Middlesex

Nolan Burgos

Dr. Vedal

Borders, Boundaries, and Belonging

November 10, 2014

Intersex and Gender Identity

The life of an intersex person is much different than it would be for someone of either the male or female sex. As someone that has never had to experience the difficulties that an intersex person might have to, I ponder what these difficulties might be. Many authors have tried to explain what life is like for them, but it is not an easy task. In Middlesex, written by Jeffrey Eugenides, we are shown the story of an intersex person that lived many years thinking they s(he) was a female. This character, which likes to be referred to as Cal, was instrumental to my new interest in what the lives of an intersex person is like. There are so many areas of life that would be different for an intersex person, and I’m curious to see what insecurities these differences bring about. I wonder how the decisions made by others have direct effects on those who are intersex, and how those who are intersex react to them.

To understand how intersex people are treated differently, we must first have an understanding of how people of the male and female gender are treated. Throughout the duration of history, males and females have experienced different treatment. In most cases, males have been treated and viewed as superiors, while females have been pretty much told they must be submissive to men. Our view of the separate genders will greatly affect our views of those that are intersex, so we must determine how we perceive gender and why our perception is what it is.

Many people have dedicated time to learning the scientific differences between intersex people and males or females. With the new knowledge of these differences, there are also societal views that are shifted. Some might see the genetic mutations these intersex people have and wonder what gender they would fall in when asked the question “male or female?” We are then posed a problem of sexing the...