Blog Post #5

I added the question marks because at this point in the book Callie is not only confused about what's going on, she's also confused about what she is and her gender identity. The question mark replacing her body shows that she's aware that she's no longer a girl but she doesn't know what that means.

Blog Post #4

Current events

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/gender-identity-versus-attraction-apples-oranges-bruce-jenner/story?id=30570293

I chose this article because it discusses Bruce Jenner and his transition from male to female but more specifically he talks about the difference between one’s sexuality and one’s gender identity. Gender identity basically refers to how an individual sees themselves and who they are as a person whereas sexuality has to do with who you’re attracted to and what you desire. He also says that although your gender identity can change, your sexuality doesn’t change based on that, most likely it will stay the same. The two are extremely similar and have a lot in common although they don’t directly affect one another. In Middlesex, Callie grows up gaining feelings for girls like the Obscure Object even though she sees herself as a girl because that’s how she identifies herself. Although when Callie becomes Cal, his interest in girls doesn’t change. He doesn’t start finding himself attracted to men, he remains attracted to females so although Calliope’s gender identity and how she sees herself has changed, her sexuality and what she desires hasn’t changed. Although the situation is extremely different because Calliope isn’t a transgender but rather a hermaphrodite although it’s not a question of whether you’re a transgender or not because your gender identity can extend far beyond being a transgender. It’s just what you see yourself as and Calliope begins to see him/herself as a male rather than a female and Cal’s desires don’t change over time, he remains interested in females throughout the entire book. When Callie was younger, her liking boys seemed weird and she didn’t know if it was the right thing which may have caused her to question her sexuality. Her gender identity was not questioned until she learned about her condition because she then began to see herself differently than she did before.

Blog Post #3

Key Passage

“Mr. da Silva had spent a summer in Greece six years before. He was still keyed up about it. When he described visiting the Mani, his voice became even mellower than usual, and his eyes glistened. Unable to find a hotel one night, he had slept on the ground, awaking the next morning to find himself beneath an olive tree. Mr. da Silva had never forgotten that tree. They had had a meaningful exchange, the two of them. Olive trees are intimate creatures, eloquent in their twistedness. It’s easy to understand why the ancients believed human spirits could be trapped inside them. Mr. da Silva had felt this, waking up in his sleeping bag. (321-322).

In the chapter, “The Obscure Object”, we are introduced to Callie’s English teacher, Mr. da Silva. She speaks very highly of him and discusses his background a little bit and it seems as though she is really intrigued by him and his stories he has to tell. She also feels a strong connection to Greece which is where she is from which I think allows her to see Greece from a different perspective, other than her family’s. I think the word keyed is extremely significant because it shows us how much Mr. da Silva is holding onto his experience in Greece. He isn’t just still thinking about it, he’s really “fastened” up and the significance the trip had on him is clearly still there. The way she describes him talking about it and how his eyes don’t just light up, but they glisten and they shine which just shows us how happy it makes him to even talk about it. Callie also reiterates his story as if she were there and as if she really understands how it makes him feel. When she talks about the olive tree, she says “they had had a meaningful exchange, the two of them”, it almost sounds as if she’s talking about two humans having a really meaningful and strong bond upon their first encounter. Knowing that he’s spoken so highly of a tree really tells us a lot. It’s as if the tree is being personified. You can’t necessarily have an exchange with a tree like you would with another person. She also says, “olive trees are intimate creatures, eloquent in their twistedness”, this phrase is so significant in itself. The us of the word intimate to describe the trees because usually trees can’t be intimate. The word eloquent makes us think of smooth and meaningful and this tree is really being brought to life.

Blog Post #2

While reading about how Calliope feels when she is supposed to be going through puberty- while everyone already is, it puts me back in time to when I was in middle school. I don’t consider myself a late or an early bloomer because I have friends who got breasts and got their periods when they were in 5th grade and others who got it months after I did. I got my period a week after my birthday in 7th grade and it didn’t really shock me or anything because it was expected, I just wasn’t sure what to do and puberty wasn’t always something that was occupying my mind. While most of my friends had gotten their periods already and had had them for a while, I was just thinking about when I would get mine although I knew no matter when I got it that I would get it. Calliope observes, “Boys are getting peach fuzz on upper lips. Foreheads and noses are breaking out. Most spectacularly of all, girls are becoming women. Not mentally or emotionally even, but physically. Nature is making its preparations. Deadlines encoded in the species are met” (286). Cal believes that there is a specific time for everyone to go through puberty, together and so she’s concerned because she seems to be the only one not meeting this “deadline”. Unlike Cal, I grew up understanding that puberty is different for everyone and when it happens, it happens and it doesn’t need to happen at the same time as everyone else. This calmed me and made me realize that theres no rush to going through puberty. Everyone’s body works differently and it’s a natural thing we all go through. It only started to bother me when I noticed that my friends who had gotten their periods after me were really starting to develop breasts and I wasn’t. Of course, again, I understood that not everyone is going to grow massive boobs but it was still something I wanted that everyone else seemed to be getting. I realized shortly after that everyone is different and there was really no reason for me to get bothered by it. I’m happy with my body and the way that I am and I think considering the age that we are at now, most people are and puberty for everyone seems like almost a century ago. I can understand Calliope’s frustration especially as it’s clear that everyone is going through puberty and she’s the only one thats been left behind. Neither Tessie or Milton has talked to Calliope about puberty or anything related to it so it makes it a lot more difficult when everything Calliope knows is just from observation and she doesn’t have anyone to really reassure her that everything will be okay.

Blog post #1

When reading Middlesex I see a lot of connections to different texts in different parts of the book but in book 3, specifically in the chapter, “Opa!” I saw many connections to Persepolis, a book I read last year. Persepolis is the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi discussing her childhood to adulthood during and after the Iranian Revolution. The entire novel is a memoir so everything is seen from her point of view, even during times where she wasn’t sure what was going on. After the Iranian Revolution, girls were required to wear a veil and as Marjane comes from a religious yet modern family she struggled with remembering and wanting to wear it, especially compared to other young girls and females in Tehran during this time period. Even that reminds me of Cal in a way where they’re both so young during these times and they’re really thinking about their identity and who they really are and thats why change is so difficult for both of them despite how different their situations truly are. Both Cal and Marjane come from an important background and have grown up with supporting and loving parents. Marjane’s parents follow the revolution and protect Marjane in any way they possibly can. Both Cal and Marjane live in the middle where everything is being burned and destroyed. Marjane’s parents work hard to protect their own house as they’ve seen what has happened to their neighbor’s homes. Cal’s father sits inside the Zebra room, scared and protective over this diner that means so much to the family; he sits and watches as everything in the street burns to ashes, hoping that the diner isn’t the next target. Reading this part of Middlesex immediately made me think of Persepolis because both Marjane and Cal are at such a young age during the Detroit Riots and the Iranian Revolution so it’s very difficult for them to experience it and really understand what’s going on.