Living beyond binarism, A story of self-identification and acceptance in Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex"

It wasn’t difficult to pour my identity into different vessels. In a sense, I was able to take whatever form was demanded of me –(Jeffrey Eugenides, 2002, p. 400)

Introduction

The binary gender system in most Western countries has been responsible throughout centuries for having conceptually classified individuals based on their biological sex. This classification method based on the distinction of male/female assumes the idea that one's gender automatically coincides with the biological sex, which is assigned to us at birth. What would happen, though, if a person was placed in the incorrect category? Or what if one felt to belong to both?

These are just a few of the questions Cal/Calliope Stephanides, the main character of "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides ponders throughout her life. Cal was originally born as Calliope, at birth she was assigned female sex and consequently a female gender. However, around puberty, an accident reveals that the girl has male secondary sexual features due to a recessive mutation of the 5-alpha gene. Moreover, the character began questioning whether it would be acceptable to live in the middle. This idea of existing outside the socially constructed categories of gender is also defined as non-binary, and it is a crucial theme analysed by queer studies.

Gender studies provided the foundation for the development of Queer theory. The name “queer” dates back to the 90s, and its adoption was perceived as an attempt to reclaim the word which had been previously used in a homophobic context. One of the most important concepts in this theory is that gender and sexuality cannot be defined and that the boundaries between the two are shifting, fluid, blurred and ever-changing. Therefore, applying this methodological analysis to the story of Cal/Calliope Stephanides as narrated by Jeffrey Eugenides in Middlesex, felt suitable. This analysis aims to examine the protagonist's life over time, focusing on themes important to queer studies, and lastly to try to comprehend the character's final choice, as well as any future implications and their impact on society.

Figure 1: The Birth of Venus, William-Adolphe Bouguereau

The apparent conformity

“I was born twice: first as a girl on a remarkably smogless day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974” (Eugenides, 2002, p.12 )

The novel's opening sentence clearly states that Calliope spent the first 14 years of her life living as a girl. Before her birth, the reader is repeatedly informed that her mother Tessie was desperate for a girl, to the point of resorting to bizarre ways of conception to ensure the delivery of a kid of the desired gender. Therefore, before she is even born, she is already subjected to all of the expectations and wishes that accompany the arrival of a newborn girl: “Starved for a daughter, Tessie went a little overboard in dressing me. Pink skirts, lace ruffles, Yuletide bows in my hair ...”(Eugenides, 2002, p. 161). She eventually grew up as a girl, responding to what was socially required of her by the gender and sex assigned. Years later when she is taken to Dr Peter Luce's Clinic, to prove his theory that gender is established in the first years of life, he repeatedly plays her a video of her as a child playing with a doll and looking after her as a mother would. However, nowadays this theory is considered obsolete as it has been proven in recent years that children genuinely play with whatever is proposed to them; as a result, parents are the ones that steer a child towards a specific game and the gender typically associated with it. According to Melissa Hogenboom: “It’s no surprise then that preschool children learn to identify with their gender so young, especially as parents and friends tend to give children toys associated with their gender early on” (2021). The same logic applies to clothing: the child adapts to what is offered and, over time, adopts the family's conceptions. Calliope's acceptance of the proposed attire and games does not imply that she identifies as female, but rather that she accepts activities and clothes regardless of gender.

Figure 2: The Three Graces, Edouard Bisson

Calliope's childhood proceeds quietly and she lives an ordinary life without doubts about her identity:

"I was brought up as a girl and had no doubt about this"(Eugenides, 2002, p.162 ). The adult Cal claims he never felt out of place as a little girl. A dividing line is instead drawn between Calliope and her peers as she enters adolescence and hormonal changes. The first change Calliope notices in her friends is the development of their bodies as well as their attitude towards them, a sense of elusiveness and modesty. Calliope's first impression is of alienation; she is confused, and she hopes that her body will soon evolve in the same way as her classmates. The comparison with the other girls becomes inevitable: “I looked down at my own body. There it was, as usual: the flat chest, the nothing hips, the forked mosquito-bitten legs” (Eugenides, 2002, p. 201). Calliope's major concern, however, is not her body's lack of development, but rather being excluded as a result of it: "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, 2002, p. 202)

As stated by Debra Shostak: “Callie's desire for recognition partakes entirely of the binary heterosexual system of identification according to which normative sexual organs express one of two possible gender categories. The system has no room for interstitial sexual bodies or subjectivities"(Shostak, 2008). In addition, as Calliope male secondary sexual features develop, this sensation intensifies even more. The urge to conform to other girls will lead her to fake her period and even deceive her mother.

The encounter with a girl, also known as "Obscure Object", will mark a decisive moment in Calliope's life. She sees the girl as her best friend, as well as her first sexual interest and object of desire. This friendship sharpens and emphasizes, even more, the physical differences between the two. In her company, Calliope has her first sexual experience with the two sexes. These experiences subconsciously make Calliope realize that she is something completely different from anyone else: “For the first time clearly understood that I wasn’t a girl but something in between” (Eugenides, 2002, p. 268).

Figure 3: Diana leaving her bath, Guillaume Dubufe

Sudden Awareness

What is the meaning of being "in-between"? Dr Luce is the first to visit Calliope after her accident and to respond to the question, even if in an outdated and approximate way: she was born with ambiguous genitalia, but raised as a girl therefore according to Luce she can be identified as female. Intersex is the term used in contemporary society to refer to these people. Eugenides, however, chooses to use the term "hermaphrodite". The author's choice was highly criticized by the intersex community, who thought the term was disrespectful. Eugenides, on the other hand, replied to critiques by claiming that "Middlesex, however, grows out of Greek mythology […] when I use the term hermaphrodite, I'm referring not to a person or a group of people but to a literary character” (2007). According to Olivia Banner, Dr Luce's character seems to be inspired by sexologist John Money. Money has been a controversial figure in gender studies due to his ideologies and conceptions regarding gender roles and orientation. According to Money, gender is not intrinsic and innate in individuals but can be forced or influenced by the surrounding environment. Similarly to Money, Dr Luce tries to prove his theory using Calliope’s case. The girl is subjected to continuous questions, numerous exams and then asked to write an autobiography. Recognizing Luce's intentions, the girl chooses to lie and accommodate him, as she believes to be left alone if she does so. Unfortunately, this tactic worsens the situation, since it is decided, in agreement with the parents, that Calliope is unmistakably a girl and that surgery will be performed to resolve "the ambiguity". This type of operation is still performed today on newborns with genital 'abnormalities', to assign them a gender to accommodate the binary masculine/feminine system. The author, using Cal's voice at the beginning of the novel, intends to criticize this brutality and hopes that the medical world will cease treating intersex genitals as deformities: “The first step in that struggle is to convince- the world and paediatric endocrinologists in particular- that hermaphroditic genitals are not diseased” (Eugenides, 2002, p. 82).

Many intersex people, in fact, are unable to fully identify themselves with just one gender but embrace both categories. Furthermore, operating on infants who are still unaware of their identity could have disastrous effects later in life. This unfortunate situation can be observed in David Reimer's case, a Canadian boy who, after a failed circumcision in neonatal age, was raised as a girl following the advice of John Money himself, who also prescribed him hormonal treatments to make him develop as a woman. Though as a child, Reimer never felt comfortable with his identity and once discovered the truth he de-transitioned. He committed suicide in 2004.

Figure 4: Sleeping Hermaphroditus

Luckily Calliope's fate is different. She decides to flee after discovering the doctor's plans. Her escape is a clear attempt to regain control over her body. The "extortion" conceived by Luce cannot, therefore, take place. Before leaving, however, she writes a note to her parents in which she asserts: "I am not a girl, I'm a boy" (Eugenides, 2002, p. 301).

This sentence might seem contradictory after having repeatedly declared that she lives interchanging from one gender to another. However, it should be kept in mind the protagonist's sense of urgency and confusion, as she loses her sense of self and is forced to deal with a whole new identity. Her note is still signed as "Callie", the nickname given to her during her childhood by her parents.

A New Identity

In this narrative point, Calliope's pronouns and name change, and a transition from Calliope (she/her) to Cal (he/him) occurs. Consequently, the same convention will be used to refer to the protagonist. Cal's journey across the United States represents his search for a new identity. According to Judith Halberstam, the theme of travel, escape, and thus the expedient of migration and crossing borders is frequently used as a metaphor for the situation in transsexuality. Cal tries to comprehend his body, making it his own. Nevertheless, even as a male, he finds himself reliving the sense of inadequacy experienced by his peers during puberty. Just as he has faked his menstrual cycle, now he finds himself imitating men around him:

"Like a convert to a new religion, I overdid it at first. Somewhere near Gay, Indiana, I adopted a swagger. I rarely smiled. My expression throughout Illinois was the Clint Eastwood squint. It was all a bluff, but so was it on most men. […] Now and then I fell out of character. Feeling something stuck to the bottom of my shoe, I kicked up my heel and looked back over my shoulder to see what it was, rather than crossing my leg in front of me and twisting up my shoe. I picked correct change from my open palm instead of my trouser pocket. Such slips made me panic, but needlessly. No one noticed. I was aided by that: as a rule people don’t notice much." (Eugenides, 2002, p. 317-318)

The imitation process mostly works, although Cal himself tells us sometimes Calliope surfaces. Calliope's interferences may appear to be nothing more than the residue of living as a female for so long. Despite his self-identification as a "boy," it is plausible to hypothesize that he feels equally man and woman. His perception of himself isn’t stable, therefore even his performativity changes. There is no longer a real difference between masculine and feminine as both unconsciously live in Cal and change cyclically depending on the situation. This assumption is supported by the 40-year-old Cal, who states at the beginning of the novel:

Figure 5: Psyche Weeping, Kinuko Y. Craft

“I operate in society as a man. I use the men’s room. Never the urinals, always the stalls […] When Calliope surfaces, she does so like a childhood speech impediment. Suddenly there she is again, doing a hair flip, or checking her nails. It’s a little like being possessed. Callie rises up inside me, wearing my skin like a loose robe. She sticks her little hands into the baggy sleeves of my arms. She inserts her chimp’s feet through the trousers of my legs. On the sidewalk I’ll feel her girlish walk take over, and the movement brings back a kind of emotion, a desolate and gossipy sympathy for the girls I see coming home from school. This continues for a few more steps. Calliope’s hair tickles the back of my throat. I feel her press tentatively on my chest—that old nervous habit of hers—to see if anything is happening there.” (Eugenides, 2002, p. 36-37)

Then, why does Cal "operate as a man in society"? After developing a character with such a complex identity, why did Eugenides decide to make him conform to the binary gender system? Some members of the intersex community have criticized the author's choice which fails to challenge social conventions and to develop a new perspective of this theme in literature. Regarding Cal's choice instead, the most plausible hypothesis is that it was far easier for him to adapt to an existing system and live a life as a straight man. Cal's story ends in the early 2000s. Perhaps things would have turned out differently for him today. Thankfully, much has changed in the past 20 years, and the LGBTQI + community is becoming increasingly alive and more and more countries are committing to ensuring rights and equity for all. Currently, in nations such as New Zealand, Germany, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, a new administrative category known as "third gender" has been developed, which transcends the binary distinction between man and woman or male and female. However, there is still a long way to go and fights to be fought to ensure that everyone is treated equally and with respect.

Conclusions

From the analysis presented in the article, several conclusions can be drawn regarding the themes and narrative of self-identification and acceptance in "Middlesex". The novel challenges traditional binary gender norms by portraying Cal/Calliope's journey of self-discovery and acceptance beyond the confines of male and female categories. The narrative highlights the fluidity of gender identity and the complexities of navigating societal expectations while embracing one's true self. Cal undergoes a complex journey of self-discovery and acceptance, grappling with his intersex identity and navigating societal expectations. While Cal struggles with his identity and experiences moments of confusion and internal conflict, he ultimately reaches a point of self-acceptance and understanding. Towards the end of the novel, he reflects on his experiences and acknowledges the different facets of his identity, including both his male and female characteristics. Despite the challenges he faces in conforming to societal norms and expectations, he learns to embrace his true self and find a sense of peace within his identity. While Cal's journey is marked by struggles and uncertainties, his ability to come to terms with his identity and find a sense of self-acceptance suggests a positive trajectory towards embracing his unique identity beyond traditional gender binaries.

Bibliographical References

Athanassakis, Yanoula. ‘The American girl I had once been’:Psychosomatic trauma and history in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex’, European Journal of American Culture 30: 3, 2011, pp. 217–230, doi: 10.1386/ejac.30.3.217_1.

Banner, Olivia. “‘Sing Now, O Muse, of the Recessive Mutation’: Interrogating the Genetic Discourse of Sex Variation with Jeffrey Eugenides’ <em>Middlesex</Em>.” Signs, vol. 35, no. 4, The University of Chicago Press, 2010, pp. 843–67, https://doi.org/10.1086/651038.

Carrol, Rachel. “Retrospective Sex: Rewriting Intersexuality in Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex.” Journal of American Studies, vol. 44, no. 1, [Cambridge University Press, British Association for American Studies], 2010, pp. 187–201,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40648696.

Carroll, Rachel. “‘First One Thing and Then the Other’: Rewriting the Intersexed Body in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex.” Rereading Heterosexuality: Feminism, Queer Theory and Contemporary Fiction, Edinburgh University Press, 2012, pp. 111–30, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt3fgtnm.9.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador/Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2003. Print. European Institute for Gender Equality, https://eige.europa.eu/?lang=it. 

Halberstam, Judith, “Female Masculinity”,Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1998, 165

Hogenboom, Melissa, “The gender biases that shape our brains”, 2021 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210524-the-gender-biases-that-shape-our-brains.

Intersex Society of North America, “Who was David Reimer (also, sadly, known as John/Joan)?”, https://isna.org/faq/reimer/. 

Shostak, Debra. “‘Theory Uncompromised by Practicality’: Hybridity in Jeffrey Eugenides’ ‘Middlesex.’” Contemporary Literature, vol. 49, no. 3, [Board of Regents of

the University of Wisconsin System, University of Wisconsin Press], 2008, pp. 383–412, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27563803. 

ZEILER, KRISTIN. “A Phenomenology of Excorporation, Bodily Alienation, and Resistance: Rethinking Sexed and Racialized Embodiment.” Hypatia, vol. 28, no. 1, [Hypatia, Inc., Wiley], 2013, pp. 69–84, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23352276.

Visual References