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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

book2:another look April 6, 2010

“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

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

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

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

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.

Furdy in the boro April 5, 2010

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

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

Keeping it on the Hushhh! March 25, 2010

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 🙂

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

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

Traditional Roles March 24, 2010

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

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

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

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

Finnish, German, Native American are a few of the nationalities in my family. I feel it has a small role in my identity just because my family doesn’t really follow traditions in any of those nationalities. However my Grandma does make Pasties and several other types of Finnish food. The Native American side of my family are from down south and were part of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s which was a family feud that many died in.

My family has a much larger impact on my identity because they are always there for me when I need them. I don’t come from a huge family I have an older sister and a younger brother. Therefore I’m the middle child.  “They are guaranteed to be opposite of their older sibling” (Neal Personality Traits Linked To Birth Order).  I feel I’m very different from my sister and I’m more of a rebel compared to her she stays within the lines. I will argue with my Dad and I’m not afraid of him and say how I feel whereas she will just listen to him even if she doesn’t agree. Not only does that influence my identity but how I was raised to go to church every week. Even the smallest thing like going to public school I feel has helped shape me into who I am.

I grew up in Redford and moved to Livonia and that was a big difference. When I moved there everyone was so judgemental based on race which was much different from Redford. “We tend to categorize people by their appearance, not by their biological background” (Silverman and Rader 268).  Everyone complained in Livonia about how crazy the African American students were and how they increased the fights. But I feel it was in no way the new students but just frustration from the parents rubbing off on students due to the economic crisis in Michigan. We need to not judge based on looks and my bosses always tell everyone at work don’t assume. Because it makes and ass out of you and me.

Olivia Lewis

Objects may not be what they appear to be

Well, my identity is kind of complex is suppose. I’m not really sure what it is even yet. I know I’m of Irish, German, and Cherokee nationalities but that don’t really mean very much to me because my family don’t really hold many of their traditions. Race does not matter at all to me, nor does ethnicity. I can be in a room with six black people and be the only white person in there and not even notice. “White people wrongly, and often tragicaly, assumed blaces were inferior or that American Indians were ‘savages'” (Silverman and Rader 268). I know that many blacks are proud to be black because of their troubled past, but I am not proud to be white. Anyways, most of my friends are black and all my girlfriends have been black so I guess it has just made me color blind on the issue of race. One thing that I do identify with is my religion. I am Roman Catholic and I am proud to be Catholic. Catholicism and Family are two things that really help me identify myself. Family life is an important aspect of my life as well as deepening my relationship with God and solidifying my faith. Another major thing that identifies me is athletics. I am proud of being an athlete and I cannot imagine not being an athlete. I’ve been doing sports my whole life almost and I plan to continue doing sports until I die. If how I feel is how I defined me, I would be an athletic Catholic guy who is a family man but not restricted to being just one race.

-Jeffrey Senecal

Being a product of my family, nationality, and culture is my cliche.

My nationality is very saturated in the Detroit Metropolitan area.  Most of the Chaldeans in Michigan reside among fifteen miles of each other.  Being that we are so densly populated in the area, our families looked to each other for support in a place they knew nothing of.  When you are so tightly packed within a community, who share the same beliefs, and practice the same ideas, it is only natural to follow the trends they set.  My family is heavily influences by the Chaldean culture, and I am influenced by my family.  By default, I am a product of my community, and I think this is what plays a major role in who I am today.  When talking about my beliefs and practices, I often refer to my family and culture.  Race and ethnicity, even if socially directed, guide a great portion of our public life. (Silverman & Radar 268) Things that we (Chaldeans in general) thrive on are religion, morals, and hard work.  My family always tells me to stand by my convictions, and not to stray off to the ethnocentric ways of the American culture.  People would describe me as always sticking to my guns, and one who values tradition.  As I am getting older, however, I am finding that my parents really do have a good sense on what is right and what is wrong, but they can be misguided too.  I am finding that my parents are very open to contrary beliefs, that I rarely have, and are willing to listen.  The great thing about  my family, which I think I gained from them, is that we are never quick to judge and always hear the other side of the story.  I think family, culture, and nationality do make up who I am, and I cannot imagine what I would be without them.

Kristen Danyal

I Am Who I Am…Thats It!

Growing up i have heard it all, hey you there “white girl”, or” hey are you mixed with anything, i just asked, because your hair is supper nice and long”..lol sometimes i don’t know what to do but laugh at half the comments i get and to tell them no all i am is black.! My mother is black and kind of caramel skin toned, and my dad is black and caramel skin toned. No other race but a pinch of indian in me that comes from my great grandmother on my mother’s side, which  is so little that it can never be counted as a mixture. It just so happens that my mother and father were both light skinned as children and they developed a high yellow baby..lol. I have been judged by friends, by family who constantly tease me because of the color of my skin, which sometimes hurt because i get so tired of defending myself, but it doesn’t break me. If that s the case i have been judged all of my natural born life. Being judged because of your skin and being categorized puts you in an automatic group(silverman and radar 267). For example, before people meet me they think that i am automatically uppity, and have a nasty attitude and just think so high of myself, when in all actuality that does not even describe me. I am more of a laid back soul that loves to laugh and joke and is very loving. Just because i am light skinned and have hair does not give reason for me to be of another race or doesn’t mean that i am an example of the stereotype…Though time has changed “race and ethnicity is the guide to much of our public lives”(silverman and radar 268),so sad but so the truth. People are sometimes so wrapped up in the stereotypes that they do not even try to listen or even get to know you to accept the person that you are instead of the person that they ASSUME you are..

Brittany M. Thomas

We are March 1, 2010

Within the first five minutes of talking to a stranger I usually ask what ethnicity they are. Ethnicity means a lot to me, but I never hold it against anyone. I’m the kind of person that remembers their roots simply because I cannot deny them . My mother was the first person on her side of the family to be born outside of Ireland. As a result, the majority of my family lives in Ireland and that factor had a play on my upbringings. Since my mothers parents were from Ireland I was raised in an Irish household. At a young age my Irish grandfather told me that “it doesn’t matter where the hell your from, it’s where your going”. This old sang  opened my eyes to accept people for who they are, even when ones ethnicty is obvious.

As I stated before, ethnicity means a lot to me. It can tell you about a person to some degree. I mean this in the best way possible because I believe everyone should be proud of their roots. On the other hand, some people hold too strong to their roots and find most abnormal behavior of sub-cultures deviant. History has proven countless times that,  beliefs tied to specific ethnicities can lead to blindness of reality. “To an overwhelming degree, these experiences are socially constructed”(Silverman Rader 267). In other words, it is society that creates ridiculous stereotypes and prejudice, in context to the world. While some people choose to stare at the treeline, I was raised to look at the horizon.

kevin cunningham

where i’m from…

Caitlin Tefend. I have a family, and we have a story. My family is french canadian, irish, and polish. I have a lot of family up in canada, and also some in poland as well. My family’s last name is “Quinn.”  My family is obviously one of them. I feel that my identity does not have too much to do with my heritage however. My family and I don’t practice too much of the polish, or irish traditions, however, we find that sometimes in our behavior or in our personality, it shines through. Identity I feel is something you achieve and make through your personality. So my identity is a family orientated, outgoing, exciting woman, and I hope I never lose my identity. My family is so important to me, and my boyfriend as well. I value my friends and my life in general. My family means more to me than anything, and I am so happy when im around them!  I have a huge family. My mother is one of eleven, so therefore my extended family is very big! I only have 2 brothers who are younger, so my cousins and my aunts are all close to me. “My views on family are dependant on my personal relationships with other people” (silverman and radar 272). I feel that family is an essential part of life, and I feel that they make me who I am, not my heritage. Another thing that is important to me is my boyfriend. We have been together for a long time, and we are grade school sweethearts. We adore eachother. “Relationships are vital” (silverman and radar 608). I feel this quote is so true, because my relationship with not only my boyfriend, but also with my family are so important to me, and I feel they are so vital for life. These are the types of things that make up my life.

 -Caitlin Tefend

All Women Are Not Ment To Be Housewives February 16, 2010

I am a woman who do not want to become a housewife. Although, I want to get married someday ,I cannot stand spending most of my time cleaning a house and taking care of kids. In order for me to become a housewife I have to be willing to be patient while working over ten hours a day. Because I lack patience, being a housewife is not an option for me.Since I was a kid, I have always wanted to attend college and earn a degree. I never, pictured myself as a homemaker. Instead,I was always an ambitious person who wanted to travel and do different things. I never, wanted to limit myself to one particular thing. In my opinion,becoming a housewife means giving up your dreams and ambition to care for you husband and children. You are pretty much scrafice almost everything you want or have accomplish, including your identity tocare for your family. When women decide to become housewives, they are choosing to leave the workforce to work at least twelve hours with no pay. In a society where women are highly ambitious, I consider myself to be one of them. I plan to continue my schooling up until I earn my Ph.D to increase my chances of having a high powered career. I also want to be financially independent and develop more skills which I would not be able to do if I was a housewife. I am a woman who believes that women can do anything, they have more options than becoming a housewife.  I have a lot going for me in my life that I do not plan on giving up.

DMMullen.

Gender and Sexuality

Gender and sexuality is one of the most controversial topics, as it should be it is not completely understood or accepted by many. Though they are both involved in controversy gender and sexuality are two totally different things. With gender it is more about your sex throughout your life and sexuality is the way that you were preceived at birth . “When we use gender we refer to socially constructed behaviors identify tags such as feminine and masculine”(Silverman and Radar 427). Being put into the catergory of  femine and masculine is the way that society has decided that everyone should be. It always seems to be a problem when males express themselve in any kind of femine way but it is okay for a female to have some tomboy tendencies. Though it is unfair that is the way that everything seems to play out. “Feminism(or femisms) can and should be supported by both men and women”(Silverman and Radar 430). The whole debate of most arguments refering to men and women is that men and women should be treated the same and there should be no judgement,but in regards to gender and sexuality there seems to be no equality. Either your a masculine boy or you are not categorized as the “RIGHT” way. There is completely a double standard, which is totally unfair and useless. Sexuality and gender has way more authority in controversy than it should. Mostly it comes from the minds of people who think that people are suppose to live a certain way, mainly closed minded. But Sexuality should depend on you and what makes you happy.

-Brittany M. Thomas

Really?

I used to do pageants, and supporters of pageants are primarily gay men, and then women.  I never really cared to understand the logic behind being gay or lesbian, but doing pageants enlightened me about it.  My trainer lived in Tennessee, and I went and visited him at his home where he and his boyfriend lived.  I knew he was gay but it meant nothing to me until I went to his house.  He and his boyfriend lived together, and they were more normal than any other couple I’ve ever known.  They love like we love, they care like we care, and they want like we want.  The one thing that struck me the most was when someone told me, “If his partner was in the hospital dying, that he would not be allowed in the room.”  Why is that fair.  You can not help who you love, and to deny someone to be with the person they love, even at the request of the patient, is totally wrong.  Ever since I heard that, it really hit me hard.  I completely changed my views about gay and lesbian couples.  I do, however, still admit, it’s weird to look at, but I don’t think that’s wrong on my part.  I was raised around such strong religious believers, and my friends were too.  “Perhaps the most influential source for our gender roles comes from our own families.” (Silverman and Rader 430)  Sometimes, I can’t understand transgender, or sex changes, but at least I know now not to judge.

Kristen Danyal

Yea, I’ve seen the Notebook. And yes, i liked it.

Not going to lie, to most people. my friends and I look like the stereotypical jocks. Always hanging out with each other, talking about football and hot chicks and cars. But i guarantee that there are a lot of things assumed about my friends and i that are not true. Like in The World is a Text, it says that men and women’s assumed roles in society define our behaviors, such as men being tough and strong, while women being refined and more caring. But i can also tell you that men also hide a lot of things they have done. I bet if you ask most of my friends if they have ever done something that people think is “feminine” or “gay”, they will say yes. How many tough guys do you think have seen the notebook but have never openly admitted it? Or any other chick flick? Whether it was because a girl wanted to see it, or even, God forbid, they wanted to. Yet we as guys never openly admit to it because of these social pressures we put ourselves under. We would never suggest to our group of friends to go see the same movie we told our girlfriends we wanted to go see. I believe this just shows how we want to be viewed by different people. When we are with a group of guys, we want to viewed as the stereotypic guy. But i think when we are around girls we naturally switch to a more sensitive type because that is who we are surrounded by. Like for me personally, i would feel more comfortable watching a chick flick with a bunch of girls, and not comfortable even if there was only one guy in the room with me. so i believe our surroundings help define our behaviors.

tyler staruch

Caitlin Tefend- Gender

When I was younger, I was raised as a Catholic. There was no talk about anything other that boy and girl. When you were born you came out a boy or a girl and that was the end of it. Boys liked girls, and girls liked boys.I grew up always thinking that, until about sophomore year of highschool. “We assume many things about gender, and we don’t even know exactly what it means” (Silverman and Rader 428).  My best friend began to show an interest in the same sex. I knew about lesbians and gays and things of that nature, but I had never experienced it. My best friend was one to always have a boyfriend. She was beautiful, and boys seemed to be drawn to her. She was in a relationship that was going great until she was cheated on and found out. The obviously broke up when she found out, because she did not take too well to things like that. She had been cheated on before, so this last relationship was the last straw. She threw in the towel and said to me “that’s it, I quit, from now on, I date girls.” At first I thought she was joking, but to my surprise she was not. She has continued to like girls and has had no further relations with any man. I feel that people can change. I don’t think you are born to like girls or boys or anything, I think your enviornment changes you into what you want. She now dresses like a boy, and wants to be one, soo I guess you could say shes….well I’m not even exactly sure haha. Anyways, I think people should be able to be what they want to be, and that society influences things such as gender everyday.

-Caitlin T

Tomboy&&Girly girl? Yes, please

When I was little I was a huge tomboy, hung out with the guys, climbed trees and all that jazz. As I grew up I grew away from the stage in my life and it made me who I am  today. I have played soccer for 10+ years of my life and I joined a premiere team in 7th grade. In 8th grade there wasn’t enough people to make another girls and another guys team so the girls joined the guys to play with them in a guys league. I was part of that and I was proud but the way I was used to playing soccer was a laughing matter to some of the guys. I wasn’t afraid to push them down or slide tackle but one main difference was that girls used their hips to their advantage and I learned guys didn’t. I tried to hip check a guy and he just laughed with all his other guys on his team. Sports are so segregated like how guys play football and girls play volleyball. Another example of how genders are suppose to act a certain way is “wearing high heels, earrings, makeup” (Silverman and Rader 428). A guy comes into my work and he is a cross dresser I’ve seen him wear makeup and carrying a purse and he likes to be called Amy. Now that I’ve seen him a couple times he just seems like a usual customer to me I don’t do a double take like I used to. It is a way of life for him and I’ve come to accept that and try my best not to judge.

http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/8/Gender-roles.html

Olivia Lewis

Gay? Fine by me!

Certain roles are set for male and female right from the time of birth. Boys are the ones who grow up playing with trucks and helping Daddy around the lawn while getting dirty versus girls who play with Barbie’s,  wear dresses and being clean while helping Mommy around the house and with shopping (Silverman, Radar 429). We as humans put ourselves under a stereotype in society where we feel we need to live up to certain expectations and roles. When people do certain things to break the typical roles that their gender plays in society they become almost like they’re not acting girl like or boy like as according to society. When a little boy tells his Mom that he wants to take dance lessons it is not something that is ok, generally the mother or father would freak out about this, but say there was a girl that wanted to go into a sport such as hockey, which is usually considered a boys sport or a “butch” sport, would be fine because this is a more common thing for girls to do. But why would it be wrong for a boy to want to take dance lessons? This is where gender role and society stereotypes come into play. No matter what aspect of life everyone is an equal, as this quote states: “We need to guarantee equal rights and civil rights and say that, here in America, workers have the right to organize – women have the right to choose – and justice belongs to everyone regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation.” I believe that no matter who you are, race, sexual orientation or religion, everyone is an equal and is entitled to the same rights and respect as everyone else.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/gender/gender22a.htm

E. Campbell

What’s the Difference? February 15, 2010

Gender and sexuality are both very similar ideas and or concepts but in order to understand either one must first come to know the differences between the two. Growing up, I was shown and taught the things that I should and should not like but I also gravitated towards certain things that more or less felt right. Society can be filled with pressure and its own ideas but I feel that as you grow as an individual some things come naturally when it comes to the point of making certain decisions. In my opinion the idea of gender is best viewed through the different gender roles that each sex plays in society. Gender roles in particular refers to a certain type of attitude that affects a persons behavior, and I think that as a young boy when you see your father taking out the trash and mowing the lawn it instills that attitude of being a man. The same idea applies to young girls when they see their mother in a dress or cleaning up around the house they may not have a desire to do the same things but what you see sometimes is what you expect. Sexuality, on the other hand can be understood differently in that it is seen as the traits a person has that makes them different from the opposite sex, be it male or female. I believe that sexuality should be seen through the biological aspect of life and that gender is more the psychological view towards the life that a person will lead.  This concept is best explained by words such as the identity tags we recieve like feminine and masculine as described in chapter 6 about gender (Silverman and Rader, 427). In today’s world whether or not one is a man or woman has become a decision instead of like in past times in which there really was no choice.

Check this out.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/917990-overview

Raymond L.

“You’re gay.” “Yes, I am.”

One subject we touched on in class, but didnt necessarily get too in depth about was homosexuality.  As someone is very close with many gays, i feel very strongly about the subject. “Women are better communicators, men are stronger; men like power tools, women like chick flicks” (Silverman Rader 429).  A majority of society thinks that this is the one and only way people should be. Granted most of society is this way, but what about the minority? They are so judged and it honestly is heartbreaking for me to see those that i care about very much get treated as though they are not real human beings. Of everyone that i have talked to who is homosexual, not a single person chose to be that way. They all feel as though they were born with it and grew up with some kind of sense, but obviously as a kid it is hard to place. This is also a fact, just because someone is gay, does not mean that they think every person of the same gender is attractive. Its funny to me that people who are not dumb think things such as these. Common sense everyone, common sense.  I dont care what anyone says i am all for gay rights. I know i was taught as a catholic that this was against God and against our faith, i dont care. I have seen people suffer for something that is not their fault. The Bible says that it is ok to have feelings towards those of the same gender, but it is a sin when you act on them. Yea ok, cause thats so easy to do right? I could write about this for hours but the bottom line is to not look down upon someone for who they really are. And im sure there are many people who have the same perspective as me so im not trying to say that everyone thinks badly of gays, im just speaking from the negative opinions that i have heard firsthand. But in short I LOVE THE GAYS, and everyone should have the privilege of having different kinds of people such as themselves in your life because they truly do bring a new light to everything.

http://gayrights.change.org/
-Breanna

Changing perspectives

When I was younger, one of the biggest jokes that kids would make was the ‘your gay’ jokes.  Many people assume that the men are the strong ones who are into power tools and cars, where girls are into cooking, dolls and fashion (Silverman, Radar 429). But what about those people who don’t fit these stereotypes. Back in the years before high school, no one I knew accepted homosexual people, or even males what had female qualities. At this age, the boys hung out with the boys and the girls hung out with the other girls. Based on these two groups, there didn’t seem like there was a group for the tom-boys, or the girly-boys to hangout with because they were not like the rest of the group. This is where all of the teasing started that didn’t help their self esteem. As the years went on into high school people became more understanding about homosexuals, however people were still kinda weirded out by them. I never had an exact opinion about homosexuals until a few months ago. On day I checked my Facebook inbox and one of my good friends from home sent me and a few other people a message saying that he is gay. At first i did not know how to respond to this message. At first i was weirded out by this new information, but after i thought about it, i know he is still the same person i grew up with and knowing what sex he is attracted to shouldn’t change my opinion about him. It also made me think about how hard it must be in a position like that. I could imagine living in a world that tells you how you should be but your body and mind telling you something else. Here is a link i found about some difficulties homosexual people have:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/13933-homosexuality/

-Jordan Houtby

Gender bender

 The anatomy of a human determines the sex of the individual. Gender is the “socially constructed behaviors and identity tags, such as “feminine” and “masculine.”(Silverman Rader 427). It is not uncommon for people to confuse sex with gender. Each gender has different expectation (varies across cultures)  to carry out,  which is a rough definition of a “role”. When you combine gender and role, you obviously get gender role. A gender role is the “set of behavoiral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as a male of female”(Conley, Dalton. You may Ask Yourself. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1998. Print). I believe that there is an average “mean” that our American culture has formed in regards to gender roles, however it seems to frown upon those that deviate from it. In other words, the American culture has developed values and norms that expects predictable behaviors. Sexual preference has a lot of emphasis placed on it in the American culture. When people of the opposite sex are in an intimate relationship, it is considered normal by nearly all. However when people of the same-sex form intimate relationships, it is frowned upon by a majority of the American culture. I personally feel that “gays” should be given the same respect as to people of “straight” preference. When people frown upon gays, I believe it is because they aren’t exactly comfortable with themselves. I will admit that when I was younger, I disapproved of gays, however I was an ignorant youngin. Nowadays I strongly believe that gays should be given the same rights as straights (marriage). Those who don’t believe in gay right’s are ignorant and subconsciously uncomfortable with themselves.

Kevin Cunningham

Detroit Rock City January 29, 2010

After moving from my igloo and small town in Canada, I feel like I have adjusted to the Detroit City life fairly well… Ok so I don’t actually live in an igloo, but coming from a small town in Canada was a big transition for me to make. I had always had the dream to come to the United States on a Lacrosse scholarship, but never knew that that dream would be real one day. After getting offers from schools all over the U.S I choose to come here for a few reasons, mainly the Lacrosse side of things and never thought twice about the area. When telling people where I was going they told me to watch my surroundings and to be careful, but isn’t that what you should do anywhere you go?

Hey class… January 28, 2010

Checking your blog posts, I was lead to another blog….I’ll post the address in the comment section. In it was a poem Jack White wrote about Detroit. I guess he made some comments about the negativity in the city, but felt like that wasn’t the whole picture. So he wrote this, and I thought I would re-post it for you, too:

The following poem is the Detroit from my mind. The Detroit that is in my heart. The home that encapsulates and envelops those who are truly blessed with the experience of living within its boundaries:

I have driven slow, three miles an hour or so, through Highland Park, Heidelberg, and the Cass Corridor. I’ve hopped on the Michigan, and transferred to the Woodward, and heard the good word blaring from an a.m. radio. I love the worn-through tracks of trolley trains breaking through their concrete vaults, As I ride the Fort Street or the Baker, just making my way home.

I sneak through an iron gate, and fish rock bass out of the strait, watching the mail boat with its tugboat gait, hauling words I’ll never know. The water letter carrier, bringing prose to lonely sailors, treading the big lakes with their trailers, floats in blue green chopping waters, above long-lost sunken failures, awaiting exhumation iron whalers, holding gold we’ll never know.

I’ve slid on Belle Isle, and rowed inside of it for miles. Seeing white deer running alongside While I glide, in a canoe. I’ve walked down Caniff holding a glass Atlas root beer bottle in my hands And I’ve entered closets of coney islands early in the morning too. I’ve taken malt from Stroh’s and Sanders, felt the black powder of abandoned embers, And smelled the sawdust from wood cut to rehabilitate the fallen edifice. I’ve walked to the rhythm of mariachis, down junctions and back alleys, Breathing fresh-baked fumes of culture nurtured of the Latin and the Middle East. I’ve fallen down on public ice, and skated in my own delight, and slid again on metal crutches into trafficked avenues.

Three motors moved us forward, Leaving smaller engines to wither, the aluminum, and torpedo, Monuments to unclaimed dreaming. Foundry’s piston tempest captured, Forward pushing workers raptured, Frescoed families strife fractured, Encased by factory’s glass ceiling.

Detroit, you hold what one’s been seeking, Holding off the coward-armies weakling, Always rising from the ashes not returning to the earth.

I so love your heart that burns That in your people’s body yearns To perpetuate, and permeate, the lonely dream that does encapsulate, Your spirit, that God insulates, With courageous dream’s concern.

– JACK WHITE

(posted by your humble teacher)

Detroit

Being from 100 miles south of detroit in a small rural town, many people thought I was crazy for wanting to come here. But the truth is that I feel safer in Detroit than I do back home because back home i have beef with people and they have arranged drive by shootings on me. In Detroit, I don’t have any beef with anybody.

Detroit seems really nice and how the media portrays Detroit seems mostly false to me. I feel safe walkin down the street in Detroit alone (something my mother forbids me from doing), most of the people are pretty friendly, and I see very little crime happen. However, Detroit is poor and run down as it is usually portrayed. Coming into someones living space gives clues as to who they are and what they are about (Silverman and Rader 482). That is how my perception of Detroit really took a swing toward the positive.

I also like how there is a large black population in Detroit. It helps me experience a new lifestyle different from my mostly village in Ohio. That is one reason why I chose Detroit, the different setting than back home. My parents think I only want to come here because of 1) Track, and 2) The vast selection of women (particularly black women). I don’t think they have any problem with me wanting to come here now.

Detroit is a lot nicer than what people say and starting out I thought it was going to be rough, however, my first few months have really made the picture clearer about how nice Detroit really is.

–Jeffrey “The Exodus” Senecal

Its so cold in the D

hey everyone,

So until a couple months ago i didnt spend too much time in Detroit unless i was visiting family. I know everyone gives Detroit all this crap because of its reputation and i know that i never gave it enough credit either, but i now have a whole new perspective about the city so many people call home. For my Intro to Education class, one of the requirements was that we visit a school to experience the classroom from a teachers perspective, considering thats what we all want to be in that class. The school i chose was Southwestern High School in Detroit http://www.detroit.k12.mi.us/schools/school/578 a family member is a teacher there and was more than willing to let me come observe her class. The first thing i thought walking in was this school is absolutely gorgeous. I come from a very small high school that was old, and not very well kept. This school though had so many beautiful qualities from the wood floors and big stairs to the high ceilings. I was in awe of how striking i thought it was. Now of course not all the kids were quite as beautiful haha, but i just could not get over how character the building had. I am a huge fan of old buildings and i love the look of older homes.  Often times when buildings give you a feeling, it is an intentional thing. The designers of the building you enter have every intention on giving you a certain feeling, whether it be good or bad (Silverman and Raders 481).  I found this very interesting because that happens to me a lot but i always just thought i was very observant haha i guess not.

-Breanna 🙂

Detroit

Many seem to have so many issues and opinions about detroit. Most of those opinions come from what they hear or the media’s broadcasting of only the “BAD” places. It also intrest me to hear some of these opinions from people who have never stepped foot into the city because either they are too scared or they come and only focus on the abandonment and the negative as opposed to what the positive could possibly be.  Growing up and being a resident from detroit I have experienced the good and the bad as any person would from their neighborhood. I am not going to  sit and say that Detroit is the best place to be and has no crime and is the best place to live, if i was to do so i would be telling a lie. Detroit is like any other city. It has its beauty and it has its flaws, its just more of the flaws come out of detroit than the beauty. “Space can be manipulative, comforting or both”(The world is a text pg 481). This just means that even the places that you have to adapt to or change with can be the very place that you are comfortable. I honestly feel that detroit is not as bad as many portray it to be. It mostly just people who are suppose to help the city pushing these issues off and just deeply wounding the city even more. “Detroit, Michigan is an amazing misjudged city with a wonderfully rich history”(historydetroit.com). “Detroit is a huge undertaking and will remain a work in progress for a long time”. I agree with this statement. Detroit is a amazing place that is always misjudged and is absolutely a working progress, I just wish that so many wouldn’t judge the city, especially if you’ve never been there, lived there or just focus on the negative.

-Brittany M. Thomas

Detroit

In October of 2009, Time Magazine shed light over the once reputable city of Detroit.  After getting so much flack for the ignorance they displayed in their exert, they decided to get the real story behind Detroit.  Time Magazine purchased a house in the middle of the city, and threw in seven of its own journalists to embark on this mission.  For one year they will keep a close look on the city of Detroit: its history, its current state, and its future.  Like the journalists on Assignment Detroit, people need to get over the cliches of this city and, instead, need to get a better idea of what it’s all about.  “No city has had more influence on the country’s economic and social evolution.”  (http://magazine-directory.com/Time.htm)  This is, perhaps, one of the most overlooked facts about Detroit.  We have all heard the stories from our parents about what it used to be back in the day, when they were young.  The graffiti covered buildings, the polluted streets, and the bums that sleep under the bridges can all be elements that give the identity Detroit has today–just as the clothes we wear give each individual their identity.  (Silverman and Rader 482) Seeing what it looks like now, its hard to grasp how something that was “so great” could turn into what it is now.  Too many people are apprehensive about the potential Detroit has, and until somebody steps up, the city remains the laughing stock of the nation.  In our own state, we are always told to be cautious, and to avoid the city at whatever cost. When I go out of town and tell somebody I am from Detroit, they automatically give this look like, “Really! You don’t look like your from Detroit”.  Not only do we, in metro-detroit, stereotype against this city, but so does everybody else around the U.S.  Until Detroit is given another chance, it will never rise above this long overdue standstill.
Kristen D.

Detroit

Detroit gets a bad reputation because people do not know the true beauty of it. People that do not live near Detroit believe it is so bad because they believe everything they hear. The media broadcasts all the negative situations in Detroit. Rarely is there something on the news about the positive aspects of Detroit. No other city has as much pride as we do for our sports teams. I went to the Kenny Chesney concert over the summer and they started talking about Detroit and the entire crowd cheered. We are in an economic land slide but put any other city on our shoes and they would never fight as hard us. However there are some people that are ashamed to be from Detroit. We need to stop looking at the negative and look at the positive. Hockeytown, I know we aren’t doing well right now but think of Red Wings History. http://redwings.nhl.com/club/stats.htm?season=20082009&gameType=3 We have won the Stanley Cup 11 times which is 3rd in the world. If you look for negative you will find negative. So start looking for the positive. I understand it is not like what it used to be. When Detroit was first envisioned it was a city with great jobs, houses and entertainment. They created Detroit to flourish and it did but things do change. We have a constant change in feelings due to what a place looks like ( Silverman and Rader 281). The bones and structure of Detroit as a whole is amazing; all it needs is an updated look. People expect Detroit to turn around and be gorgeous in a day. If you do not step up and do something about it then it will always look this way. When the Superbowl came to Detroit the city stepped up to the occasion and improved little things at a time to give it a good vibe. If we continue  in those paths we can make our dreams worth while. But you can’t sit around and do nothing! Donate to a food pantry, give your heart to the city and it will be greatful. Think of others over yourself. Everyone going to this school is fortunate enough to afford it even with the loans they are taking out.

Olivia Lewis

Detroit Rock City

After moving from my igloo and small town in Canada, I feel like I have adjusted to the Detroit City life fairly well… Ok so I don’t actually live in an igloo, but coming from a small town in Canada was a big transition for me to make. I had always had the dream to come to the United States on a Lacrosse scholarship, but never knew that that dream would be real one day. After getting offers from schools all over the U.S I chose to come here for a few reason, mainly the Lacrosse side of things and never thought twice about the area. When telling people where I was going they told me to watch my suroundings and to be careful, but isn’t that what you should do anywhere you go?

Often times when people are looking to move to a city, money can play a huge factor in where you decide to live. Detroit is known for its huge automotive industries, but is also home to a lot of big accounting firms. Unfortunately, many people that work for these companies, well the ones who make all the money anyways, are people who live outside the city. This meaning that all the people who live inside the city arent very wealthy and dont have the great jobs commuters do (Silverman and Rader 481). The cost of living in Detroit is very reasonable. “For a large city, Detroit has a surprisingly reasonable cost of living. The Cost of Living in Detroit is equal to the national average. One expense that is slightly higher is the cost of utilities, which is eight percent higher than the national average. However, the cost of utilities has a minimal impact on the overall cost of living.” This maybe being why a lot of lower class people live in the city, and maybe why people think the area is so bad.

http://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/Michigan-Detroit

E. Campbell

Detroit… January 27, 2010

When I first moved to michigan, the only thing i really new about detroit was that it had a horrible football team, decent baseball and basketball, a good hockey team, and i could get shot there. I was aware of the auto businesses, since my dads job forced us to move to michigan because of it. But all i heard of was the negativity surrounding the city. When i was recruited here, i think i had a different reaction than a lot of other people. My mom used to teach in the inner city of syracuse. No where near the violence of Detroit, but pretty close. According to syracuse.areaconnect.com, Syracuse actually had more thefts and almost as many murders in 2006 as Detroit. And this is where my mom worked and ten minutes from my house in suburbia. She had to be home by four to lower her risk of drive by shootings. She showed me my first drug deal as stopped at an intersection. And she showed me gangs. Naturally, it scared the crap out of me. I would visit her classroom adn read to her kids, all older than me, all black, and to me it helped in the long run. It taught me two important lessons. Don’t judge people because of the area they live in. 99% of the kids were just like us. yes there were the sketchy ones, but they also taught me lesson number two. sort of like bees, you don’t bother them, they dont bother you. The drug dealer me and my mom drove by actually waved to me. They just want to get it done. This all has to do with my perspective on Detroit because i was used to the city. I didnt get freaked out when i saw suspicous people. My first week here on the way to a frat i walked by a deal going down. It happens. My coach actually said it best. if you go looking for trouble, you will find it. If you mind your own business,  you will have no issues at all. So when i took my official visit here, i sort of enjoyed the city setting. Getting away from the cookie cutter suburban society was a nice change. And its not like we dont have royal oak and ferndale to go to if we wanna go out. So overall,being here is just a good experience. You just have to know where to look.

Tyler Staruch

Time for Change

When people are given bad news along with some good news, they tend to emphasize on the bad and look past the good. In my opinion this is how the city of Detroit is viewed. Many bad events have taken place throughout this city, but we hardly ever open our eyes to witness the good things that this city has to offer. Detroit is a dark, gloomy, mysterious place to most people. It is an abnormal place to those who haven’t taken the time to truly explore it. Detroit does have a ridiculously high crime rate, but we don’t realize how large of a city Detroit truly is. Anywhere you go there is the good, the bad, and the ugly, but sometimes we need to look past the bad to accept the good. This amazing city has so much to offer. Any sports fan knows that Tigers Stadium, Ford Field, and Joe Louis Arena are located here in Detroit. Sporting events are held here and they help add life to the city. Detroit also has The Detroit Zoo and Universities, like the one we are currently all attending that also add character to the city. I will admit Detroit can be an intimidating place at times I want to overcome that idea. I want Detroit to be referred to as the way my grandma used to describe it, “the happening place to be, where everyone would go to have a good time”. Certain places are meant to make you feel a certain way, and the things located there are meant to help manipulate that feeling (Silverman and Raider 481). Detroit has the ability to persuade those civilians who believe it is a terrible place, into believing it is not so bad of a place after all. My personal goal while attending University of Detroit Mercy is to get involved with the city and hopefully discover the unheard, hidden parts of it. I want to shine the light on the good parts and make the city come to life once again! “Detroit was being described as “the comeback city,” where according to the Chicago Tribune, “a new day may be dawning on this most maligned of America’s big cities.” (http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Midwest/Detroit-History.html). Let’s make this statement true again.

-Geri Gabrielson

Livin’ in the Big D

Detroit is a place that has been critisized for as long as most of us can remember. The problem is, it’s been critisized mostly by people who don’t know the city. It’s automatically assumed by outsiders that it’s a dangerous place to live and should be avoided. Yes, there are places in Detroit that are unsafe. But there are parts of this city that are spectacular and get sucked into Detroit’s overall reputation. Downtown is very beautiful.”Detroit is known for one of the most stunning collections of pre-depression architecture in the world.” (http://www.forgottendetroit.com/) There’s lights and resturants and sports attractions. Don’t get me wrong, there are places that should be bypassed. Neglect can change a public space (Sliverman and Rader 482). Detroit has abandoned many buildings that used to stand out.

My dad’s side of the family knows all about Detroit. My dad, uncle, and aunt all went to Cass Tech High School, my grandma works at the Ren Cen, my uncle is a Detroit cop, and my grandparents, uncle, and great aunt all live in Grosse Pointe and my sister has recently moved out there as well. So they know a thing or two about the city itself. When I told them that I was considering coming to UDM, they were uneasy. At first, I understood why. I didn’t really know anything about the city besides what I had been told. Let’s just say my opinion wasn’t in the city’s favor. It didn’t help that after I made the decision to actually come here, I got pepper spray for Christmas. Every time I made a trip down here, my mom would point out every gas station that I wasn’t allowed to stop at and every resturant I needed to avoid. But now that I live here, I’ve learned a lot about the city. It’s funny how I tell people that I go running outside the gates and they automatically get freaked out. I honestly feel very comfortable here. And guess what? I run outside of the gates BY MYSELF every Monday and I’m still here. But don’t tell my mom that.

~Alexandria Vintevoghel

My New Home

Before I came to this school I had never even considered living in Detroit. Whenever I heard the word Detroit, I would immediatly start thinking bad thoughts. I would think of robberies, massive shootings, gang fights, and homeless people.  I always thought Detroit was such a bad city, until I came here for school. First of all, I wasn’t too happy about the fact that I was going to the University of Detroit Mercy anyways.  I never even heard about it before and all I was thinking about is how i was going to get shot living there.  When the day arrived for me to visit U of D, the drive was absolutely horrible. I have never seen so many abandoned houses, alleys, or stores. A lot of places were boarded up and in very bad condition. There were a ton of shady people walking around; Whether they were homeless or not, I could not tell. On average, more than 9,500 individuals and famlies are homeless on a night in Detroit (http://www.cotsdetroit.org/cots/aboutus_stats.wml?section=aboutus). It’s such a sad thing to think about that but as I rode in the car, we did not stop to give any of them money. Let’s just say I was to frightened, and all I wanted to do at that point was to get into the safe, fenced in area of Detroit Mercy.

Although I had so many predisposed thoughts, I wish I wouldn’t have judged the city like the way I did that day because come to find out Detroit really isn’t that bad. Living at U of D has really opened my eyes to new things. I have been to down town Detroit, which is amazingly beautiful. There are so many things to do down town that I could never get bored. I think my favorite place so far has been Campus Martius. My friends and I went down there around Christmas time with all the lights and the tree right in the center. And who could forget about Detroit’s sports teams?! I am the biggest Piston’s fan ever! Detroit has so much potential to become such a great city if the people living here all come together and do some good for it. Silverman and Rader say it best in the book The World is a Text, ” the space that surrounds us says a number of things about that particular location”  (Silverman & Rader, pg. 482). I believe this statement to be very true about the city of Detroit. I bet once everyone works together this city could become a better place for people to enjoy.

-Brittany Cifka

Moving to Detroit

Near the end of my final year of high school in Canada,i began talking to College lacrosse coaches to hopefully receive a lacrosse scholarship. I talked to a few coaches, on being from UDM. When me and my family first thought about me going to school in Detroit, we felt that it could be dangerous based off of Detroit’s reputation. However, the coach was able to convince me to come to the campus for an overnight visit where I got to experience Detroit for myself. When we crossed the border, we were surrounded by nice buildings with bright lights and I thought it was amazing. But when we got off the highway and drove down city streets, I started to see a lot of abandoned homes with fire damage and broken windows. This made me feel a little uncomfortable because I did not know why these houses were like this. We finally got to the campus and once again I felt safe again. for some reason, the fences that surround the campus made me feel a lot better, even though if I thought about it, it would be pretty easy for someone to climb over it. It took some time but I finally decided that going to UDM would be a good decision. I have been here for five months now and have never felt like I was in danger. There has been the odd time where me and some friends have walked across the street to Burger King for lunch and a man has asked me if I wanted to buy some weed, but really, that can happen anywhere. Even though I am miles and miles away from home, UDM is still part of my home by bringing my own personalization to my dorm room. How we inhabit a space can create our identity (Silverman and Rader 481). So no matter where I am, I will always bring a piece of home with me, may it be a poster, picture, or even my Canadian flag. Just like Elvis Presley said “home is where the heart is” (http://www.mp3lyrics.org/e/elvis-presley/home/), and right now, my heart is in Detroit.

-Jordan Houtby

Detwa

I’ll admit that I know very little about Detroit’s history. I will say that I have learned a lot about Detroit and it’s people since I started going to UDM. Whenever I go out-of-state and introduce myself to people, I tell them that I live thirty-two miles North of Detroit. I don’t consider my hometown part of Detroit because it’s simply not in Detroit city limits. However when I mention Detroit in relation to my hometown, its usually brings a negative response. Personally I take offense to negative responses about Detroit now that I’ve lived here for a few months.  I have learned in these past couple months that Detroiters near my age participate in a lot of the same activities that I do in my hometown. It actually cracks me up as to how similar my hometown is to Detroit. My hometown doesn’t have similar ascetics that  Detroit  has but is similar in simpler regards, which I’m not at liberty to share. In some cases entire communities determine how a city can look (Silverman, Rader 481). In other words, people of a community have a significant effect on how a city is percieved physically and psychologically. People leave Detroit in attempt to find a sense of “security”, but this is somewhat ridiculous in my opinion. When people move out of the city they believe they are leaving the cities problems behind. In Guterson, David. “No Place like Home.” Seeing and Writing 3. Ed. Donald McQuade. Bedford:St. Martin’s, 2006. 183-90, Guterson explains how people leave crime ridden cities in search of security. The moral of this essay is that the people who move to the suburbs in search of “security”, are mistaken and foolish to think that crime won’t follow. Small scale crime has always been in my hometown and I ironically love it. Detroit offers a lot more freedom than what my hometown offers and non-residents dont see that. It seems as if people want predictable lifes and avoid areas where their not in control. Some parts of Detroit offer an unpredictable enviroment, and I mean that in the best way possible. I simply love Detroit.

Kevin Cunningham

Okay, who wants to go for a walk… on the wild side?

Hello.

When you think of “taking a walk on the wild side,” a day at the zoo may come to mind, or perhaps stepping outside of the typically accepted norms. Beyond UDM’S limits, there are two types of zoos: the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Zoo. The first is safe and has camels, monkeys, giraffes, and prairie dogs. The second zoo has gangs, violence, potholes, abandoned buildings and poverty. Detroit is a zoo all on its own. Unless you have an open-mind, negative things always outnumber the bad. Detroit has its pros and cons. Let’s focus on both…

Starting with the weird, the Detroit police had a controlled pillow fight in April 2009 Downtown. Interested in more? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30070062/ How fun right? A subliminal way to let us know we should hit our roommate with a pillow as hard as we can instead of searching for a gun somewhere.

What is ugly about Detroit? Sports fans may say the Lions. Drivers may say the roads. Architects may say the buildings (though, some are very beautiful).

And the unruly – gangs stick together and most of the time, are up to no good. A gang spray painted all over the Dairy Queen I work at. We keep repainting. 😦 Public landscapes are destroyed by graffiti (in our eyes) perhaps public art (to them) – The World is a Text (Silverman and Rader 483)

Detroit also has its unusual aspects. In December 2007, a 7 year old girl jumped in front of her mom to save her from a gunman (the mom’s ex-boyfriend), and got shot 6 times. They are both living. Wow.

You can’t always expect to live somewhere perfect. Not all areas of the zoo are going to be safe. You can always be aware. Quote of the day:

“Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings.” – Evan Esar

Lori E. Allan

Intro! January 21, 2010

Hi, my name is Kristen Danyal.  I am 19 years old.  I am a sophomore now.  I was in the 5-year PA program, but have recently transferred over to Business-Finance.  Luckily, I am not behind!  I hope this is something I will enjoy more, and will find myself wanting to do this in the future.  This is one of my first writing classes, and I am looking forward to becoming a better writer.

Kristen Danyal

Introducing Myself

Hey,
I’m not a lumber jack
Or a fur trader
And I don’t live in an igloo
Or eat blubber
Or own a dog sled
And I don’t know Jimmy, Jally or Suzie from Canada
Although I’m sure they’re really really nice
I have a Prime Minister not a President
I speak English and French not American
And I pronounce it about not “a-boot”
I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack I believe in peacekeeping not policing
Diversity not assimilation
And that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal
A toque is a hat a chesterfield is a couch
And it is prnouced “zed” not “zee” “zed”!
Canada is the 2nd largest landmass!
The 1st nation in hockey!
And the best part of North America
My name is Jordan and I am Canadian!

I know a lot of you will find this funny but most of these lines are true. I got this from a Molson Canadian commercial. One thing I would like to point out is that I do not call a couch a chesterfield, and have never heard of anyone calling it that. So anyways my name is Jordan Houtby, and I am a freshman here at UDM. I am on the lacrosse team here and I play LSM(long stick midfielder), so basically I get to run around and hit kids with a six-foot pole. I really like it here at UDM and have made the transition from high school to college very quickly. Weekends are always a blast here, so if you are bored, come to the 4th floor on shiple where there is always something going on.

By Jordan Houtby