desdemona. When Lefty and Desdemona were coming into America, they chopped her braids off. Desdemona’s braids were all she had left from her old country. This symbolized how her life was changing and how her new life in America was beginning. The symbol of hair isn’t the only symbol that can be tied into more than one are. Cal’s suits that he wears tie back into how he hid behind his hair, now he hides behind his suits. A suit is the first piece of clothing that Cal buys after his transformation. This allows him to feel semi-normal. He buys these suits, so as to appear to be male on the outside, when he knows deep down what is truly going on. Cal’s life is illuminated by symbols that help show the relations from boy to girl and help the reader better understand why he does what he does. Most of the symbols and events throughout the entire book of Middlesex can be presented in completely different parts of the book but relate perfectly together and tie in both topics.

-Geri Gabrielson

el libro quatro

A series of events throughout the generations of the Stephanides family has resulted in a rare occurence. Cal, who is the youngest member of the Stephanides family has a unique condition. He is a hermaphrodite and lives a conformed childhood as a girl. At the age of 14 he realizes what his true nature is, and runs away. Eventually Cal returns home as a boy, and reintroduces himself to immediate family. When Cal reveals his new self to Desmonada, some critical facts are unearthed. Desmonda confesses the truth about her marriage by stating, “Not third cousin. Also brother” (Eugenides 527). She is referring to her husband Lefty, who came from the same mother and father that she did. Desmonda mentions earlier that it is common for relatives to marry one another in her home village, however it can result in birth defects. Since Lefty and Desmonda both carry the gene that leads to sexual organ disorders at birth, their kids are at greater risks to initiate that gene. It also is proven that incest can greatly increase the chance of birth defects. With further, watered down incest in the Stephanides second generation, that gene is finally initiated when Cal is born. Although this is a very brief layout the Stephanides past generations, it pertinent to Cal’s life.  It is obvious to say that the actions of previous family generations have contributed to Cal’s rare anatomy. If incest hadn’t occurred in the Stephanides family, the probability of that gene to initiate would decrease. Major aspects of Cal’s life are subtly, and strongly connected to his previous generations.

kevin cunningham

Family- a strong bond

No matter what the situation is, your family is always there to support you. In Middlesex it still works the same way. Cal situation is not something that the average family has to go through when they are raising a child; however they know it is their duty to help Cal through this hard time. Cal’s parents did not care what he was; they cared more about having him around and making him happy. In Cal’s eyes, she didn’t understand why her parents want to help the monster that she was. At one point she thought “her parents knew she was a monster. And yet here was Milton, opening the car door for her; here was Tessie, inside smiling as Callie climbed in”(432). There is something about family that gives people the obligation to stand by their family members no matter what the situation. Even after Cal runs away from her parents leaving them in New York, his parents don’t get mad at him, all they care about is getting him back home. A family is such an amazing thing, knowing that even if you make a mistake, as long as you have family, you will have someone there to support you. It was amazing what Cal’s father, Milton, went through in the hopes of retrieving Cal from his so called abductor. Milton sacrificed his very own life just so he could bring his whole family back together. To this day I am still amazed that parents will do anything to protect their offspring, and at any cost.

-Jordan Houtby

If your lucky, you’ll always have your family to fall back on.

I think one of the most apparent themes in this book was that of family, and the dynamics of. Not only did it talk about how Cal’s family history affected him, or how his raising by his family had its outcomes, but the fact that family is ALWAYS there. When Desdemona and Lefty first came to America, it was with Family that they stayed. And of course, they were family themselves.  And even when Cal did a horrible thing, running away and worrying his parents to death, Tessie was still there with open arms, waiting to accept whatever it was the Cal chose. Chapter Eleven too. Desdemona herself, although feeling guilty, was accepting of Cal. It all comes down to the love of a family. Tessie thought it was her ” … spiritual conection…” ( Eugenides 463 ) that kept her conected to Cal through those months, a spiritual umbilical cord that kept her in constant connection to Cal, letting her know that Cal was still alive. I think it was her love that kept them connected. And it was love that kept their family together through such a hard time. Most people would fall apart through half of what these people went through. But love is miraculous. It can heal all wounds, mend all breaks, and hold people together like the strongest glue. Family is a very uplifting theme in this book, and so is the love of a family.

AKA Borkowski

All Good Things Must Come An End

            It seems that a major theme in the book Middlesex is how history, especially family history, impacts your future. In the book, if it wasn’t for the relationship between Desdemona and Left, Milton wouldn’t have existed and he wouldn’t have married Tessie. They wouldn’t have had Calliope. The book focuses a lot on the history of the family and spends quite a lot of time explaining just how everything came to be. This does make sense thought, because it is obvious that Calliope didn’t just miraculous come about out of nowhere. He gives a back story of his family, but most importantly he gives a story of how he came to be who he is. Cal’s family history is different from many because there are quite a few twists and turns in his story, but overall the history is of a family they really cared for one another, even if Chapter Eleven ran off. The 5-Alpha-Reductase gene carried through over 250 years of family history, only to show its face and true identity in Calliope. In a way, Calliope was doomed before she or her parents were even thought of, she didn’t know it. That random recessive gene paired with a matching one only to strengthen and carry the gene along further. Callie lived 14 years without a clue of her problems, even though it was obvious that everything was right with her during puberty. No period, no breast, a voice that grew deeper, and height that great larger. These things should have set off alarms, but they didn’t. Both Callie and her parents continued to go on about life without even paying any attention to the condition at hand. They assumed that things would straighten out on their own. I wonder what would have happen if Callie wouldn’t have been running away and ran into that tractor causing her to have to go to the doctor. Would anyone have found out about her condition? After finding out, she was treated at many hospitals and clinics with eyes of wow and disbelief. Not saying that it had never been seen before, but it was definitely a rare case that surely amazed the doctors and nurses. In front of Dr. Luce, Callie put on a cover that she knew wasn’t her. She knew she was in love with the Object and not the Object’s brother, even if they did share a sexual experience. She put on a front as to appear the way that she was supposed to appear. She was afraid because she didn’t want the doctor to find something that was wrong with her, but they did. That 5-Alpha-Reductase gene was visible and screaming for attention, which the doctors were sure to give. After the diagnosis was given to Callie’s parents, they still loved their daughter just as much as they did before. They wanted to help her in anyway that they could, but for Callie she knew being “fixed” as a girl wasn’t what she wanted. So, she packed her bags in her dad’s suitcase, leaving behind ever essence of femininity that she had along with a note for her parents. In her note she was clear to say, “I am not a girl. I’m a boy.” (Eugenides 439). Off there daughter went. Then comes Cal. Cal lives his life from here on out as a male. Cal had an opportunity to experience something that many people don’t get to and that is to live from sides of the sex spectrum. Cal has something special, the ability “communicate between the genders, to see not with the monovision of one sex but in the stereoscope of both” (Eugenides 268). After running away and living life in a new place, where people are unaware of the circumstances of his genetics, tragedy strikes. Cal returns back to where he started as Calliope and is accepted. In the end, the history of the family comes out and comes to an end. The family’s history and strength was what held the family together and Desdemona revealed that she and Lefty were brother and sister. It seemed that everyone in the family had some kind of secret or simply something holding them back. In the end, the story had to move on and all the secrets had to be revealed. The 5-Alpha-Reductase gene was in the family for 250 so years, 3 generations, and was the gene that kept the family together.

-Arielle K.

Cal-Book Three April 13, 2010

There are so many obstacles in life that so many have not even bothered to conqure. It seemed that Cal was more in depth that this was not the way that she wanted to live her life. Even in her early stages as growing up femine there was always something that made him different from the rest. Book three exhibited that from birth she was known as different, for example when the doctor examined her. “What did he see the saltwater musscle of the female genitalia, the area inflamed and swollen with hormones, he would have pulled the folds apart but he didnt because Nures Rosalee accidently touched his arm” (Eugenides 216) Infactuated by the way that this being was looked upon as some experiment goes back to book one when Cal states he was the guinea-pig for doctors. in the very beginning even Desdemona had a problem with excepting her grandchild being that she felt it was ways of the world coming to an end for the day cal was born lefty had a stroke and then during the baptism cal peed on the priest. It goes to show that many do not know how to except other people’s differences when noticed. Like a family memeber of mine was always looked down for having femine ways but as he got older and people got to know him and why he acted this way and that he was absolutely no different they began to accept the person that he was. Basically what is exhibited is that it takes people time to be accepted if anything. Lke when desdemona finally accepted cal realizing that they were more similar than different.

Esaay on identity Intending to use identity blog and more research

identity is the key to who you are no matter the difference.

Book: Middlesex

-Brittany m. thomas

Proposal

1. The essay topic i have chosen is the 5th one which talks about all of the topics we have discussed throughout the semester and combining them into one essay.

2. I will be using the information in some of the previous blogs we have posted, as well as expanding of some of the ideas in my detroit paper and the symbolism paper.

3. If anyone has any suggestions i am all ears and would appreciate the help, but for my thesis im thinking something along the lines of  “There are various elements of every individuals life that help mold them into their own unique person.  Reguardless if they are negative or positive elements, they play a significant part in the making of a person. In the novel, Middlesex, by Jeffery Eugenides, Cal’s family, society, and her family history are important elements that create the person she is.”

4. I was thinking about using the novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli to show the similarities of two characters that society may look down on them and how Stargirl deals with it.

Cal’s Constant Change

From the moment you open Middlesex you realize that this book is going to take you on an adventure. As you travel from each book learning more of the Stephanides family and how the main character Calliope came into the world.  You learn that she is not your normal kid growing up she is born as a hermaphrodite. Her family chooses for her to be a girl but later she finds out that is not what comes natural to her. Dr. Luce wanted to study Cal as a young girl and stated “that gender identity is established early on in life” (Eugenides 226). This is shown throughout the beginning of Cal’s life, because her mother gives her a doll to play with at a young age. Gender can be reflected on how you are raised as well. Gender is what traits a sex is given based on what is socially acceptable. Girls are taught to play with dolls, while boys are taught to play with cars and outside.  Gender is established early in life because it is something taught from birth and becomes an unconscious behavior to most.  Not only can things become a normal thing to do but sometimes it is chosen for you without your say in it. Cal’s family decides to baptize her and the meaning to her family is “in order to be reborn, you have to be buried first” (Eugenides 221). I feel this is foreshadowing Cal’s future event in her life on how she is going to be born again into a boy. But she still has to figure out how to bury her past; however she does not realize how hard it is to hide from her past because it follows her. Her past follows her because she is born as a hermaphrodite and she can’t change the face that she has female parts but has feelings for girls as well. She is trying to be born again and Clementine helps her learn more about herself. After she starts to learn about herself Clementine moves away but what she learned with her will always be part of her; her past with Clementine will help her discover herself as she moves on in life. Her old past is buried and she is reborn when she realizes that she has feelings for girls when she is in the locker room at school. Being reborn can relate back to Detroit it needs to bury its past first before we can become something new. Our past is following us in Detroit because we have not got over the racial differences in the city and this is why riots were caused.

Olivia

I’d like to use this in my final

Proposal:

I’ve chosen topic 3 part B which is Metamorphosis or change. I plan on tying the past/downfall of Detroit and Cal into how it is changing or has changed. I intend to use the movie we watched in class as well as To Kill a Mockingbird. 

Thesis:

The past is always part of who we are, it remains the same and is something that we cannot go back and change; however we can change the future by reflecting on the past. In the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides the main character Cal changes her identity and it can mirror Detroit’s ability to change as well.

Olivia Lewis

Proposal

For my final paper I am doing topic number 2 about Detroit, and how it relates to Middlesex. I am planning on using my blog post from Book 2, since it had much to do about comparing detroit and middle sex. I also plan on using my Detroit essay that we wrote for class. I was thinking about the thesis, and I thought of a rough one. “Middlesex vividly explained the city of Detroit, and also the character of Cal; little did they know the two are very alike in many ways.” Something along those lines. I wasn’t sure if we had to just use a journal article or if we could use an internet source? but I am going to use the book History of Detroit and Wayne county and early michigan: a chronological Cyclopedia of the past and the present.

This is the Source 🙂

-Caitlin Tefend

Farmer, Silas, and Silas Farmer. History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan: a Chronological Cyclopedia of the past and Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1969. Print.

Proposal

1-  Topic Number 2.  Comparing Detroit and Middlesex but in a way that there are many underlying similarities between Detroit and the issues the characters in Middlesex face.

2- I would like to use excerpts from my Detroit Essay, and my Detroit:People:Genes Blog

3- In a very figurative way, there are many parallels between the issues faced in Middlesex and Detroit.  By examining parts of the book, it is ironic how similar the problems that the characters in Middlesex face and the state of Detroit are.

4- Poremba, David Lee, Detroit: A Motor City History, Arcadia Pub, 2003. Print.

5-  So far, I haven’t gotten far enough to have any problems.  I’m sure there will be soon though!

Kristen Danyal

Book 3

“Gradually, as most of the other girls in my grade began to undergo their own transformations, i began to worry less about possible accidents and more about being left behind, left out” (Eugenides 285).  This really shows the breaking point where Cal starts to really come to terms with the fact that she is never going to be like the others.  She begins to see proof that other girls are changing physically, but she cant relate to anything because she is not going through the same thing.  She starts to understand that she will always be different than everyone else, which is the last thing she wanted.  Her worst nightmare her entire life was being out of place or the odd ball out.  That is something most kids fear especially when youre going through puberty because everything is so emotional and unfamiliar.  The only difference is that Cal has been deal with this all her life, which makes it worse knowing that it will most likely never go away.  For most teenagers its a phase that passes with time, puberty never lasts forever.  But for Cal, that feeling has remained with her her entire life and it becomes apparent and very upfront at this point in the book that she does not truly have any say in what her body is doing.  That would be the worst feeling being out of control in your own body.  And on top of everything, she does not have anyone to talk to about anything so she is all alone in her own messed up world.

-Breanna Perez

Proposal- Final Essay

Raymond Lynem III

Jenna Gerds

English 131

13 April 2010

Proposal

            The essay topic that I have chosen to write on is number 5, in which I will use material from both the Identity Narrative and also our essay about the city of Detroit. I plan to use sentences from the introductory paragraphs in each and also the second paragraph from my Detroit essay along with the beginning of the third paragraph in my Identity Narrative. I am not completely sure about my thesis statement but I want to use something that incorporates each different aspect into one. It will look like this “History is different for each individual; it can help to shape a person’s future while it also makes someone who they are today, Cal’s identity was formed by these ideas and experiences that history brought into his life.” I want to use an article titled “Theory Uncompromised by Practicality”: Hybridity in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex” by Debra Shostak in order to bring about different ideas of identity and gender.

Raymond L.

Maybe it’s just the way “boaters” are :)

Ok! So I used the word “boaters” in my post’s title because it’s a term people use these days to describe foreigners (at least the people I know).  All of my friends, which the most of them are Chaldean, and I  now use the word “boater” to poke  fun at our parents and their old fashion mentality.  I noticed somebody else used the quote I wanted to use, but I want to use it anyway because I found a different comparison to make when reading it.  As soon as I read it, it sparked a light bulb in my mind.  Cal says about his mother, “She never spoke openly about sex She never undressed in front of me.  She disliked dirty jokes or nudity in movies.  For his own part, Milton was unable to discuss the birds and the bees with his young daughter, and so I was left, in those years, to figure things out for myself.” (Eugenides 284). This is exactly what I mean!  According to a “boater’s” way of thinking, sex is not something to talk about.  People might say that in this day and age, people are talking about it now.  In my case, we don’t talk about it STILL!  I have never had the sex talk, I can never talk to my family about kissing a guy.  Heck! My grandma still tells me that I shouldn’t talk to my boyfriend on the phone for more than two minutes.  When I tell people I have a boyfriend, people always ask if my family knows about him.  Not only is this a known fact amongst Chaldeans, but I had straight up American friends who ask me if my brother knows about him.  I feel like I can relate to Cal about not being able to talk to your family about things like that.  I had to figure everything out on my own and a lot of it I did find out in high school from peers.  However, it was an unspoken thing among my family, that it was wrong, so I knew what to do and what not to do.  I also see this in Cal.  He knows that being a transgender is not socially accepted, even though he doesn’t talk about it to anybody, therefore he knows not to talk about it.  Overall, even though this book takes place a long time ago, I see so many similarities to situations today.

Kristen Danyal

Beginnings..

There are so many different aspects just from the start of Book Three that I feel could be discussed to examine the identity of Cal. That quote that stood out the most to me as it says on page 221, “I was dimly aware that this beginning was somehow indicative of the rest of my life. My family were around me; I was in the hands of God. But I was in my own, separate element, too submerged in rare sensations, pushing evolution’s envelope.” I feel that this quote helps to bring out the various emotions and thoughts that were running through her mind as she grew to become an entirely different person. I found the elements that were brought out within the same chapter to be of significance as well; the idea of hair and growth, along with the element of baptism that was forced into Cal’s growing history, and also the thoughts of shame and pride that she faced with other people. Calliope grew from infancy to a young girl and then into manhood, just as with hair, it grows and grows even though we can make changes to alter its appearance it is still the same hair. Cal changed who she was and hid under layers of different personalities and characteristics to keep others from knowing too much of who she actually was. I believe that Cal’s baptism was important in that it represents her Greek background and therefore represents where she has come from even with her sexual disoreintation. Milton was forced to let Cal be baptized just as Cal was forced to accept an identity she had not asked for. Lastly, Cal goes on to say in “Opa” that “What is it like to feel free like that? I mean my body is so much better than theirs…But I could never saunter around in public like that”. (pg.233) This quote shows the pride that Cal felt within himself towards those around him, that his body was made different but also better and that therefore Cal should be proud of who he was. Also it explains the fear that was felt if he were to make such a statement in public. Cal’s identity is complex and obviously very different from those around him but that is only his sex, everyone is this society experiences happiness, fear, joy and embarrassment but Cal’s emotions were hidden under things that one could not see.

Raymond L.

Final Draft Proposal

I have chosen to combine all the topics into one essay (Option 5). I plan to go about this essay talking about Detroit’s main divide in comparison with Cal’s divide within himself. I will transition that into hi process and confusion of his sex and gender. I’ll then compare how my family has shaped my identity lke Cal’s family raised him a girl and how it played a major role in his identity in his early life. I plan to put symbolism throughout my essay because there are pieces of symbolism in all the topic matters. I would like to use all my blogs (with your acceptance), my Identity/Origins essay, and possibly my Detroit essay (I haven’t decided it if will fit in or not).

Book: Early Modern Hermaphrodites: Sex and Other Stories by Ruth Gilbert

This book is about earlier hermaphrodites that we may never have known existed because it was always taken as a myth and never truth. It talks about the relationship between sex, sexuality, and gender in the early modern period.

Thesis: Jeffrey Eugenide’s novel Middlesex, touches on the most controversial issues of the past and today taking place in Detroit: Hermaphroditism and a the racial divide. These issues are similar due to the invisible barrier within the city and within a person. The symbolism throughout is presented in ways such as Hastings Street, 8 Mile, or the city of Berlin. 

~Alexandria Vintevoghel

proposal

1. Compare Detroit portrayed in Middlesex to real, historic Detroit.

2. I plan on piecing together information that I learned while writing the first essay of the semester about Detroit. I want to emphasize on how the two have more similarities than differences.

3. “Middlesex” by Jeffery Eugenides, portrays Detroit accurately through the use of vivid imagery, accurate descriptions, and historic landmarks.

4. Mason, Philip P. Rumrunning and the roaring twenties prohibition on the Michigan-Ontario Waterway. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1995. I would like to focus on more information about the riots and the rumrunning that Milton and Lefty were involved in.

—-sam laird

Essay proposal.

I am going to go with option 1 for my essay. But the way I plan to go about it is as follows.

Cal believes in science for his condition.
Desdemona would say it was God’s punishment for her and Lefty’s sin.
Some would argue that it is all a part of God’s grand plan, and that He had his own reasons.

I plan on arguing science versus religion on the sexual identity and gender front. While I wont be able to give a definate answer on which one is right, I will be able to shed light on both, seeing as how I come from a very strict religious background but also happen to be in love with the sciences.

I hope this goes along with topic one well enough.

AKA Borkowski

Middlesex: Book Three & Final Essay Proposal

Life isn’t always a bed of roses, especially for Cal in Jeffery Eugenides “Middlesex”. In Book Three of the novel, particularly in the last few chapters, Calliope begins experiencing the dreaded, awkward stage of puberty. At this point of Cal’s life, her identity begins to change both physically and emotionally. In the seventh grade her “previously frozen body” went through a “growth spurt of uncommon proportions and unforseeable consequences” (Eugenides 303) and she grew her hair utterly long that she seemed to hide behind like a diguise. Despite the “hopeful signs” (295), she had yet to develop breats or experience a menstrual cycle. At one point she was so upset that she “burst into tears of frustration and rage” (288). Of course many pre-teen and teenage girls long for these things, but Cal also had to deal with unwanted facial hair, being that she is a “genetic male raised as a girl” (304). Most readers become extremely sympathetic towards Cal because being that puberty is already uncomfortable as it is, she has to experience both a male and female phsycial changes. In the novel, she grows her hair extremely long, which turns out to be untamed and quite frizzy. As I meantioned earlier, Calliope uses her hair to hide her secret. She almost always kept her head down, with her hair covering her more masculine features, such as her “tinsel teeth” and “satyrical nose” (306). She even dreams of “someday living inside it” (306). Overall, she uses her hair to mask her insecurities that she can’t get rid of. Like many teengers, body image is a sensitive topic because so many are unsatisfied and embaressed by their phsycial features.

1. The essay topic I chose was #3D sybolism. I will be dicussing symbols used in the novel like Desdemona’s corset, Cal’s hair and Cal’s double breasted suit, to express transformation into womanhood, insecurities of purberty, stereotypical masculinity.

2. I was hoping to use the blog 3 (the part about Cal’s hair) and maybe blog 1 in my essay (Desdemona and Lefty’s relationship). 

3. Thesis statement: Jeffery Eugenides’ “Middlesex” uses sybolism heavily in his novel to express , like Cal’s untamed hair and Desmonda’s white corset, to represent the transformation the characters are experiencing at crucial points in their lives.

4. Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex by Elizabeth Reis- discusses how intersexed teenagers are confused and doubtful about what gender they really are.

5. I’m not sure if Cal’s suit is a strong enough use of symbolism for his masculinity. I kind of stuck when it comes to another object I can use for symbolism. If not the suit, I was thinking of using the silk worms? Also as I was writing my proposal, I felt like parts of it sounded like essay topic #1 (sex, gender, sexuality and/or body) and #3?

Danielle Harteau

Peer presure and identity. Hand in Hand they go.

Peer pressure, like nature and nerture, is one thing that I believe helps define us. Do we crumble when assulted with it, do we stand strong? It’s something that all of us have had to deal with, mutiple different times and on many different levels. And it’s through a late night battle with peer pressure that Cal finally realizes a part of his identity that he would have otherwise surpressed.

I’m talking about the night in the woods. With everyone drinking and smoking, Cal felt as though she too needed to fit in, and once the Object and Rex started making out, she felt the pressure to do so as well. But as she did, she began to realize that it was not Jerome whos flesh she graved, but the Objects. She began to have an out of body experience, and vicariously through Rex she acted upon her own wishes to be physical with The Object. When Jerome had finally started to do the actually deed, she realized through the pain that she was not a girl, but something in between. This thought was only fortified by her realization of “…how natural it had felt to enter Rex Reese’s body,…” ( Eugenides 375)

And although it is not an exact situation like this for some of us, we can all relate to the effects of peer pressure, and the effects it had on us as a person.

AKA Borkowski

Proposal

1) I am going to write my final essay on topic 2- A comparison of Detroit Portrayed in Middlesex and the real Detroit.

2) I might use some of the things that I wrote in my Book 2 Detroit Blog. I might also take some ideas from my Detroit Essay.

3) Thesis: Although the description of Detroit and the facts relating to it are very accurately recounted in Middlesex, there are a few things said about the historic city that are inaccurate or could be elaborated upon. Such as… (hopefully I’ll find some things, otherwise I have another thesis in mind).

4) I plan to use the book Detroit: A Motor City History by David Lee Poremba as a source for my writing.

-Jake Morse

A Kaleidoscope of Possibilities… *

 Though Cal was raised as a female – it makes sense he never had much in common with his brother Chapter 11, but then again he possibly wasn’t in tune with his masculine side… besides the fact he had a crush on the Obscure Object that was a female.

It seems as though the more Cal is writing his story (technically Eugenides is, but still), the more he is finding out about things that contribute to who he is and what everyone else was possibly thinking. He talks about his dad videotaping his birthday party and says that perhaps he should take a look through the eyes of his father.

The difference between us is that when I was younger, I never questioned anything about myself or my family. Of course we all may wonder what we’ll be in the future but I cannot recall questioning my sex or gender. When I was little I would see my brothers playing in the dirt and smashing bugs – I was so thankful that God didn’t want me to be born as a boy.

We are drawn to people we can relate to; hence the reason why I am not particular drawn to Cal. He was drawn to his College girlfriend Olivia because they both experienced hurt early on in their lives (Eugenides 319). We all experience some kind of hurt in different areas of our lives and so far, none of mine can compare to the pain Cal was going through. He (as a girl) had to read in class and when the redhead girl (Obscure Object) walks in he says, “But my mind had stopped paying attention to their meaning” [the words]. I wonder if at any point in his life he stopped paying attention to the meaning of his sex and just lived life. It’s almost as if he was living for everyone else. I think he saw his life through a lens of various colors… almost like a kaleidoscope. Sometimes it made him happy, and sometimes it confused him. He quoted a poem that related to the “galaxies of freckles hurtling and drifting to every end of [the  red-head’s] curved, warm-blooded univerese,” but I think it could relate to my kaleidoscope viewpoint.  “Glory be to God for dappled things” (Eugenides 323).

Quote of the day:

“The universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.” -Jean Houston

Lori E. Allan

 

 

Proposal

Final Essay Proposal

(1)  I’ve chosen essay topic 3. I want to use Cal as a metaphor for Detroit. If possible I would like to use a few other examples of people from the book and relate them to Detroit too. Milton, for example, grows a beard which is compared to the un-manicured lawns in Detroit.

(2)  I want to piece my essay on Detroit as well as my essay on identity. I think it would be good to relate aspects of myself to Detroit as well. Detroit is a part of my identity because I grew up here and I think it would be nice to tie in 2 different lives living in Detroit. Cal lived here a while ago and I lived here when things were changed. I want to talk about the then and now of people, city conditions, and more.

(3)  Middlesex was a metaphorical book that opened up different perspectives on things such as sex, gender, identity, and Detroit; because of this, it provokes the reader to stand in the middle of these topics and view them from different standpoints such as Cal and his relation to Detroit.

(4)  Sources I intend to use are:

1. Article: Is Anybody Happy in Detroit? By Walter Wasacz. It talks about how we view Detroit as well as how visitors view Detroit. It also talks about the blemishes of Detroit and also uses some information that Dean Vogel from the UDM School of Architecture used in a exhibition last year. I think is a good article to relate to Cal… how people who know him view him, how others view him and the blemishes he has faced.

http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/happy15508.aspx

1. I plan on using more sources…

Essay Proposal

For the final essay, I plan on writing about topic 5. Very rough thesis: “Family has and will always play a large role in who we become. The decisions of our families will effect us in every way as we grow up; good, bad, happy, sad.” I want to reference the book Holes, and briefly talk about how Stanley’s Great-Great-Rotten-Pig Stealing-Grandfather, prior to 100 yrs, is still effecting him and his family. I think I’m going to possibly use some information from my Detroit and symbolism essays. I will also reference back a lot to Middlesex–specifically to Desdemona and Lefty and their decisions to marry and move to Detroit.

Nayeli Garza.

Puberty Sucks enough even knowing what gender you are.

Puberty. We all went through it, lived it, hated it. But i think Cal has it a lot worse than we ever thought it could be. Today, kids in middle school have teachers and videos to give them the sex talks. Its just a more open topic. When I was in fifth grade we watched videos that explained everything. I had health class in sixth grade and eighth grade. Everything was laid out for us. Cal has nothing. Her parents wont even talk to her, on page 284 she says, ” My mother avoided bodily matters too. She never spoke openly about sex. She never undressed in front of me… Milton was unable to discuss the birds and the bees with his young daughter, and so i was left, in those years, to figure things out for myself.”

Cal has no outside help at all to know what to expect. And to make it worse, she doesnt even know what gender she is supposed to be. At least for us, even if our parents didn’t tell us or we ignored the videos and shut our eyes at the gross parts, we at least could see the changes. I was a boy. I could at least see that my dad had a lower voice and more hair than i did. I could assume that girls knew they would grow in the chest region and that those tampax commercials would become relevant. But at least for cal i guess it was a fifty fifty chance. That sounds awful.

For my final essay im doing the first research topic. I think it will lean more towards the genetic mutation and how it leads to intersexed individuals and how they deal with the mutations as well. I think im just going to write it all out, i dont really have any previous wprk related to this topic. For now, my thesis is : “In Middlesex,the main character Cal is an intersexed individual that experiences the daily issues and complications of her anatomy. Her mutation is not common be can be explained, as well as how she chooses to live her life before and after her rebirth.” Thats is still a work in progress. and you can tell me if it sucks you dont have to be nice about it. One source i have found is the website for the Intersex Society of America which has a lot of info plus books on the subject as well. One problem i can see coming is balancing the research material with support from the book. Is it like a 60/40 ratio between research facts and novel relation or what… So thats pretty much my only problem i see for now.

Tyler Staruch

Proposal

I propose that I will write my final essay.

1) I will do my essay on topic number two: Comparing Detroit from the portrayal in Middlesex to research on the city of Detroit.

2) I will consider using my Detroit essay for usage in my final paper.

3)Thesis Statement: The city of Detroit and the semi-fictional version of Detroit portrayed in the book Middlesex are very closely related and do not have very many differences at all. Middlesex provides the reader with a very realistic view on the history of Detroit.

4) I plan on using the book This is Detroit, 1701-2001 by Arthur M. Woodford. I will most likely base a portion of my research off this book.

5) N/A

-Jeffrey Senecal

book three and proposal

In book three of Middlesex, it concentrates a lot on Cal’s gender and identity. “In the film I lean forward and, Aeolian, blow the candles out. In a moment, they reignite. I blow them out again. Same thing happens. That was how our home movies ended, with a prank on my birthday. With candles that had multiple lives.” (Eugenides 227).  First of all i feel like this quote can mean a number of different things. The part where it talks about the prank on his birthday, i feel like this is sort of ironic because a  prank was pulled on his actual “birth day” by him being born with the genetic mutation. The joke was on Cal because he was the one that was being born with the problem. Everyone else did the bad thing by having incestful relationships, but then the prank was pulled on Cal when he was born into the world. Also another thing that i believe is important about this quote is that the candles had multiple lives. This makes me think about Cal and his gender issue between girl and boy, and how it flip flops. The candle is lit, and Cal is a girl, the candle goes out, and he is a boy. This is kind of how his whole life has been growing up. On one hand she wants to fit in with the other girls and she knows that it’s what her family wants, but then on the other hand she is going through puberty and becoming more masculine.  I feel like all through out Cal’s life it is one struggle between choosing what gender he will be most like on that particular day.

-Brittany Cifka

Proposal:

1.)The essay topic that I have chosen will be number 5.  I will use Middlesex as the connection between all of the topics we have discussed so far, Detroit, gender/sex, identity/family, and symbolism.

2.) I will use some of my first blog maybe connecting in  the reverse fairytale part of it in my paper somehow. Also I would like to use my second blog post about everybody trying to escape their past and how it relates to Detroit now trying to escape its past, and on how the past usually ends up catching up to us. I might want to use my gender and sexuality blog to tie in some of the things that i brought up in that blog with Middlesex.

3.) Thesis: Even though Middlesex may seem controversial, there are many aspects of it such as Detroit, gender, identity, and symbolism, that will all peice together and become a very important part of the novel.

^this sucks soooo bad.

4.) Identity and the Life Cycle, Volume 1 – Erik Homburger Erickson: psychology

      Handbook of Human Sexuality –  Benjamin B. Wolman, John Money: psychology

Essay Proposal

I have decided to do topic 1 and research sex, gender, sexuality and the body. In this topic I would like to use my first and third blog posts because they cover people going thorough changes and their bodies sending them strange messages.

Thesis:

Middlesex explores the ideas of sex, gender, sexuality and the body. In the case of Cal, she goes through many different changes that affect all of these topics as she searches for her true gender.

I plan to use a Journal by Robert S. Phillips that speaks about sexual orientation and how people figure out what sex they are attracted to.

I am having a problem wording my thesis and was wondering if you had any ideas.

-Jordan Houtby

Book3: Cal’s identity

Starting within the first ‘chapter’ of book 3 is a great paragraph that describes right off the bat who she identifies herself as at first. This Dr. Luce guy, uses one of their home family videos that Milton would shoot, particularly at family gatherings. “This was the thirty-five-second segment that, Luce insisted, proved out his theory that gender identity is established early on in life” (Eugenides 226). The previous quote caught my eye and then as I read on it states, “Dr. Luce showed me, to tell me who I was.” (same pg and paragraph). I took that as it was living proof to her that she did grow up as a girl and everything “girl-like” was forced upon her very young. The quote from the book that supports this is, “My mother handing me a baby doll. I take the baby and hug it to my chest. Putting a toy bottle to the baby’s lips, I offer it milk.” So no one yet has any idea about the changes later to come obviously, but this persuasion of her mother, handing her a baby doll and not a race car, definitely tells us more about the gender she identified herself with right off the bat. She was born a girl, or so they thought, and was clearly forced to play with girl toys. I also remember somewhere when she was dressed in all pink lace and fringe and just out right girlie. One other thing in Book 3 that I found ironic was when Cal (now a guy and in Germany I believe) was with Julie, their conversation about how she thought he was gay was interesting to me. I found it kind of meaningful that she thought that about him because of his previous gender and how she had no idea. It just made sense to me that she thought something completely different about him, but in reality did not know the whole truth. But then again it did say she has this happen with 2-3 other gay men that were attracted to her or something like that. Cal does not want to identify himself as a homosexual because it is not who or what he really is. Another gender identification that I laughed about at first while reading was, “He took Lefty’s order and winked. ‘And what’ll the Mrs. have?’ ‘I’m not the Mrs.!’ ‘You’re not?’ ” This I found funny because right off the bat this person is assuming Cal as a girl just as her mother did with handing her girl-like things. When she corrects him and tells him she’s not, this is where you could say “little do you know about what is to come of her future…” and she puts it out there and that made me connect the two, thinking that there is some change to come in her life.

Changing Bodies

Something that everyone has to deal with is their bodies changing over the years. Even though it seems that all the strange things that your body is going through, that isn’t the worst part. Your peers can be very judgemental, so what your peers think of you when your body is changing can be hard on a person. With your voice changing and your face breaking out, you can feel like an easy target to get picked on. Going through all of these changes makes everyone feel uncomfortable because we feel like we are the only ones experiencing it even though everyone is.  When Cal looked back when she went to camp and she compared her body to Jenny Simonson’s.  When she looked at her own body she saw “the flat chest, the nothing hips, the forked, mosquito-bitten legs” (283). However Jenny’s swimsuit swelled in ways like no one else’s did. Things like this can make a person very uncomfortable because even though it is something that we shouldn’t worry about. For some reason everyone worries about their look in some kind of way. When Cal compares herself to Jenny she struggles to see her identity of a girl because she looked just like everyone else, even the boys. Something people should consider when they are going through puberty is that everyone goes through changes at their own pace, and the worst thing you can do is compare yourself to someone else.

I would like to use this in my essay

-Jordan Houtby

Hormones begin to change

When examining Cal’s identity in book 3, the part that caught my attention the most is her interaction with her fellow classmates at Baker & Inglis. Her struggle to connect with the girls in the locker room is a good example of how her gender plays a roll in her socializing. It seems that with her inability to present herself normally with the charm bracelet girls in the shower, she can not share her identity with the rest of the girls. This is not uncommon with other teens. She, like many others, lets her differences with the other girls prevent her from forming any sort of connection with them. She hides her differences, therefore never allowing herself to fully present who she is and form an identity with her classmates.

Eventually, Cal’s identity begins to shift. She begins to have a sexual attraction with a girl in her class that she refers to as the Obscure Object. “On certain days, when the greenhouse was lit just so and the Obscure Object’s blouse unbuttoned two buttons, when the light illuminated the scapulars dangling between the cups of her brassiere, did Calliope feel any inkling of her true biological nature?” (Eugenides 330). The male hormones inside of her begin to come into fruition. Even though she identified herself as a girl, her male hormones had began to take over and shift the way she viewed and identified herself. Instead of going through a female puberty, she slowly began to experience emotions that a young male might have at that age. Cal’s love for the Obscure Object changed her identity to begin to have more of a male emotion base to it.

Nick Vecellio

The Kissing Game

     During the course of the book so far, the main focus has been on the early childhood of Cal while explaining the history of his family. In the beginning, “as a baby, even as a little girl, I possessed an awkward, extravagant beauty” (Eugenides 218). Calliope was a masterpiece comprised of all the right pieces. “No single feature was right in itself and yet, when they were taken together, something captivating emerged” (Eugenides 218). To the naked eye she seemed perfect, but beneath her skin was something having second thoughts (Eugenides 218). Cal was raised as any girl was lace, skirts, ribbons, ruffle dresses, pink, and all the other girly things, which Cal didn’t like (Eugenides 224). Her lifestyle was definitely that of a girl, whether she liked it or not. Every now and then the book jumps to present time to discuss what is going on Cal’s life. The changes with Cal began young, but they were unable to be seen with simply observations. I think that the change really begins when she moves onto Middlesex and meets Clementine Stark. The relationship between them was out of curiosity, but I feel it is definitely an important milestone in Cal’s transformation. I’m sure everyone has practiced kissing at some point in time, but the kissing between them evolved from that to more. With this kiss, Calliope felt everything else in the word going silent as their lips touched (Eugenides 264). However, Calliope knew something wrong with the situation because when she told her mom about her new friend, she didn’t mention the kiss. During their first experience of kissing, Clementine mentions to Calliope, “you’re the man” (Eugenides 265). It is ironic to me how her new friend, Clementine, is able to make this statement. I believe that this is the first obvious indicator or something taking place.

      The next part of the book begins to reflect on the physical changes that begin to take place within as Calliope grows older. At this time Calliope is still identifying with her sex and gender as a GIRL. As she grew, so did her beauty. This was apparent to all. She spent a lot of time checking herself out in the mirror. Calliope measured how girly she was by how pretty she was. Many teens go through periods where they try overly hard to make their selves look pretty, but more importantly feel pretty. Only problem she was having was the fact that her breast weren’t growing. It seemed that all the other girls where more developed than her and because of this she felt as if she was being left out. She still didn’t have any body hair like Beverly Maas’s. Up until this point, she felt that she was the IT girl, but once the other started developing and she stayed the same way, she realized she was no longer that girl anymore. Her mother mad it no better by laughing at her. I can understand how embarrassing that must be. She was already at a self conscious point in her life and her mother laughed in her face. I think a lot of young girls go through this period in their lives, where they are waiting to develop like the other girls. Puberty is the most awkward time for anyone, especially for girls.

      There was one thing that couldn’t be seen from the outside. “Two testicles squatting illegally in their inguinal canals” (Eugenides 294). As straighten her teeth with braces, the genetic predisposition was getting more crooked (Eugenides 294). What she thought she was changing and there was nothing she could do about it. As an 8^th grader she had a mustache and was nowhere close to the average height of a girl her age. She measured in at 5ft 10in. things only began to get weirder from there on out.  

      Cal has something special, the ability “communicate between the genders, to see not with the monovision of one sex but in the stereoscope of both” (Eugenides 268). However, even with this, it is clear that even after all the years; he still isn’t completely comfortable with the body he is in. When he goes away with Julie, he makes sure that they have separate rooms. He won’t even allow anyone to get close enough to him to the point of trying spend life together. It’s simply over before it begins.

-Arielle K.

I would like to use some of this in my final essay…

Once a girl, now a boy. April 12, 2010

When I think about Cal’s situation, I think a lot of the topic nature vs. nurture. “This was the film Dr. Luce showed to me, to tell me who I was. And who was that? Look at the screen. My mother is handing me a baby doll. I take the baby and hug it to my chest. Putting a toy bottle to the baby’s lips, I offer it milk” (Eugenides 226). That was the film that Dr. Luce used to prove his theory of gender identity. I think this shows a great relationship, again, with nature vs. nurture. Callie was treated like a girl and was taught to take on motherly persona but now that she is an adult she takes on the persona of a man. I agree that your environment has a lot to do with who you become and it’s interesting to see how Cal almost defies that theory as she grows older. She clearly resembled a girl when she was younger by her body and physical beauty. However, her attitude and personality is kind of brave like a man would be described. When the riots were going on little Callie jumped on her bike and went to go save her father. That is definitely something you would assume Chapter Eleven doing since at the time he was the man of the house. Even now when Cal is grown up she still takes on the same attitude. Grew up as a woman but the takes the personality of a man. I think Cal not knowing actually who she is deals a lot with not knowing which sex to take on. When it comes to dating she takes on the role of a man but has a hard time with it because of the “other half” of her.

Nayeli Garza.

Puberty…A Ticking Time Bomb

It all starts with a little thing called puberty. Everyone goes through it and nearly everyone hates it. It’s the start of something new and even scary. Boys hormones go crazyand girls develop in places that those boys’ hormones notice. But everyone develops differently at different rates. Callie, is what one would call a “late bloomer.” As she gets older, she notices certain features changing and some that are not. She’s getting more manly in certain places. Callie aquires a mustache, her voices gets lower, she grows to 5 ft. 10 in. tall as an eighth grader, and her hair becomes a previlent part of hiding her true self. Time has a lot to do with this. Everyone goes through certain stages or phases in their life usually during purberty.”-the last thing the hockey ball symbolized was Time itself, the unstoppablility of it, the way we’re chained to our bodies, which are chained to Time (Eugenides 294).” Girls usually go through the tom boy stage. Even though Callie has more obscure changes going on with her body, she’s not different than any other teenager going through puberty. It is the most awkward stage in a person’s life. Things are happening to them that sometimes inexplicable. Callie is still going through all of those strange changes just as time demands on everyone.

Being brought up as a female makes an impact on Callie’s developing (or lack there of) body. She’s aware that certain parts should be maturing that aren’t but is unaware why they haven’t yet. She sees it in the girls locker room comparing her unestablished figure to the girls around her. Even Tessie starts to get worried and schedules a gynecologist appointment for Callie. Sex and gender do play a role in who she is in one main way. She begins to find intrest in other girls, especially Obscure Object. This crush could be due to the all girls surrounding she is forced to be with. Over time, the lack of a male atmosphere can create quite an impact. Callie can’t really create a feeling for boys if they’re never around.

~Alexandria Vintevoghel

Would like to use in my final essay please

Beauty is always freakish

Calliope’s identity seems to reveal itself more throughout book 3. We didn’t really capture much about her life until this point in the book. She knows she is different. Her parents have brought her up as a girl; dressed her in girl clothes, and introduced her as a girl to others. She doesn’t realize that she is more than just personality different, her body possesses things that other girls do not have. However, she and her parents did an excellent job at “hiding” these features from the world. She just wishes someone would see her for who she really is, and not as something she isn’t. “Can you see me? All of me? Probably not. No one ever really has” (Eugenides 218). She walks out of the house as a girl, but beneath her visible face there was another, having second thoughts. She was no doubt brought up as a girl. I believe all of the questioning and self-consciousness started in middle school/junior high. She was around other girls constantly. Playing field hockey, going to lunch, and doing normal pre-teen activities. However, she has never been more self-conscious during this time in her life. She was exposed to other girls and their bodies when they needed to change after gym, and she found herself attracted, but sometimes not attracted. During her childhood, once she had moved, she found a friend, Clementine Stark. I feel she helped Calliope with her identity crisis. Clementine taught Calliope to kiss. Another girl. This girl helped Calliope experiment with things she was feeling inside her that nobody, not even her, understood. Little does Calliope know, she is just like any other kid. Kids are constantly changing. They are all indecisive. Every child hides behind a front that they put on in front of their friends. They are either tough, strong, scared, mean, pretty, or any number of other things. Calliope hides too; behind her hair. She claims her hair hides her from the world, and it hides her imperfections. So when her mother tries to remove this “safe zone” from Calliope, she is scared. Once she cuts her hair and fixes up her look, the next thing is her eyebrows, then a training bra. She is trying to be like everyone else. Isn’t everyone trying to be like everyone else? Trying to fit in? Her identity is changing day by day. One day she feels something entirely different than the next. One day she may want to look pretty, and others she just wants to dress down and be herself. I don’t believe that gender has much influence in your identity. A girl sometimes just wants to not put on makeup, and curl up in sweats and just chill for the day eating ice cream. A boy goes out with his friends and puts on an act, then with his girlfriend, he goes out on a date and just talks the whole night. Gender is just a placement in society, not a deciding factor on your life. Every person in life has someone who just “gets” them. For Calliope, during her childhood, this person is her mother. Her mother is always there helping her through it all. I feel Calliope would identify with anyone who understands her, because she doesn’t even understand herself. Every teenager searches for their identity. I feel this happens most in school. Everyone is trying to be strong and be everyone else. Nobody wants to be themselves, because they feel their “self” isn’t good enough. We cannot entirely know Calliopes identity until she knows her own identity. Others cannot know who we are, until we decide who we are.

-Caitlin Tefend

– I would like this to be considered for my final paper 🙂

buch drei

“It was like unwinding bandages” (319 Eugenides). Cal’s life is certainly unique . Since birth, Cal was believed to be of the female sex, however this isn’t correct. Cal holds a somewhat normal childhood, except for some significant events that occur throughout his life These accumulated experiences begging at a young age ultimately reinforce Cal’s gender. The stories of Cal’s past have effected him so greatly that he is reminded of them constantly. Before he grew a benevolent conscious that is filled with emotion, Cal goes through changes.

Cal was claimed a female at birth, but she went through physical and emotional transformations. At a young age Cal start to feel emotions for his friend Clementine Stark. When they were bathing together, they “experimented”. This event lead to Cal’s grandfather passing away, and planted a seed of mixed emotion that would grow, and change throughout his life. Once Cal started to mature he had sex with a friends brother, Jerome. Jerome,  didn’t  notice anything questionable about Cal’s sex, but Cal felt uncomfortable to say the least. Cal also feels emotions for Jerome’s sister, which further complicates  Cal’s gender. He starts to undergo changes in attempt to find his comfort level. Similar situations throughout Cal’s life eventually lead him to make his most recent transformation. His enviroment has molded his self-identity into a typical male gender, but finds it hard to hold a definite gendered position.  Everyday Cal is reminded of his true nature, which makes it hard for him to hold long-term relationships. He resort to traveling the world in attempt to outrun or “lose” his selt. These experiences are reminders that leave invisible wounds on his ego that he carries around.

Kevin cunningham

proposal

My paper is going to focus on how the different societies throughout Middlese, bring about certain behavoirs from the characters. I could use my last two blog post (not this one for book 3) because they are somewhat geared toward a sociological perspective. One of my sources is going to be “You may ask yourself” by Dalton Conely. My thesis statement is: (Society is constant shifting tide that manipulates the characters of Middlesex in many regards). I’m really not sure how to write this paper without summing up the whole story.

Locks of Lucious Hair

Calliope feels different than the other girls. She knows that there is something not right about her body or even maybe something within her. She just thinks that it is something small, something she will grow out of (a stage). One thing Calliope doesn’t know is that the factor different about her than the other girls is something beyond her imagination. As time goes on Calliope feels like she is changing in the wrong way. “But there were virtues to my hair. It covered tinsel teeth. It covered satirical nose. It hid blemishes and, best of all, it hid me” pg. 306. This quote shows how awkward she feels within her own body. She does little things like keep her hair long to sort of hide her face, which she feels has become unattractive. This is her way to hide her true identity, this also happens later on in her life. When Calliope becomes Cal, Cal uses his suits to sort of hide his insecurities also. Calliope is a teenage girl, she feels like the challenges she is going through are happening to every girl. In some way these challenges are occurring in her female classmates also. Their bodies are changing, their hormones are raging, and they aren’t sure what is exactly supposed to happen. She has no idea who she is or even who she is suppose to become. The sex/gender issue in my opinion never plays a role into her identity. She may have changed her clothes, friends, and careers. But she always knew there was something off, once she realized that her true calling was being a boy, nothing extreme changed. She always had fantasies of girls and liked things boys liked. Obviously being raised as a girl has a little impact, but not enough to completely change her identity. I do not think his/her identity will ever  truly become clear to us.

-Geri Gabrielson

Book 3

In the “Waxing Lyrical” chapter of book three, Cal’s identity seems to change quite a bit in respect to her physical appearance and the actions taken to respond to this change. After church one Sunday, Cal was informed by Sophie Sassoon that she was starting to get a mustache. Although Cal was not completely surprised by this fact because it was somewhat of a norm in her heritage, her panicked reaction showed concern for her image of womanliness. “A mustache? Was it true? Like Mrs. Drexel? I hurried to the bathroom to see. Mrs. Tsilouras was reapplying lipstick, but as soon as she left I put my face up to the mirror” (Eugenides 308). This point in the chapter seemed to indicate the beginning of womanhood for Cal. I feel that this point in Cal’s life was the most normal feeling she had probably experienced. The feelings that Cal had through this part of the text may not have been clearly and literally stated, but they seem to be very similar to what every other teenager, now matured to adulthood, has been through. I think it could be easily confirmed and agreed upon that every teenager has been through that certain awkward stage in their life. The stage that things which seem to be unnatural and unfamiliar happen to a young body. The stage that brings the most confident, self assured kid a sense of self-consciousness. The thing that I am referring to is puberty. I believe at this part of the writing, Cal began to show her first signs of puberty, and this is probably the thing that she has held most closely in common with all other teenagers in search of their identity. Judging by her own panicked reaction and support from other feminine figures, Cal’s decision to remove the hair as soon as possible tells me that she had began puberty and was turning into a woman, not a man.

-Jake Morse

Henry Ford’s Control Over Detroit and its People April 7, 2010

Henry Ford’s control over the city of Detroit originated in his complete dominance of the car world. But his power extended far beyond just the production of cars. Ford not only controlled each and every car that left his River Rouge plant, he also controlled each and every person working in that plant. As we learned through Lefty’s short stint in the Rouge Ford Plant in Book 2, Ford’s reached well into the personal lives to make sure all his employees reflected the correct image that he wanted portrayed.

In Book 2 we get a look into a first hand account of what it was like to be a foreigner trying to fit into Henry Ford’s perfect mold for an employee. It started with his night classes at the Ford English School and the pressing of Ford’s obsessions on others. “Employees should use plenty of soap and water in the home…The most advanced people are the cleanest” (97). Each night Lefty was subjected to a lesson in the new life he was supposed to be living. His old life was no longer good enough. To become an employee in the Ford infrastructure, he needed to adopt the American culture and adopt it immediately. And at the end of the classes, to “graduate” Lefty and all the other immigrants had to not only pass their tests on paper, they also had to pass a home inspection to make sure that all the Ford lessons were being implemented. If these tests and inspections were not passed, there was no job in the Ford plant and another person was brought in.

That was the strength behind Ford’s control–he had a thousand more men waiting to replace the first. A thousand men willing to adopt the life Ford wanted to get that $5 a day. And with this army of replacements Ford could demand what he did and exert his control over the city and its people.

E. Campbell

Detroit & Book Two April 6, 2010

Detroit was once a booming metropolis on the Detroit River across from Canada. That was the days of when Detroit was the home of Ford and the Rogue Plant. Ford was the workhorse that drove the city. People moved from all around the country, particularly the south, for a job oppurtunity in Detroit. Not many people were turned away as there was a surplus of jobs at the Rogue Plant. Ford could hire people and basically make them interchangeable parts. “Through the hanging smoke, Lefty saw other streetcars letting off other workers, hundreds and hundreds of gray figures trudging across the paved courtyard toward the factory gates. Trucks were driving past, and Lefty let himself be taken along with the flow of the nex shift, fifty, sixty, seventy thousand men hurrying last cigarettes or getting in final words – becauseas they approached the factory they’d begun to speak again, not because they had anything to say but because beyond those doors language wasn’t allowed” (Eugenides 94). The Ford Motor Company made people into lifeless, gray, robotic humans. They were trained to do their job efficiently enough to coincide with the tasks being performed around him. “Every fourteen secons Wierzbicki reams a bearing and Stephanides grinds a bearing and O’Malley attaches a bearing to a camshaft” (Eugenides 95). If this task took longer than fourteen seconds Ford had the power, and the supply of lifeless humans, to find the problem, get rid of the problem, and get a new person to take over to solve the problem. If one person worked too fast co-workers would take notice. “After the foreman had gone, O’Malley looked both ways and leaned over to whisper, ‘Don’t try to be a speed king. You understand? We all have to work faster that way'” (Eugenides 98). People didn’t want to work faster than they already had to, and so, made sure that everyone knew each others work intentions.

-Jeffrey Senecal

book2:another look

“Everyone who builds a factory builds a temple”,Calvin Coolidge(Eugenides 79). This statement was broken down during the selection of book 2. It simply means that anything that is made or created has had a meaning or a passion behind it.  I feel this quote sums up the entire feeling of Detroit. Detroit is a temple that was built and that has been continuosly  overlooked. The change and oppurtunity is there its just as if the city stays in a spot of no recovery where there is always room for. As though it is broken down when there is obviously alot of oppurtunity at hand. Division is also very controversial in the way that detroit is looked at. It is seperated by the people. Like in book two when cal felt more in common with a city that he felt was divided. The city just so happened to be in relation to detroit. Back then detroit had so many oppurtunities that no one knew about. Like factories stores, it was never abandoned like it is now. Some even find it amazing that the city was once a place that people loved to come to.

-Brittany M. Thomas

Book 2

In present day Detroit, most people only focus on the negatives, seeing a huge difference in how the city is today and the way it was in the 1930s; There were more people on the streets, maybe more high class places to shop, and there also seemed to be a lot less poverty because the industry in Detroit was booming and the job opportunities were much more prevalent. Having these thoughts in mind, many citizens and even authorities have ‘given up’ on Detroit. It is assumed that the future of Detroit is dark and it will be nearly impossible to turn things around. I think that the descriptions of the ghettos of Detroit in book 2, like when the streetcar seemed to cross an invisible barrier to where bricks were crumbling from structures and there was trash all around (Eugenides 141), give light to the idea that even when the city was not in times of extreme hardship, it was very similar to the way things are now. There are still very nice areas in Detroit, but in as little as a block, just as it is described in book 2, you could find yourself in a poverty stricken area that makes many people very uncomfortable. The idea that I am trying to convey is that all ‘nice’ large cities have areas of extreme poverty and always will; I see an unsung message in the writing that say no matter if times are not so pressing, as they were when the slums of Detroit are described in book 2 or if they are very hard as they are now, there will always be hope for a city that gave so much to the world.

– Jake Morse

Human no more

“Historical fact: people stopped being human in 1913″(Eugenides 95). Once the city started using the assembly line, everyones sense of uniqueness was totally eliminated. They were not able to really ecpress their opinion or talk about things that really mattered to them. They had no choice but to follow what they were being told to do because their fear of losing their jobs overcame everything else.  Its disheartening to know that they were basically treated just like the pieces of machinery, they had no say in anything and were expected to work on a clock. That was all that mattered.

This relates to Cal because in the same way those people were not allowed to express their true feelings about their jobs, Cal has to deal with the struggle of having characteristics of a male as well as a female.  He is not allowed to tell anyone or say anything about it because he is afraid of what people will say or think, which is a good assumption.  I could not imagine having to deal with a struggle that big and not being able to talk about it.That would be horrible to have to keep everything bottled up inside and pretend like you are someone youre not.

Both of these issues are very similiar.  Each one has a sense of secrecy and fear because everyone is afraid they will be looked down upon if they are to disobey any of the rules, whether it be the rules of their job, or the rules society has made for us.

-Breanna Perez

The family wheel

In Book Two of Middlesex, Eugenides seems to make many connections to the Stephanides family. He uses their new way of life in the city to form many descriptions of what  life would have been lie for many of Detroits residents. The Stephanides family had experienced many hardships both upon leaving their life in a small village and coming to the city. Lefty’s insistance to keep three seperate and overlapping insuranceson his Zebra room is a good example of how they had been through so many hard ships that they had began to prepare for the absolute worst case scenario, no matter how far fetched it might be. The younger generation of Milton hadn’t ” lived through a fire” and therefore didnt “know what happens” (Eugenides 208). Much like how Detroit was when Lefty had just arrived. Detroit was such a young town with so much promise and potential, yet it had not prepared itself for the worse case scenario of losing the power and population given to them by the car company, the destruction of the riots or the poverty of the depression.

Euginides also draws some similarities to Cal’s family tree and Detroit. In the begining of BOOK Two he describes the overview of the city as ” half a hubcap of city plaza with the spokes of Bagley, Washington, Broadway, and Madison radiating from it” (Eugenides 86). Similar to the circular shape of the city, Cal seems to describe his family in almost the same way. HE explains how cousins are more than cousins, Aunts are more blood related than an aunt traditionally would be. Cal gives his description of his family tree in a way that makes it almost equally shaped as his previous description of the city. It just keeps going around, with very little branching out.

Nick Vecellio

Detroit..The Great City it once was..

Within the novel there are many different sections examining history and comparing it to the present that once was during the time of the story. The aspect of book two in contrast with Detroit that I found to be most interesting was the bright light in which the city was presented. On page 88 Cal explains “In those days downtown Detroit was filled with shoppers and businessmen. Outside Hudson’s Department Store the crowd was ten thick, jostling to get in the newfangled revolving doors.” This brief description reminds me of so many other places that I have been whether in other states or simply other cities within Michigan, but not Detroit. The majority of downtown is seen as a slum, filled with slight attractions such as Cobo Hall and the Tigers stadium, along with homeless citizens and abadoned buildings left standing from our city’s troubled past. Sourmelina goes on listing sights like restaurants, shops, and theatres but not many of these places seem to be evident today. I believe that Detroit is filled with history and attractions that are overlooked by the more unattractive things that have given the city a bad name. A mayor concerned more about his own personal gain over the city’s, criminals that lurk the streets waiting for trouble, school closings and burnt down homes left for drugs and terror. Each of these things have taken place in a small, gradual period of time and the city will need much help to recover. The description of what once was Detroit is very interesting and good to see, but I also think that those of us who are here now must do what we can to make Detroit the attractive place it once was and proceed towards a brighter future.

Raymond L.

Detroit

On page 95 in Middlesex, the author comments on our society as a machine. “…we’ve all inherited it to some degree, so that we plug right into joysticks and remotes, to repetitive motions of a hundred kinds.”  This is obviously portrayed in the novel with the vivid description of the assembly line work, with every single component timed to the second. If one person  messes up the line, the entire line stops. The machine aspect is even showed outside the factory, where all the ford employees are assimilated and inspected to fit what their employer thinks is the proper lifestyle. If the key parts of the machine are not living the same, the machine again is not as effective.

Are we still like this in todays society? we dont have people coming to our homes inspecting us and shaming us for having a fly in the house, yet we do seem to have standards in how we live. Normal eating times, designated rooms for certain activities, and customs. We also have our daily routines and habits. We all watch television and go to video games for entertainment.  But i dont think this is from the machinery of the factory. I think we just naturally do what we are comfortable, and routines  are comfortable to us as humans. We are machines with or without the Fordism. We have our way of doing things, and that itself is machine like. But maybe we do have people inspecting our house and approving how we live, but they arent from Ford. When we have company over, we always make the house spotless, hiding imperfections and making sure everything is normal. So in a way its not really being a machine, its being normal.

Tyler Staruch

In the Presence of Death… Grow a Beard

 

Middlesex has a way of making you wonder about what exactly Eugenides is talking about. He says things so precisely and by analyzing something he said, you can denote your own meaning that may be far from his or a tad bit close – but to have any understanding at all will suffice.

In Marriage on Ice in Book Three, Jimmy Zizmo passes away and Eugenides writes:

“Because a person should never show vanity in the presence of death, Lefty stopped shaving and by the day of the funeral had grown nearly a full beard” (Eugenides 126).

I can pick apart this quote in so many ways and it confuses me slightly. It makes me think of Cal’s transition from female to male. They didn’t describe the transition thoroughly in the book yet, but it actually gives me motivation to read on. He no longer represented himself as female and it was basically the death of Calliope and the birth of Cal. It makes me wonder if he was vain once he was in tune with his male side as far as appearance goes and if he had any remorse for the person he once was. I know that further on in the book he states his insecurity with women and basically gets his pride back by  saying “leaving and never calling again – just like a guy.” Perhaps in the presence of Calliopes death, he grew a beard like Lefty did.

It almost seems impossible for Detroit to show vanity in the death of Motown and the amazing city it once was. It was once the fourth largest city and now the eleventh. Maybe if we had a good football team and perhaps a good mayor we would have something to boast about. Detroit has been pretty humble and has been “growing beards” – some of which have no option of being cut due to the economic downfall… it’s just too expensive. Perhaps the beards are the last thing Detroiter’s are worried about. They have homes being foreclosed and gangs controlling the area. Detroit is waiting for a new birth, just as Cal was. Until then, we do like Lefty did and perhaps what Cal did and hold off on narcissism in the presence of a loss.

-Lori E. Allan - (may like to use in final essay)

Detroit:People:Genes

It is quite obvious that Detroit is a melting pot of nationalities because of the great migrations and work people sought in the automobile industry.  However, this “melting pot” is greatly divided; it is one of the most segregated cities in the nation (this is including Metro-Detroit).  We label these places the east side, the west side, the ghetto, mexican town, china town, etc.  Along with these labels, we associate traits that people acquire just by living in these ares.  In the book Middlesex, Detroit is a parallel to the way people were labeled when arriving to Ellis Island.  “Meanwhile, chalk continued to do its work all around them.  It marked a Pg on the belly of a pregnant woman.  It scrawled an H over an old man’s failing heart.  It diagnosed the C of conjunctivitis, the F of favus, and the T of trachoma.”  (Eugenides 81)  Like how Detroit gives up on people due to their downfalls, Lefty and Desdemona saw this same act of classification just as they arrived to America.  Little did they know how is was a taste of what they had ahead of them.  Looking even deeper, little did they know about the way their bodies were tagging each gene.  And in tagging each gene, and labeling it as something for their body to decode, they would pass this gene on to someone else who will be greatly affected by one gene.  This gene is what is going to cause Cal to be judged and classified into a group of people called hermaphrodites or “freaks of nature”.  Overall, we see comparisons between the significance Detroit has as a place of being segregated and the way every character in this book feels as they take journeys in their life.  It is impossible to avoid these similarities and escape these feelings as they live in Detroit.

Kristen Danyal

The concept is the same.

When I think of Detroit now and how it was expressed in Middlesex, well I see no real change. Well, I mean a lot has obviously changed but for the most part I think the concept of Detroit has stayed the same. I think this city could still be described the same way. Detroit still has its ghettos, racism, immigrants, and factories. The city still shares the practice of numerous traditions and even has the same ideas of rebellion many face.

As far as tradition goes I think Detroit still has its families that practice the same traditions they would back home. The way Sourmelina and Desdemona were portrayed within the home, I think the same can be applied to numerous families. Just because immigrants come from all over to America doesn’t mean that they let go of their heritage. They still practice as much as they can. For instance, in my family the woman are still the ones who keep the house clean, take care of the children, and have food set on the table. That is the way Des and Lina were described (well not so much Lina but definitely Des). Also, the woman that wore headscarves in the book can still be seen in present day Detroit. I think a lot of the different heritages are still seen now as in the book.

When someone comes to America, they expect some serious change in their life. All over the city we can see men and women rebelling from their old lives. Lina, for example was no longer your average Greek girl. She was seen driving around when at the time woman were not supposed to. She wasn’t into the whole typical house wife idea. Lina was a beautiful girl who just wanted to enjoy life. I’m pretty sure the same can be said for many other people now. “Sourmelina caused a scandal when she returned from her room wearing a bright orange dress” (Eugenides 129). That was during the time that Jimmy was supposed to be dead. It was tradition that a widow wears black the rest of her life (I find that to be true in my family). But, since Lina was a rebellious woman she didn’t care.

Ok, fine I’ll admit there is some change from Detroit to now. In book 2, Cal says, “I love factories. I’m from Detroit.” I find that so interesting that Detroit was seen as a city of factories. Detroit still has its factories but they are definitely not as popular as they were back then. I don’t even know if Detroit can still be represented by its factories. I think it’s the coolest thing that all the old abandoned buildings used to be booming. The history of Detroit is definitely an interesting one. 

*I would like to use some of these ideas for my final essay, please!

Nayeli Garza.

Middlesex:Book Two

As I read Book Two of Eugenides “Middlesex”, there were several topics mentioned in his novel that were also mentioned in our class’ lectures and esaay, like Detroit. In Book Two, Desdemona and Lefty have reached their destination, Detroit, Michigan to escape from turmoil and war in their home country. It is clear that Detroit was quite different from where these two foreigners were from. For instance, Detroit’s environment seemed to be more crowded and culturally diverse, whereas the small village they were from, everyone knew everyone and were all the same. However, I have also notice that the city of Detroit had its’ problems back then as well. Despite the city’s “Cadallac Tower, the New Union Trust Building and Fisher Building”, Detroit’s housing shortages and segregation amongst whites and blacks were some of the “seeds of the city’s destruction” (Eugenides 88). Book Two also mentions the Depression that affected the city, which Desdemona could not discuss without “wailing” and saw as “manic depression” (136). It seems that Detroiters back then were suffering from the economy like we are today, such as the laying off of jobs. Like now, this affected everyone living in Detroit, one way or another. Eugenides “Middlesex” definitely shows readers that the city has always struggled to some extent. It is a shame that even throughout history, Detroit has suffered because it has potential to be a good city. Despite Detroit’s bad reputation, the city has promise. Overall, Eugenides shows us readers that Detroit seems to be suffering from the same problems as it is presently. I feel like this city keeps going through a continuous and unstoppable cycle of segregation, destruction and depression.

Danielle Harteau

What Past?!

In book two of Middlesex, Lefty and Desdemona start getting more and more comforatble with their surroundings. They are finding themselves adapting to the lifestyles of Americans and even learning the language. Lefty was even able to get himself a job at the factory with the help of Jimmy Zizmo. “The new country and its language have helped to push the past a little further behind.” (Eugenides, 99) Not only does this quote describe how Lefty and Desdemona are moving on with their lives but this can also relate to Cals situation. For Cal, he took up the job with Foreign Services so he could keep moving around and wouldn’t have to stay in one place. I feel like this really relates with the quote because being in Germany in like a whole new world to him. Nobody knows who he is or what his backround is like, and he doesn’t even speak their language to communicate. With moving all the time, he is able to push his past further behind with all of those factors. No one can judge him on his gender because they don’t know him yet. Cal is like a clean slate ready to make a new life for himself. “No reason to mention my peculiarities, my wandering in the maze these many years shut away from sight.” (Eugenides, 107) At this particular part in the book Cal mentions that he is going on his first date. This just clarifies that with this date he doesn’t have to mention anything. This pushing back the past is the same with Desdemona and Lefty. By them moving to America, nobody will ever find out that they are actually brother and sister. They just pretend that they are just like any other normal newlyweds, and it works for them. This is a way for them to push their lives back into the past as well. Now sometimes you just have to face the present and be able to live with the troubles of your past, but for right now it is okay for Lefty and Desdemona and Cal to have this new life that they are able to mold by themselves into exactly what they want to be percieved as.

-Brittany Cifka

considerable for the paper?

Another piece to the Machine

It seems that when people think of America they think that everything there is perfect, but they do not know exactly what to expect. In the case of Lefty and Desdemona, they had no idea what to expect when they moved to Detroit. The village that they came from was a very simple place where they knew everyone, and now they are in a huge city they know nothing about full of strangers. They were amazed by all of the new things that they saw there, such as the automobiles. However, Detroit was missing something that their old village had, individualism. When Lefty and Desdemona began their new lives in Detroit they became just another couple living in the city. One good example of this was when Lefty arrived at the Rouge for the first time, “Lefty saw other streetcars letting off other workers, hundreds and hundreds of gray figures trudging across the paved courtyard toward the factory gates” (94). That mass amount of people was no longer seen as individuals, they were seen as a blog of people who looked to be all the same, almost like machines. So once Lefty and Desdemona came to America, they lost everything that made them unique and just became part of the pack. When you think about it, there are factories just like the Rouge plant all over North America that will suck the personality of everyone who works in them. I guess you could say that in North America, people are not unique; they are just another piece to the machine that can be replaced faster than a blink of an eye.

-Jordan Houtby

Nothing is Hole.

Middlesex is a book all about divide. Nothing in the book seems to be hole, from a marriage that once used to be full of love, to a girl who feels more like a boy, and to two cities, each with a barrier dividing it in half.

Berlin is divided east and west, a physical wall separating them. Detroit is divided by race, a street representing the whites from the blacks, the “good side” from the “bad side”. 8 mile keeps the two from connecting, interacting, and mending their differences.

I think of of the best examples of this is Desdemona’s new job. There are so many aspects of it that I find so inthrawling, from the girls and their irresistible ears, to the fact that they are so ignorant to the truth. But the trip to the area itself is a great example. Des goes to get on the street car, and because of her broken english, needs help knowing where and when to get off. When she shows the address, she is asked repeatedly if she wants to go there, if she is sure she knows what she is stepping into. Even though she isn’t “white” she is not black, so the conductor can not ifnd out what she would want to do on that side of town.

And when she gets to that side of town, she even feels uncomfortable, gripping her purse tighter and walking faster down the street of grumbling, crowded houses. It is a totally different detroit than the side she knows.

But you’ve got to love when Sister Wanda starts grilling Des. “We got a problem. What you is?’ ( Middlesex 144) She wants to know if Des is white, becuase white and black can’t mix. Des doesn’t really understand what sister Wanda is asking, so she replies that she is Greek. Sister Wanda finally approves her though, deciding she is mixed enough to be only a little white.

And that just amazes me. For a people who wanted equality so much, they themselves helped build the divide. A divide that still exists today. Eightmile may only be a representation of the barrier, but that same barrier can be found within the hearts of most of the cities inhabitants. Its a city divided at its very core, and will continue to be.The city is like a mirror that has been broken many times. You can fix the pieces, but you can still see the cracks in its reflection, never truly hole again.

Detroit is two sided. Cal is two sided.

“Detroit was made of wheels” (Eugenides 79). Detroit in many ways is a two sided  city. It was booming in the early 1900’s, and then died off in the late 1900’s. It is separated between whites and blacks. It has the look of a true city, but the feel of a fallen one. Cal is also two sided. In book 2, Cal introduces the city from how he remembers it. He was a girl at this point in the story, so looking back he sees someone different. One of the beginning stories he tells is about his lunch date with his father atop the Pontchartrain Hotel. They were above the entire city, and his father was extremely afraid. Even though Milton was afraid though, he still made that day, a memorable one. He went through a brief “history less” with Cal. he showed Cal a few important things from atop the hotel. While the two remained looking at the city from the sky point of view, Desdemona and Lefty looked at it from a train window. They had come from Ellis Island, and made it to a city that was sure to be their home. Desdemona had cut off her immigrant braids in preparation of their new lives in Detroit. Lefty and Desdemona gazed at all the sights as the train blew past…However, these sights looked different than the sights that Milton and Cal saw at the top of the Pontchartrain Hotel. Although they were seen in a different light, “the wheels hadn’t vanished at all, they’d just changed form” (Eugenides 81). I feel this quote sums up the entire feeling of Detroit. When Cal and his family first moved to Detroit, it was a city of opportunity. Little did they know, later during their time in Detroit, things changed.  Outsiders come and look at the city, and all they see is garbage, ghetto, and a city that failed. Others, who have lived here for a long time, see it as a city with potential. A city that was once thriving, and now cannot seem to get back on its feet. It all has to do with perspective. Cal is perceived as a boy in some cases, and a girl in others. Detroit is seen as good in some instances, and bad in others. The two complement each other.

As present in book 2, people and things are not as they seem. Take the accident of Jimmy Zizmo in the lake. Everyone thought he was dead, but it turns out he was far from it. Everyone thought that Detroit was the new up and coming city, but it was definitely far from it. In the beginning, Detroit seemed to be everything everyone ever wanted. Then it took a downfall which is what we see now. “Over the years, black bottom, for all the whites’ attempts to contain it. Laws of poverty and racism would slowly spread, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood until the so called ghetto would become the city itself… By the 1970’s, in the no-tax-base, white-flight, murder-capital Detroit of the Coleman Young administration, black people could live where they want to” (Eugenides 142). This is the sum up of Detroit today. 

-Caitlin Tefend

like to be considered for my final paper.

Detroit Renaissance Phoenix

          Book Two tells a lot about the city of Detroit and it is told from two perspectives. To begin with, book two tells how Detroit was made of wheels long before the days of Ford. It begins with the more recent display of Detroit. This is told through Cal, when he was nine and still a girl. He reflects on a day he spent with his dad in the city. Her dad had offered to take her anywhere she wanted. She picked “the top of the Pontch” and dad kept his promise (Eugenides 80), so there they went. The Pontch that Cal referred to was the Pontchartrain Hotel. According to the website for Detroit hotels www.emporis.com, this hotel was built on the site of Fort Pontchartrain, Detroit’s first permanent European settlement in 1701. It was later known as Fort Detroit. The Top of the Pontch, 25 floors high, is the top floor that has a 6,500 square foot ballroom. Renovation for the Pontchartrain Hotel began in 2007 and cost approximated $35 million by the time of completion in 2007 (www.emporis.com/appliction/). Cal goes on to explain how looking out the window from the top of the Pontch, the city below him made a design of a hub cap. “And there it is: half a hubcap of city plaza, with the spokes of Bagley, Washington, Woodward, Broadway and Madison radiating from it” (Eugenides 80). This ties back into how the beginning of book two, the narrator says that “Detroit was always made of wheels” (Eugenides 79). After the fires of 1805, Chief Justice, Augustus Woodward, used baroque styled radial avenues and Grand Circus Park as his outline for rebuilding the city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_B._Woodward). Each wheel in the design was to “separate yet unite” (Eugenides 80). The motto of Detroit is “Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus”, which means “We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes”. This motto was made after those fires of 1805 when the city was basically burned down. The fires wiped the city out and had to build back up. The motto represented that even with the fires, a better life and city is in store. The fired caused for a re-birth of the city of Detroit. It is also interesting how the city of Detroit is also known as being the Renaissance city. Renaissance is French for re-birth. There are many places throughout the city that use the word Renaissance is some way. There is a building downtown named the Renaissance Center, the top Detroit Public School is named Renaissance High School (which I attended), and there is even a bowling alley named Renaissance Bowling Center. The mascot of Renaissance High School is the phoenix, a mythological bird that when the end of its life is near will ignite and burn to ashes to be reborn and live again. This magical bird can rise from the ashes and the city of Detroit believed it could too. The city of Detroit is the phoenix and after the fires of 1805 it would rise and be reborn.

-Arielle K.

I would like to use this in my paper.

Crossing the Invisible Barrier April 5, 2010

For all contraversial situations, there is a divide. For Cal/Calliope, it’s gender. And that’s why he so easily relates himself to Berlin which is a city of divide. Berlin is much like Detroit. For the city of Detroit, that divide is 8 mile. Although, back in Desdemona’s days, it was Hastings Street. Nonetheless, the 2 streets are very similar. On one side are the whites and on the other side are the blacks segregated from everyone and everything. That barrier is what seperated Detroit from the early 1900s on to this day. The south side of 8 mile is a place where white people don’t feel comfortable. They lock their doors while driving through, roll the windows up, and turn down the radio. For Desdemona, crossing Hastings street gave off the same tension. “At that moment every passenger, all of whom were white, performed a talismanic guesture. Men patted wallets, women refastened purses…Desdemona, noticing this, looked out to see that the streetcar had entered the Black Bottom ghetto (Eugenides 141).” Hastings Street was the prime African American area and Desdeomona figured that out very quickly when she looked out the window of the car. Dispair filled the neighborhood and it could be felt just by crossing a road. Even as an immigrant, Desdemona feels as if she is better than the blacks. ‘And then’-hand to heart-‘then they make me go to work for those marvos! Black people! Oh my God!’ (Eugenides 136) She can hardly speak English and is brand new to America but already feels like she should be above the blacks. In present day Detroit, 8 mile is still known as the divider. Everyone knows the story and some still live by it. From my own personal experience, my grandfather won’t come to my one and only home track meet because it means crossing 8 mile. And that he will not do.

There is still a sense of despair that hangs over the south side of 8 mile. The buildings show it and so do the people. The litter, the graffiti, abadoned and burned down houses, the homeless walking the streets, give it away that Detroit is definetly a city of ruins and is in need of all the help it can get. By the sounds of this novel, Detroit has been this way for a while.

~Alexandria Vintevoghel

Would like to use in my final essay

Do you know where your at?

Detroit is a segregated area. Detroit has always been a mixture of many different types of ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds. Most of these different people fled to Detroit because of the surplus of jobs that the assembly line opened up. This overwhelming migration of people towards Detroit changed the city as a whole. Riots broke out amongst the different “types”. The city made a turn for the worst. Certain parts of Detroit were left untouched by the crime flooding the city. Other parts couldn’t help but become consumed with the poverty and crime. When traveling through the city, making a wrong turn may put you in a completely different part of town. Desdemona experienced this when she was traveling to a job location. “There was no roadblock, no fence. The streetcar didn’t so much as pause as it crossed the invisible barrier, but at the same time in the length of a block the world was different” pg 141, this quote explains a particular barrier, line, or even boundary where a place can go from being very familiar to extremely unfamiliar in a blink of an eye. This “barrier” mentioned could be related to many different things throughout the book. As I mentioned above, Detroit is the main figure. Back then and still to this day Detroit is extremely closed off in certain areas. There are neighborhoods where you know you have to watch out and others you can relax. This boundary is invisible, but it also sort of stands out in a precise way. This can be related to the boundary Cal feels. The boundary between boy and girl, or even the boundary of what is right and what is wrong in his eyes. Another boundary is the boundary Desdemona feels she has over stepped. She has committed incest. Throughout the entire book she feels as if she should be punished for her actions. This boundary is something she lives with the rest of her life. Boundaries either within Detroit, Cal, or Desdemona always seem as if they are going to live with them for the rest of their lives. Will they ever be able to overcome these boundaries and allow the idea of change?

-Geri Gabrielson

Furdy in the boro

At times Middlesex seems to be geared toward the more personal emotions of its characters. However, I can’t help but ponder about  the character’s experiences in a larger context of their new home. Sometimes when I take sociological perspective on this novel, it gives me a better understanding of what really is really going on. For instance, when Lefty gets a job at the Rouge factory in Detroit, the author makes a stunning statement ” Historical fact: people stopped being human in 1913. That was the year Henry Ford put his cars on rollers and made his workers adopt the speed of the assembly line” (Eugenides 95). However the Rouge factory did more than manufacture cars. When workers entered the Rogue factory they were transformed into mindless humans that carried out redundant tasks within the assembly line. As the laborers worked arduously, they were watched and observed to ensure optimum efficiency. Outside of the Rogue factory, the workers were forced to conform to the “American Norm” which was enforced by clients of Henry Ford. Lefty was visited by these clients of  Ford, and was basically discriminated for his cultural differences. With little choice but unemployment, Lefty conformed for the most part, which became obvious at the Melting Pot Ceremony. In a sociological perspective it is safe to say that Henry Ford nearly enforced a “total institution” on his workers. An example of a total institution would be the military for instance. Henry Ford’s policies made his workers maintain hygiene, eat certain food, wear specific clothing, and maintain an expected standard of living. All in all I believe that Lefty, Desdemona, and their family experiences’ in Detroit can be well understood by taking a look at the society as a whole. But in my opinion, society can be really stupid sometimes.

Kevin Cunningham

Detroit has fallen and cannot recover

As Lefty and Desdemona progress throughout their story it starts to unfold as they move to Detroit, MI. They move in with Lina and Jimmy Zizmo and adapt to their new lifestyle just as they leave their past behind. Lina and Desdemona happen to both get pregnant the same exact night and are both expecting their first child. Lefty knew that he needed to find a new job after he was fired from Ford’s plant because his Sociological Department did not approve of Jimmy. During the five dollar days Ford made the workers into robots that could work and try to live up to a certain standard. He expected so much out of them and gave them no more than a wage in return. As workers shuffled out each day “they descended out of the America of factory work and tyrannical foremen” (Eugenides 132). Ford was a dictator in his factories and did not accept less than the best of the best. He did not accept Lefty because of the people he was living with which was unjust.  So as that door closed another opened for Lefty and he decided to help Jimmy out in his illegal work of rum running during the prohibition period. One evening Jimmy has a meltdown while driving on the frozen lake; Lefty escapes the car but Jimmy got stuck in a soft spot and “a loud crack, followed by a scintillation spreading underfoot, as the Packard hits a dark patch on the frozen lake. Just like ice, lives crack, too…Because the ice is screaming. Zizmo’s front wheels crash through the surface…and, with a shower of sparks, everything goes dark” (Eugenides 125). I believe this is foreshadowing what is about to happen to Detroit. There are several small cracks in the city and the pressure of the city causes a large crack which consumes the city. The pressure of blacks and whites trying to live within the same city when there is tension between the two races. Causes the city to fall through the large crack and is drowning in its own water. As time moves on, “the ice had refrozen during the night and a few inches of new snow had fallen” (Eugenides 126). Furthermore, the city is just looked over because the lake freezes over the chaos. If everyone just looks over the problems and tension in the city that is building up; how can there be change? If the people of Detroit are not willing to help solve the problem, what makes other people willing to help? The tension of African Americans moving into city filled with whites is being masked by its own citizens, until the ice breaks and does not refreeze. As stated by Eugenides the low class area of Detroit was called, “Black Bottom, for all the whites’ attempts to contain it- and because of the inexorable laws of poverty and racism- would slowly spread , street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, until the so-called ghetto would become the entire city itself” (142). As the migration of African Americans moved into the city the whites moved into the suburbs. When most of the citizens moved out it caused an economic quicksand; dragging the poor in and sucking them under unable to escape the wrath of the city. Even the white citizens felt like they were being pulled under, not by the city but because of the African Americans. In the book Desdemona was at a shop and the clerk would not take change from an African American customer and told them just to leave it on the counter. Detroit was in bad shape before the laws of segregation, and even now many people have assumptions about the different ethnicities living in and around Detroit. Detroit has fallen into a hole and has never really come out of it. It just gets shrugged off and ignored but now is the time to step up.

Olivia Lewis

I would like to use this in my final paper please =]

The issues of family secrets March 29, 2010

As a young adult there are a lot of struggles when finding your identity, during this time of life young adults are discovering who they are, what they are interested in, and what they want to do with their lives. They spend the first few years of their lives trying to discover themselves by exploring many pastimes and hobbies. While, exploring their interest, they soon discover certain strengths and talents that they did not think they have. As adulthood begins, they are faced with a lot of trials and errors in their life due to lack of experience in dealing with the world. However, issues with identity might take a while for some due to personal issues as discussed in the novel Middlesex. Some adults might find it difficult to cope with who they are as a result of family secrets and may feel like they do not belong. In the novel, the main character Cal, discuss the issues of biology vs. culture as he face, concerning who he is. “I was born twice, first as a baby girl on remarkable smog less Detroit day in January of 1960: and then again, as a teenage boy: in an emergency room near Petoskey Michigan in August of 1974(Eugenides 3),Cal describes himself as an intersex person who grew up as a girl but, indentify himself as a male. Cal grew up like a normal child in a loving family but, face a problem with his gender due to a certain secret of his family past. While discovering himself, he has to deal with his gender deficiency, due to the union of his grandparents, who are siblings as well as third cousins. It is very hard for him to deal with because society has negative views on incest relationships and intersex individuals.He is forced to feel like a misfit because of his biological being as a result of being different. As you notice in the book, Cal has trouble maintianig close friendships with individuals outside his family because, he does not want people to know who he is. He figures if he does not have a close with others, he does not have to fear rejection Because of Desdemona and Lefty relationships and sexual encounters, caused genetic deficiencies to be passed down form one generation to the next, effecting their gandson. DMMullen

Thrid cousin, brother, mother, whats the big deal!?! March 25, 2010

okay, first off I have to say that I am not really sure if I am even writing on the right topic right now. Secondly, I do not even know how I feel about the topic. But I feel it needs to be touched on, so yeah. =]

As I read book 1, I found it really hard to stay focused on anything other than Lefty and Des. I kept skimming the pages until they were on the page again. For one reason or another, I found it all to be one of the most romantic things I have ever read. Do I agree, no, maybe, probably not. But then again, it was a different time and a different culture.

Someone else said that they interpretide this as being a burden. That their whole relationship was a burden on the two. But here is where I strongly agree. While I don’t think it was right, I think their love was true. The emotion the pours out of their actions proves it.  “At first they just hugged in the standard way, but after ten seconds the hug began to change; certain positions of the hands and strokings of the fingers weren’t the usual displays of sibling affection, and these things constituted a language of their own, announced a whole new message in the silent room.” (Eugenides 39)

So I don’t agree, but I don’t judge. Love is something that can not be controlled, nor surpressed, and I don’t see it as being right to judge sometyhing pure and true as wrong.

and again, I don’t even know what I am supposed to be writing about right now, but that was my biggest thing with book one.

So there ya go!

A.K.A. Borkowski

Keeping it on the Hushhh!

Although we live in a very ethnocentric country, we still find traditional value in the way we are taught to act growing up.  Specifically with our sexuality, we are told to keep it very private.  Again, this stems from a very traditional mindset.  It also may be because of the fact that America is such a melting pot of cultures, who are infamous for tradition and ethical value.  This outlook parallels the one highlighted in Middlesex.  Throughout just the first quarter of the book, we are constantly reminded about how everyone needs to be socially correct.  Of course this book takes place in the earlier 1900’s, so it may be a little more justified.  We are introduced to the oldest generation the book mentions in the first quarter of the book, Desdemona and Lefty.  The two are third cousins, and at the same time brother and sister.  Due to the circumstances of living in a village with such few women for Lefty to mate with, having to mate with the same kind, and his duty to find a god girl, he finds eyes for Desdemona.  Desdemona, in the same predicament –having such minimal choices to find someone to be with, having to take care of her brother as she promised her mother, and always being with her brother– Desdemona grows fond of her brother.  The two constantly lock eyes and feel heavy near one another, but they must keep it down low because people would not accept it.  “At first they just hugged in the standard way, but after ten seconds the hug began to change; certain positions of the hands and strokings of the fingers weren’t the usual displays of sibling affection, and these things constituted a language of their own, announced a whole new message in the silent room.” (Eugenides 39)  So many times, we catch Desdemona and Lefty having these encounters where they know they must separate themselves because it “isn’t right”.

Going back to how things parallel, a lot of times we are told to hide our sexuality.  This becomes a great problem especially with the rapid growing gay population.  A lot of times, people who are gay are told to keep things on the hush, because of the negative effects it can cause them.  They can be shunned by family members, religious organizations, employers, etc.  Behind closed doors gay people will be who they are, but even sometimes then they find themselves holding back constantly trying to tell themselves their feelings are wrong.  In all, we find that a lot of the problems, even though they are not exactly the same, from now and then are very related.

Kristen Danyal

The Acceptance of Change

There are many different hard ships that we as people face every day and also throughout our lives, both accepting what others do and seeking the acceptance of others can be considered as one of those many hard ships. Within book one the idea of change is presented right away by Cal as he reflects on his past in which he states “I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974″( Book 1, pg.3) . Change was inevitable for Cal and whether or not society agreed it was a necessary decision that had to be made. Society forms its own opinions towards every type of person regardless of race, sex, gender and or background. The issue that is brought out in Middlesex helps to show the fear and hope for acceptance from people that have been labeled “different”. Cal did not choose to be born in the position that he was given while his parents knew the possible consequences from the decision they were making to have a child. Desdemona and Lefty were two normal people with two very normal lives, Lefty is an example of a guy who found pleasure in one night stands and could be seen as a more care free person. Desdemona in contrast seems to think a little more about her choices and where they will eventually lead. Lefty and Desdemona find what they think to be love in each other as third cousins and soon face a world in which they are shunned from society. Biologically their decision was wrong as well as culturally and as a result they flee to America to recreate themselves but the problems do not stop there, but later continue when they have a grandchild born with a sexual deficiency. Even though they may have ran from the original problems they faced things continued on with their own grandson, they had failed at their own acceptance and felt as though Cal would have to deal with a lifetime filled with the same battle.

Raymond L.

Hi i’m Caliope, opps! I mean Cal….

In life, people often get confused about their identity. They seek to “find themselves” and make significant changes in their lives to become the person they wish to be. Personality and identity is easy enough to change, however, what about your gender? Gender is not easy to change. You’re either a girl, or you’re a boy, sometimes, you’re even both. So what if you were a girl, and were meant to be a boy? That procedure isn’t as simple as changing your clothes, or talking in a more sophisticated way. In the book Middlesex, we come face to face with the situation of gender and of a hermaphrodite who wants nothing more than to just be normal. The book faces issues of incest, gender decisions, and problems within a family.

                The main characters in the book are Desdemona Stephanides, Eleutherios Stephanides, Tessie Stephanides, Milton Stephanides, and Calliope Stephanides. Calliope is the character who has gender issues. She claims to have a male brain, but was assumed to be a female. She states that she will be “reborn.” Being a hermaphrodite causes her great shame later in life, and now looking back on how it all started, she notices her fate early on before she was conceived. Her gender is in trouble, and she is not sure how to escape it. “I was born as a girl….and then born again as a teenage boy” (Eugenides 3). She eventually realizes that identity is easier to change than gender. She isn’t just as girl; she has the mindset of a boy. Her parents Tessie and Milton wanted so badly to have a girl. They try everything in the book, even down to Milton convincing Tessie that male sperm are slower than female. They are so desperate to feel the joy of a girl that they try everything and anything to make sure that a baby girl is in their future.

 

-Caitlin Tefend!

ps- i would like this to be considered for my essay 🙂

You’re gorgeous, and my sister

First off, i do have to say that although this is possibly the weirdest book ive ever read, i find in so interesting.  The elements in this book are so unfamiliar to my life yet it sucks me in because i want to know more.  Obviously i was quite thrown about the whole hermaphrodite thing, but more than that, the relationship her and her brother have is so twisted but so understandable.  Just as in their culture, it would be looked so down upon if we were to see each other as more than just siblings. I dont have a brother, but i can only imagine how close we would be if i did.  Im sure he would know me better than almost anyone and for that i would love him.  So i completely understand how Desdemona and Lefty fall in love, but it seems so surreal to me.  Especially when they sleep together for the first time and he watches her undress, i admit i was alone and reading it made me feel uncomfortable lol. i cant imagine doing anything like that. But then again, they are not thinking about that, they are trying to make a new start and see themselves in a different way. “Desdemona saw herself through new eyes, her thin waist, her plump thighs; she felt beautiful, desirable, most of all: not herself”(Eugenides 70).  That quote perfectly describes how they try to shed their old lives to build new ones. They both know that they want to be together, so they create a totally new story to make their own fairytale.  Its very moving, if you ask me.  Not that i necessarily agree with it, but nonethelss.

-Breanna

Incest was the norm

As we grow up most go through a stage of feeling like a tomboy even if you are a girl or vice versa. Imagine what it would be like living your life feeling like you are trapped in your own body. You feel as if you should really be a boy but you are a girl. In the book Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides the narrator, Calliope of the novel is a hermaphrodite and was stuck in this situation in her life. She was born with both parts and the parents chose her to become a girl. It turns up that she feels she is more of a boy and changes her identity part way through her life. “I was born twice: first, as a baby girl…and then again, as a teenage boy” (Eugenides 3). The narrator then goes on to tell us about her family’s past and what lead to her birth. She goes back to talking about her grandma Desdemona and grandpa Lefty and how they were raised and eventually moved to America. Their parents died at a young age and Desdemona was left to take care of her younger brother Lefty. Her mother told her “‘Take care of Lefty. Promise me. Find him a wife!’ … and Desdemona, through her tears, replying, “‘I promise. I promise!’” (Eugenides 23). From that day in she knew it was her responsibility to take care of him and find him someone to marry. Lefty was not into following the rules that their parents would have liked and Desdemona tried changing that. He went into Bursa almost every evening to gamble and sleep with different women. Desdemona tried hard to find him a wife within the small village where they were living but Lucille and Vicky did not suit his needs. Lefty soon changed his ways and realized that his best friend, who he was raised with, was who he wanted to marry his very own sister and third cousin, Desdemona. Now this may seem very odd to do but you have to think of the time period they were in. Back in the day the royalty would marry within the family to keep the same traits. It was not much of a bad thing to do back then and I believe that is a main reason why it happened in the book. Compared to now if someone marries their cousin it would be really creepy but it has to do with how society has changed. Gay marriage never used to be much of a thing of the past but now most are about protecting gay rights. Nobody back then probably would have ever thought that it was going to be as accepted as it is today. This is the same thing with marrying within the same family even if it is your own brother. It is weird to us now but if the people of the past could look forward at the type of things we do they would probably say what are they thinking? Even if Desdemona and Lefty questioned how to act in public because they knew they were related. The new town they went to, to get to America never knew that they were brother and sister. As they reach America and then later on Detroit the only people that will know that it is incest are their cousins. All in all, incest was more normal back then and should not be taken as strongly today because of different time periods.

Olivia Lewis

I would like to use this as part of my final essay please 🙂

It’s just wrong. :/

Incest is one topic I have never really thought of before and now that it is brought up, it really interests me. It is one of the most disturbing things I have heard about and I never really knew how it could effect someone. “You’re not only my sister. You’re my third cousin, too. Third cousins can marry.” “You’re crazy Lefty.” “This way will be easier. We won’t have to rearrange the house” (Eugenides 39). This quote is I believe the first one to blatantly say that there is an emotional and physical attraction between the two siblings/third cousins. Desdemona, throughout the first two ‘chapters’ of Book 1, gets these feelings deep down inside of her that she cannot explain. I feel that those feelings deep down inside of her are just foreshadowing what is going to happen between the two of them. Incest between siblings is said to be the least harmful form, but I think that any incest or sexual abuse in anyway can mess with someone’s head just as much. Lefty and Desdemona had nobody else. It was the two of them all the time, from the time they were born. Not to mention with the parents not alive anymore, the village they lived in was full of hairy, smelly women. The attractions between Lefty and Desdemona are understandable to an extent. As Lefty says up top, “We won’t have to rearrange the house,” is interesting to me that he even said anything like that. He shows really no interest of incest with Desdemona, she is the one that gets those feelings to want her brother/third cousin. Also, as I was reading, I never knew that incest was illegal. Hmm!

–Sam Laird

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/07/29/020729on_onlineonly01

Calliope & Sex, Gender, and the Body

Book 1 is very interesting and really draws the reader in by starting out very dramatically. We learn of Cal (or Calliope) Stephenides and how he came about. Cal is a man who was raised as a woman. It is revealed that the grandparents of Cal lived on Mount Olympus and were in the silk industry. They were also brother and sister as well as third cousins. So his family is already a little different before Cal comes along. Cal was supposed to be a boy at birth but was born as a woman. “Up until now Desdemona had had a perfect record: twenty-three correct guesses. She’d known that Tessie was going to be Tessis. She’d predicted the sex of my brother and of all the babies of her friends at church. The only children whose genders she hadn’t divined were her own, because it was bad luck for a mother to plumb the mysteries  of her own womb. Fearlessly, however, she plumbed my mother’s. After some initial hesitation, the spoon swung north to south, which meant that I was going to be a boy” (Eugenides 5-6). Its odd how Desdemona ended up being correct in the end. Perhaps Calliope’s parents were in so much denial about having a boy that no matter how the child came out, it would be a girl; or at least have a girl’s name. Imagine being a teenager and finding out that you aren’t what you once thought you are. “I’ve lived more that half my life as a male, and by now everything comes naturally” (Eugenides 41). However, not everything does come naturally for Cal. “I operate in society as a man. I use the men’s room. Never the urinals, always the stalls. In the men’s locker room at my gym I even shower, albeit discreetly” (Eugenides 41). Cal is a man, however, he can’t let people know that he wasn’t always a man. He would be ashamed if anyone were to find out about Callie that doesn’t already know.  

-Jeffrey Senecal

Well, I love you but not like that.

I have to disagree with the idea that Desdemona and Lefty really wanted to be together but couldn’t because they knew it was wrong. I think that the attraction between Desdemona and Lefty was a burden on them; a burden they enjoyed but were reluctant to explore. Before Desdemona’s mother passed away her last words to her daughter were, “Take care of Lefty. Promise me. Find him a wife!” From then on, Desdemona was left with a large responsibility at such a young age. Thankfully, she was raised to be much more mature. Although it was a crazy transaction for her I think Desdemona enjoyed her responsibilities. She loved her silkworms & the cocoons and her brother, Lefty, very much. I think she was led to act more like a mother figure for him. “Didn’t she do everything for him, cook, sew, and keep the house as their mother used to?”(Eugenides, 27). That right there makes me believe that the only reason they ended up together was because she wanted the best for her brother and she wanted to keep her end of the promise she shared with her mother.

Lefty knew it was time for him to settle down but he couldn’t find anyone. He knew his sister was there to look out for him and he wanted to make her proud by picking the perfect lady. Lefty settling down with Desdemona seemed easier and he knew she would obviously approve of herself; she wasn’t a Turk (those are the girls Desdemona was determined to have Lefty stay away from). In regards to the relationship they began to grow, I think Lefty was in it for more of the curiosity. He fantasized so much of other woman and when he would think of his sister he would just pretend it wasn’t his sister.

It was hard for them to have a romantic relationship with each other because well… they were related. When it comes to love we are all told the qualities we should look for in a mate and what we should stay away from. However, we are never told, “Now don’t go marrying your brother/sister.” That just seems to be something we know not to do. Desdemona was even waiting for someone to tell her what she was doing was shameful. But, I don’t think they were reluctant because they knew it was wrong. I think they hesitated because they were confused about the kind of love they actually shared.

Desdemona was very nurturing and wanted to look out for her brother. Lefty was still so curious about life and what it had to offer, but knew it was time for him to find a woman. If anything it seemed like the relationship between them was so easy to happen because they had each other there. They obviously loved each other very much but personally, I wasn’t too convinced with the idea of them wanting to be together in a romantic relationship. I think the commitment between them was made to secure the thought that they will always have each other. It didn’t bother them too much that they were together because they always had each other around and loved each other more than anything. Maybe, it wasn’t until after the dance they shared that they may have seen one another in a different way. The feelings they felt that night made them realize the romance they could potentially share between them.

Nayeli Garza.

*I would like to use some ideas in my final essay. If any of it could possibly work.

Firstly, Understanding the past

            I find it somewhat hard to relate to Middlesex. The only connection I feel between the book is the aspect of Detroit (though, barely mentioned thus far).It is very interesting to read something you would never read on your own. Gladly, we have been discussing sex, gender, and identity for a while now and I feel that has helped a great deal in my process of understanding of the book.

Someone once told me that in order to understand the present, you must know the past. I feel like this is what Cal is doing. He’s going way back to before he was born and analyzing things that took place within his family. His grandmother Desdemona and her brother Lefty have been mentioned quite a bit. Though they are brother and sister, it almost seems like they secretly have a thing for one another. They seem to be inseparable. “Lefty was one year younger than Desdemona and she often wondered how she survived those first twelve months without him,” it continues to say, “He was her best friend and confidant” (Eugenides 24, 25). They definitely have a connection and bond – at times it seems like it’s a forced bond they must have since their parents passed and they basically only had one another.

It’s hard for them to relate to one another’s idea and desire for a significant other. Though they were like best friends, this was one thing that never really shared with one another. It’s funny how Desdemona would try to give Lucille and Victoria tips on their appearance and almost force Lefty to give them a second look. She would look through old magazines and see how they dressed and looked almost as though that is what a woman was supposed to look like. The keyword is that the magazines were old and that the past definition of what a woman should look like has probably changed a bit, if not dramatically.

None the less, I am not quite sure where the direction of this book is going, but I hope it gets better.

Quote of the day: “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.  ~Anthony Brandt

Lori E. Allan

  

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.”

 (I wish to possibly use this later on.)

How could they do that?!?

For most people, incest is just a weird, wrong, and unspeakable act.  Just the thought of any sexual attraction or physicality with members of our own family brings immediate disgust.  Yet this is in our society and culture. In the novel, Lefty and Desdemona seem to have a different situation. Even though I could never ever picture myself with my sister, or cousins, or any member of my family, if you try hard to put yourself in their situation, you can sort of see why they did it. I feel like they didn’t want or choose to fall in love with each other, but their minds naturally adapted to their situation. There aren’t any available women in their small town, they are best friends and all that each other has. That plus the hard times they are in with the war just seemed to force them together. It also says in the novel that  in their town it was acceptable to marry third cousins, which technically they also are. This is why i think their minds just naturally adapted to their situation and just forced out the thought of them being brother and sister. Around other people, they were brother and sister, ut together they were cousins. Eventually as their charade kept going on longer and longer in Detroit, they just accepted and forgot that they were related.

We cannot fully understand this situation because we hopefully will never have to experience it. But i do think we experience this kind of love all the time, just not with our brother or sister. Think of most romantic comedies, songs, or shows. Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” is about two best friends who realize they have loved each other the whole time. Countless movies occur around this theme too, with a few coming to mind are ones like Thirteen Going on Thirty, The Ugly Truth, and Maid Of Honor. All these movies centralize around really close couples falling in love. So besides the fact that Lefty and Desdemona are brother and sister, their situation is not uncommon, and we would not question it at all. We would probably just try to make it a movie.

Tyler Staruch

lacking in nature and nurture

It is interesting as to how many similarities Cal and the grandmother already seem to have with each other in Book One of the novel. Cal briefly explains his previous battles with himself and his identity, while he goes into detail of his grandmothers past. Both seem to be very much influenced by both their nature, and when I use the word nature I simply mean cultural influences, and the way they were raised. In Desdemona’s and Lefty’s case, they went to great lengths to make their case of incest as culturally acceptable and hidden as possible. Both Desdemona and Lefty tried to justify their love for each other when there is no justification. Losing both of their parents at a young age, as well living in such a small town, Desdemona and Lefty seemed to live without the influences of a culture in which to follow or even  conforming to general beliefs and family practices.  WIthout either of these influences, they really only had each other to justify their incest to as they “tried to defamiliarize themselves with each other” in order to not only please the people on board with them but more so to make their actions seem more justifiable as they lied to each other, taking turns ” reciting Homeric geneologies, full of falsifications and borrowings from real life” (Eugenides 79).  Its sad that without proper guidance from either their culture or family, that these kids were able to invent these “fictional relatives” in order to help them view each other as potential lovers as opposed to the truth, siblings.

Nick Vecellio

Incest…its questionable

In society today, we grow up with the knowledge that it is very innappropriate to have sexual realations with a brother or a sister or any blood related family member at that. Not only is it innappropriate, but it can also cause some very serious genetic mutations in the DNA of their future children.  This is otherwise known as incest.  In the novel, Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides shows an example of an incestful relationship through the narrators family tale.  Calliope Helen Stephanides tells the story of how his family comes to America starting out with his grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty Stephanides. Now what seems to be a story about a brother and sister growing up together and working their way to come to America, actually turns into a romantic love story between the two. Without having parents to take care of them, Lefty and Desdemona practically raised each other. They played together as children and they worked together as adults in a cocoon business. At first Lefty would have never thought of Desdemona in that way even when he would occasionaly see her change.  As they got older and as Desdemona wanted Lefty to settle down with a nice greek girl, they started to realize that the had real feelings for one another, and they decided to pursue those feelings even being brother and sister.

Now normally I would be really wierded out by the fact that a brother and sister were in love with each other, but with the way that the author presented it, I actually found myself being okay with it. They had no one else and were lonely on top of that so it was bound for something to happen between them.  Also the fact that they had to escape from their hometown of Bithynois to hide out in Smyrna away from the Turks, made them a lot closer and made them fall in even more in love.  They even were able to make it out on a boat to America, where they devised a plan  to not know who the other person was, and to “meet” each other, and then fall madly in love like two strangers meeting for the first time.  Instead of getting to know each other, becoming familiar with likes and dislikes, Desdemona and Lefty tried to defamiliarize themselves with each other. (Eugenides, 71-72)  It was the perfect reverse fairytale and they were successful. Except for the fact that they were related…maybe thats just the way the Greeks like it 🙂

-Brittany Cifka

p.s. Jenna,  i might want this in my paper:) or at least some parts?

It’s a girl!….It’s a boy?! March 24, 2010

Middlesex is a book that seems to describe its characters by their bodies. Whether it’s how they feel about themselves or what their body feels during certain times in the novel. The two main characters thus far, Desdemona and Lefty, have had some interesting thoughts about their own bodies, the bodies of strangers, and the bodies of each other. Lefty was the type of man who went to the city to find his pleasure with girls. He had sex with a lot of them until Desdemona reminded him that she was supposed to find him a good Greek girl for him to marry as a dying wish from their mother. He tried out two of the village bachelorettes but there was just disappointment due to Desdemona making them look like lingerie models. As much as Lefty wanted those girls  in the city, he wasn’t looking for it as a wife. This explains that as desirable and pretty as those girls are in a magazine, most guys would use that female’s body for nothing but one night of pleasure. Desdemona has never been comfortable in her own body because she didn’t have the most appealing figure. Yet, Lefty still found every part of her attractive.

Eventually, Lefty decides that Desdemona is the girl for him. Living in this day in age, that stands out as strange and even just plain wrong. Even Desdemona thinks that it’s a bad idea when Lefty suggests the idea. “How about you?” “Too bad I’m your sister.” “You’re not only my sister. You’re my third cousin, too. Third cousins can marry.” (Eugenides 38-39) This quote also describes the opinion of incest in that generation. It’s more frowned upon now than it was back then. According to this quote, it was okay for third cousins to marry each other. It was considered more normal and maybe even more convenient to some families to marry within each other. Unfortunately, when incest occurs, it’s more likely for there to be a genetic disorder. Hence the reason Cal or Calliope will have a genetically mutated 5th chromosome and has the issue of whether to be Cal or Calliope.

~Alexandria Vintevoghel

I would like to use some of this in my final essay.

Middlesex Blog 1

Throughout the first book of Middlesex, the narrator aimed to take the reader on a twisted journey through the beginning of his grandparents’ adult lives and inferred that their decisions may have been a main cause of him being a hermaphrodite. Calliope’s grandmother, Desdemona Stephanides, had a brother named Eleutherios (“Lefty”) Stephanides; Since they were young children they shared a room together, played together, ate together, and did everything together. Some unfortunate event ended up taking their parents lives, forcing Desdemona to grow up before her time and take care of her younger brother, while he looked out for her as well. This put a lot of stress on their developing minds and forced them to question themselves and doubt a variety of things about their lives. After a fight with her brother Desdemona asked herself, “What was the matter with God? Why had He taken her parents and left her to worry about her brother?”-Pg. 29. Through this sort of stress on their minds as well as having no one else around to help out in their lives, all that Desdemona and Lefty could do was rely more on each other. With this- along with the pressure of the culture of Greeks at this time getting married and having families in their teens and early twenties- Desdemona and Lefty began to feel that they would never have anyone else to care for them, or for them to care for. This ultimately led to both of them having feelings for each other that were more than just sibling love. Both Lefty and Desdemona knew that the feelings that they were having about each other were wrong. This was made evident throughout book one by Desdemona constantly reminding herself that it wasn’t okay for a brother and sister to have that kind of relationship and by Lefty praying to god (on page 31) not to let him be ‘this way’, claiming he didn’t know why he felt the way he did because he knew that it was not normal, and even accusing God that he was made the way he was because of God himself. The fact that both parties knew that it was not the right thing to do did not stop Lefty from eventually taking Desdemona’s hand in marriage and engaging in an Incestuous relationship, which, further down the family tree led to a common recessive gene becoming active and making their grandchild a hermaphrodite. Knowing what they were doing was wrong and still continue to do it was an effect of the stress and pressure in their lives from losing their parents at an early age, cultural pressure, and their fear and fight for their lives which caused them to have to have the feeling of someone being there for them permanently.

-Jake Morse

I might want to use some of this in my final essay but I’m not sure that it requires permission because I am going to do a lot of rewording and hopefully find the sources where I got a lot of my information. Yep.

Traditional Roles

Every human creates a status for themselves which influences the roles they carry out.  A status can simply be interpreted as a social position that somebody claims, and a role regards the behaviors that the status influences. Statuses and roles have evolved throughout history but some have remained as a consistent pattern. Marriage is an example of a consistent pattern found in the history of humans, which creates a new status for a couple. The status that someone attains when they become married entices specific behaviors to maintain a level of integrity. The book Middlesex  by JefferyEugenides, includes a story that drastically changes the roles and status of two people.

This story displays how cultures differ, and what a specific married couple do in order to avoid deviance. The married couple were originally third cousins and were raised practically as brother and sister. In the village they were raised, it wasn’t abnormal to marry a third cousin, and it was accepted by their society/culture. However, the couple decides to leave their village in attempt to  avoid a war coming their way, right after they confessed their love for one another. When they left their village they ended up as refugees and took drastic measures to forget their genetic connection by avoiding each other whenever possible. “But it wasn’t the other travelers they were trying to fool; it was themselves” (Jeffery Eugenides 68). The couple were going to a new land were society perceived their relationship as a deviant behavior, so they practically made new identities. They attained new statuses and roles when they married, and manipulated their life stories to be accepted into a new culture. It is common for values and beliefs to vary throughout cultures and sometimes it forces people adapt by any means.

kevin cunningham

Mind over Matter

During the beginning, Lefty was a ‘player’ type of guy. However as you read on his opinion seemed to change. Lefty has a very high expectations in girls and after realizing that he isn’t interested in any other girl besides his very own sister Desdemona. After finding his true feelings for his sister he begins fin excuses for them to be together. At one point he even begins to call her cousin so it doesn’t seem to be as weird. The only problem was that Desdemona fought her feeling towards her brother more than Lefty did. At one point in the book Lefty tries to get closer to his sister and attempts to put his arm around her but she moves away. When Lefty realizes that she is more hesitant about being together we walks away, “He was angry with Desdemona for rebuffing him and he was angry at himself for being angry at her, because he knew she was right.” (49). At this point in time Lefty’s mind is all over the place. He is trying to fight his feelings towards his sister but there is something that won’t let him stop.

When they later finally admit to their feelings towards each other and get married they know that they must hide that they are brother and sister. There doesn’t seem that there has ever been a time where marrying your sister or even any family member has been acceptable so if they wanted to be socially accepted, they needed to hide their biggest secret.

Fighting your feelings towards someone or something can be the hardest thing to do. No matter what the circumstances it is practically impossible to get rid of those voices inside your head. In Lefty’s case, he did his best to fight his feelings towards Desdemona until the voices inside his head finally took over.

Many experts say that incest is a very damaging thing. When two related people change their relationship from family to a sexual one it can ruin a family. If that relationship goes wrong, then it can possibly tear apart the family leaving the two people with nothing. (Mayer)

Personally I understand when it is hard to fight your feelings towards something, however you can’t always show these feeling no matter how strong they are. An example I can think of is if your friend breaks up with this girl who you have always had a thing for. There is almost like an unwritten guy code saying that you cannot go after a girl that your friend has had previous relations with, no matter what. So in the case of Lefty and Desdemona, I feel that no matter how strong their feelings were towards each other, they should of tried to fight these feelings.  Incest has never seemed to be accepted in any society, so in order to be accepted, you need to stay away from relationships like that especially because it could ruin your family.

**I would possibly like to use some of this blog in my final essay.

Sources

Mayer, Adele. (1985). Sexual Abuse: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment of Incestuous and Pedophilic Acts. Holmes Beach, FL: Learning Publications.

-Jordan Houtby

Middlesex: The Silver Spoon

When I first started reading this book, I did not really know what to expect, but so far I find it interesting to see things from other people’s points of view. We are first introduced to Calliope, know reffered to as Cal. He is a hermaphrodite. I feel that this is a sensitives subject that some people feel uncomfortable discussing. I have been fascinated so far about a hermaphrodites point of view because you get an idea of what they go through, physically and mentally. Personally, I think that there are some people in this world that were born in the wrong body and unfortunately have to deal with society’s idea of them when all they want is to be seen as everybody else. In book one, “The Silver Spoon” of this novel, “Middlesex”, Cal shares some of his family’s history. This is where we are introduced to Cal’s grandparents, Desmonda and Lefty. After loosing their parents at a young age, the brother and sister live together. Later in the story, Desmonda and Lefty actually begin a romantic relationship, where the issue of incest comes into play. Even though they were aware of what they were doing was wrong, they began the relationship because they “loved [each other the most] and knew [each other] better than any other” (Eugenides 37). In my opinion, I do not encourage incest and sometimes cringe at the thought of it because society has taught us that incest is wrong. In the novel however, it seems that the author is accepting this relationship and gives readers a look at how Desmonda and Lefty feel. Again, this is also an uncomfortable and sensitive subject with most because society has brought us up thinking incest is morally wrong. Overall, I feel that the population does not dicuss the topics of incest and hermaphrodites because not only do they feel uncomfortable, but I think the population is uneducated about these subjects. I think this is an interesting novel because it gives readers the opprotunity to try to understand and see what the characters are going through.

Danielle Harteau

Professor Gerds- I am hoping to somehow put some of the things I have written here in my essay. I’m not sure if it’s exactly what I am going to say, but maybe the ideas I have can help? Thank you!

Geez oh Peets!

 In Middle Sex we are introduced to characters that are put into mind-blowing situations that define them into who they are, or into who they believe they are. Desdemona and Lefty Stephanides are two of the characters that are introduced as brother and sister.  They grew up together, lived together, and even shared a room for most of their lives together. Even though the relation, Desdemona and Lefty fall in love and engage in sexual intercourse, which is known as incest. When the topic of incest is brought up among most people, they tend to cringe and tell all about how disgusting and wrong it is. Jeffery Eugenides tells us this brilliant story of these two people who happen to be brother and sister, but whom fall in love.  He tells this story in such a way that it almost seems acceptable.  Now, when I picture this happening in real life I shiver at the idea. I can’t picture anything more wrong or horrible as incest. It just doesn’t seem right to me.

 Desdemona and Lefty were going through hard times; they lost their parents, their home, and their identity, which led to their migration to America. The loss of all of their belongings and hopes is what also led to their relationship and longing for one another. As these changes occurred their identities were lost and destroyed. In a way, for Desdemona and Lefty this was a new chance, a new life. They could make up their own identities; they had the freedom to a clean slate. “Sailing across the ocean among half a thousand perfect strangers conveyed an anonymity in which my grandparents could re-create themselves.” pg. 68 That is exactly what they did; they made their relationship and love into a tall tale, which began on The Giulia on its way to America.

The effects of incest are mainly depression and anxiety because of how others view the participants. http://family.jrank.org/pages/847/Incest-Effects-on-Victims.html  But, in this case they did not have to suffer from the cruelty of others. Desdemona and Lefty only had to suffer with the thoughts and questioning they had within their own minds.

-Geri Gabrielson

P.s. I would like to use this in my paper

The beginning of a Transformation – book one March 23, 2010

      When I first got the book, I didn’t even know what the book was about or even what to expect. The first line of the book read, “I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974” (Eugenides 3). From just reading that first line, I could tell that the book was going to take me on a journey throughout this transformation from being a girl to a boy. I didn’t know how or what happened at this point in time, but I knew if I wanted to find out I had to keep reading. So, I did. The narrator, Calliope, explains how he was born a girl, but that isn’t who he is. He goes on to explain not only about himself, but also the generations of his family. There is a battle between culture and biology in this book. The first involves determining the sex of the baby. They used a cultural belief to predict what the sex of an unborn child in its mother’s womb will be. This was done by simply observing the way the spoon would spin over the pregnant mother’s belly. Calliope explains that until him, Desdemona, who is his grandmother, had a perfect record of twenty three correct guesses (Eugenides 5). There is always a 50/50 chance that this old wives tale will be right because the child can only be born one of two ways, a girl or a boy. Well typically this is correct, however in Calliope’s case; he was born a girl except for the fact that he had male hormones running through his body. So technically, Desdemona was correct about the physical sex of Calliope, but beyond the physical was the inner boy of Calliope, begging to come out. Back in the day before the technology of the sonogram was as advance as it is today, they used this spoon method. They didn’t have ultrasounds to see the genitals to determine the sex of the unborn child. It was until, between the mid 1960s and late 1970s that ultrasounds became advanced as such to depict this (http://www.ob-ultrasound.net/history2.html). They used a spoon as their predictor instead of using a biological or scientifically proven method. However, Milton did buy Tessie a special thermometer called a basal thermometer. A basal thermometer is more precise than a regular fever thermometer because it is an ultra sensitive thermometer that tracks your body’s minutest temperature shift (http://www.babyhopes.com/articles/basal-thermometer.html). Differences in temperature can represent things such as ovulation, conception, and after that changes in temperature can be indicators of if you are having a boy or a girl. This is more effective and a better way than hanging a spoon on a sting above the pregnant belly and noting which way it spins. This is no scientific proof behind this cultural old wives tale, but using a basal thermometer and recording your basal temperature has been a scientifically tested and proven.

      Another topic in the book that is debatable is the relationship between Desdemona and Lefty. They are sister and brother, with a relationship that has just too much love. Their parents have died and Desdemona was told by her mother to make sure that Lefty marries, but I don’t think their mother meant for them to marry each other. Lefty even tries to make the situation better by saying that she is only his sister, but that they are related and family shouldn’t marry each other period. Incest is generally described as forbidden sexual relations within the family (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Incest). They didn’t seem to think anything wrong with their relationship as more than just siblings, but yet they still decided to hide the fact that they were brother and sister, along with the fact that they even know each other, while on the boat.  So, then again they must have known that it was something wrong with the picture or they wouldn’t have had to do all that they did. They knew it would not be culturally or socially accepted. Incest is a cultural taboo. They were so concerned with how others would think of them and how society would label them instead of the real consequences of their actions of being lovers. They are partaking in incest. Siblings aren’t supposed to be together, married. They only worried about the acceptance of their relationship, but they failed to ignore the biological effects of incest. For example, if a brother and sister have sex and produce offspring, the infant would be more than likely be born, if at all, with some sort of chromosomal problems and/or defect, mental and/or physical. There is a higher chance for hereditary disorders. (http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/68/Incest.html). Recessive genes, which can have various genetic problems, appear more often in the offspring of procreative couplings whose members both have the same gene (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Incest). Also if both brother and sister have some rare recessive gene and they produce offspring, those two recessive genes will come together in that offspring and they will be a carrier of that rare gene also. Siblings shouldn’t have that type of attraction to one another, but Desdemona and Lefty sure did. I personally think that the connection between the two of them had more to do with the lost of their parents and the feeling of closeness to one another was their response to the fact that they were all each other had now. Book one of the novel took off in a wild direction. I look forward to what book two has to bring.

I would like for this blog to be considered for use in final essay.

~ Arielle K.

European Mutt March 3, 2010

My cultural background is Polish, French-Canadian, Scotish, Irish and German. As you can tell, my ethnicity is basically all European. My mom is 100% Polish, so that makes me half Polish. And the rest of me is from my dad’s side. I really like learning about my family’s history because it’s cool to know what makes up the Harteau Family. Family has always been an important factor in my life. A lot of the important decisions I have made in my life so far have been impacted by my family. I think my family is pretty close and we have a lot of fun together. My family has definitely had a great impact on my life so far because they always believe in me and are extremely supportive. They also give me great advice and are always there to listen if I ever need to vent about stress from college. The relationships with my family members has also had an impact on what kinds of friends I have too. According to Silverman and Reader, relationhips are vital. I think this means that all of our relationships somehow impact our lives, whether it is positively or negatively. I also feel that ethnicity is an important factor of my identity because where I come from has shaped who I am today. It fascinates me to know about my family history. As a whole, familial history, current family members and other relationships in some way have influenced and are major factors of my identity.

Danielle Harteau

A new world of coming together. March 2, 2010

I do believe that where you come from and your roots make up who you are and in certain aspects of life change your identity. When you have a person who has come to America from a forgein country versus a full blooded born American there will be plenty of difference that separate their identity. I do not think that the changes between these two people would in turn make it ok to see them as different in society because in that respect we are all human. People that are stereotyped and that have assumptions made about them because of the colour of their skin or ethnicity is an easy way out for society to be able to group them together and make generalizations about them rather than taking individuals for who they are and truly finding out who someone is without these stereotypes (Silverman and Radar).  Taking people for who they truly are is something that our society as a whole needs to work on, they need to dig deeper, look past all the stereotypes in the world and see each other for who we are because in the end were all human. Many times music is the best way to descibe feelings and from this Madonna song I found lyrics that say what I am trying to express: “All you need is your own imagination, So use it that’s what it’s for, Go inside, for your finest inspiration, Your dreams will open the door, It makes no difference if you’re black or white, If you’re a boy or a girl. ” This is telling you to be able to think for yourself and it doesnt really matter the appearance of someone on the outside because it is what is on the inside that truly counts. I think that family is an important part of your identity and it makes up who you are. We can relate this back to the nature versus nurture arguement where is it what impact the environment has had on you or is it your family, peers and the loved ones around you. I think people cant be so quick to just and need to take a step back and look at the finer things in life that actually matter and make up your personality and better inner self.

http://www.elyrics.net/read/m/madonna-lyrics/vogue-lyrics.html

E. Campbell

Does it really matters? What is inside

I am an African American female who grew up in Westland and Detroit. For my entire life, I did not use my ethnic background to define me completly. I believe that there is more to my identity than just race alone. Race in my perpective is just apart of my physical appearence. How I identify myself is based on my personality and what person I am. Eventhough, others would describe me as a shy, quiet and antisocial person, I really view my self as a generous and kind individual. I am very intelligent and nice to be around. I try to be helpful to those who are in need whether they need advice or a friend, or a shouder ot cry on, not to criticise and judge I may have flaws but, I do not let  that dictate the person I am. I have always been a joy for others to be around. I really do not put much emphasis on someone and myself based on their nationality and race. As long as you are a nice person who do not get in trouble and are not judgemental, I could see myself hanging out with you no matter what your race and nationality is. Eventhough ,many people use race and nationality to decribe themselves, I really do not see  the point. I still believe that the person you really are is what s on the inside. A person’s identity Ibelieve is their personality and how they carry themselves and values others including family and friends not just looks and family. Although your family is believed to be your biggest influence. DMMullen

ohh so hungary!

I do believe that nationality and race play a roll with identifying a group of people (ie. where they are from, what they look like) and also an individual. Each and every person are descendants from all different countries and regions all over the world. If we were all from the same place, we would all be identified together as one. This is what makes everyone special and not identical to one another. I am Hungarian and Macedonian. I rarely hear people talk about those two nationalities and I feel that they are very unique and that makes me who I am. They distinguish me from others and I am alright with that. I have the olive, dark skin, and dark features that the rest of my family from Hungary has and many people have been like ohhh alright when I tell them my nationality. Everyone identifies different races and ethnicities with a social class. And I agree with Silverman and Rader saying that white Americans do consider themselves middle class. We associate other races with poor or not as wealthy as Americans. No one wrote it down on paper but it has been something that society has convinced us to think as a whole. There are so many aspects to someone’s identity and who they think they are. Many people call themselves by adjectives to describe themselves but I believe it is so much more than that. In order to identify a person we need to consider race, nationality, interactions with other people including friends, family and strangers, their interests, where they live, who they associate themselves with or even their friends, and whatever makes up an ideal person. There are so many things to talk about when identifying a person, that some people forget reading between the lines.

You’re Related

In my case ethnicity doesnt play as big of a role in my life as i want it to. Most people i meet expect me to be more “mexican”, whatever that means.  My grandparents both come from a hispanic background, so they grew up speaking only spanish and eating all the delicious foods.  However, when they had kids of their own, they used spanish as a “secret language” to talk about things that they wanted no one else to understand.  Although, they did pass on all the good cooking to my mom and her sister, my aunt.  But other than that, i do not feel like we embrace our background as much as we should or as much as i would like us to.

One of the most important things that makes up my identity is my family. They truly mean everything and more to me. Without them i would not be the person i am today because they have tried so hard to bring out all the my best features and traits to mold me into the best person i could be.  That takes a lot of time and effort to put your all into someone elses life.  It is funny though, beccause people on the outside would never guess that we are all one family. I live with my mom, step-dad(even though they got married when i was 2 so hes basically my dad), and my half sister.  My dad is a white, about 6 foot tall, and looks like mr. clean if that gives you a better visual. My mom on the other hand, is only about an inch or two taller than me, and couldnt look more mexican if she tried.  So when people see us together they are often surprised that we are a family.  This is a perfect example of categorizing people by their appearance.  Our family is like other visual constructions, we have to be slowed down and digested more actively (Silverman and Rader 268).  Once people get to know us all, they see how we all build off of each other and how vital we each are in each others lives.

-Breanna Perez

Ethnicity

Through my physical appearance, it may seem like I am from a similar ethnic background as many other caucasians. Although people may make this assumption it will never really make me angry, but for people in different situations it may. “… for most of the history of the Western world, people made assumptions about other people based on their appearance” (Silverman and Rader 268). With this information in mind, a lot of people think that these assumptions are referring only to racial stereotypes and negative connotations. For example, when people assume, because of facial features and stature, that someone is Chinese when in reality they are Japanese or Korean, this could cause hurt or anger because it is just simply an assumption based on the appearance of the individual. With this, although I do care about my Armenian heritage- and have strong feelings about this place I came from and the hardships that my ancestors faced and the Genocide the Ottoman Turks executed that took my great grandparents- I do not believe that my ethnicity has any influence on my identity to this day aside from being a truth about myself that’s kind of cool to talk about when no one else has anything to say. The thing that I think has the most influence on who I have and who I will become is my family. I mean sure my environment and politics have had some influence on my identity, but nothing could really shape you more than a family that has always been there for you to rely on, ask questions to, and has shaped your mind both by instruction and example from birth.

– Jake Morse

Race and Ethnicity Mean Little When Talking Individual Identity

I don’t usually associate my identity with my ancestry, however, for this assignment I feel it’s a good place to start. I get the Italian from my dad’s side of the family, and the Irish and German from my mom’s side. Although, if it weren’t for my middle and last names, the Italian would probably go unnoticed with my clearly Irish and German features. I never really refer to my nationality or ancestry as how I for my identity. The same goes for others. I don’t think you should ever really think of ancestry as a way to identify others or yourself. one of the main reasons I believe this is that ” it may be impossible to state, with any certainty, what the goals of any one ethnicity may be, as all people are complex and in the process of change (Silverman and Raider 271). Family, however, is much different from ancestry. To define yourself through the people who raised you is not the same as just tying your identity to a certain part of the world. My parents and brother are the most important people in my life. I believe that everything good in my life and in myself has been a direct result of how they chose to raise me. They have sent me to a Catholic school all my life, which has been a huge part of my life. However, in the fifteen years of Catholic education, my faith has steadily decreased to the point of nonbelief. Which is a shame in my parents eyes. While I am not a practicing Catholic anymore, that doesn’t mean I don’t still share and cherish those values that I have learned. I have been going to school with some of my best friends from kindergarten till this most recent semester, and I would have to say that this close relationship I have with them probably is what shapes my identity the most. We all share a lot in common knowing each other so long that while, we have or obvious differences, our morals and how we were raised are all very similair.If I had to describe my identity, I feel the most thorough explanation would come through my description of these relationships I have with friends and family.

Nick Vecellio

Everyone is a stereotype.

In The World is a Text,  it says that most authors believe there is no such thing as a completely neutral person. Everyone we know is “attached” to some group and assumed to be just like everyone else in that group. It seems that no matter what we do, we cannot shake what the people of earlier generations have labeled us. I personally don’t think this is ever going to change, just because so many people take it for granted. We are raised in the beliefs, we are surrounded by it everywhere we go. For example, i dont know if anyone has seen the Subway commercial with the indian kid with braces and glasses doing all the genius math. Is that just a coincidence? Even if it was a white kid, would he still be shown with glasses and braces? This just seems like a common sight for me.

As for myself, i don’t think my nationality really has to do with my identity at all, unless i am surrounded by other stereo types. For example, i have a lot of black friends and when im with them, i’m the white kid. But i know its nothing personal at all, but sometimes it is a unique role reversal. For example, if we are listening to rap music, and i know all the words, they will sometimes joke that even the white kid gets it.

I do believe my family factors into my identity a lot, but not in a way i think that is common. Around where i live my family is involved in a lot of activity. My mother is a teacher at one of the middle schools, and my dad is the Head Coach of the Girls lacrosse team. So my name is recognized a lot for those reasons around the communtiy.

tyler staruch

Who am I?

Who am I? Well that is a very tough question for me to answer. For those people who don’t know me they would say that I am a short, blonde hair, blue eyed, white girl. For those who do know me would probably say somehwere along the lines of a happy, always smiling, very kind, big-hearted girl who would do anything for her family and friends. To me, the first description of who i am is not very fitting for me. I don’t want to be classified as just another white girl. I like to be known for my personality and other crazy attributes about me that is like no other person. I feel like your identity  should be about something that defines you that is like no one else because everyone is different. I mean obviously, I am caucasion, but really that has nothing to do with who I am. I believe that the color of your skin does not clearly define who you are. In the book, The World is a Text, Silvermann and Radar explain about the whole quote of “you can’t judge a book by it’s cover”. I love this quote because of the truthfulness behind it. Basically whether you deny it or not, everyone judges everyone. Its pretty much a known fact. But usually once you get to know the peson you figure out that your prejudgments were very wrong.  That goes for the same thing about a persons identity. If you judge them only by their race or ethnicity you could be missing out on a wonderful person. I guess what Im trying to get at is that you can’t judge a person soley on their race because it’s probably not even close with what they want to be identified with. Call me a sister, a daughter, a friend, or even crazy, but please don’t call me just some white girl. 🙂

-Brittany Cifka