Murky
I’ve been staring at my computer screen for about an hour thinking about what to say about Middlesex. The book is a consummate force of Greek-American culture, carried by the development of the American City and glossed over by the story of Calliope Stephanides. But as it says volumes about Detroit, or the miseducation of yia yia, it doesn’t say enough about Cal himself. Though the book is full of sexual scenes, it just dawned on me that there is hardly an account of Cal or Callie engaging in sex with a partner that is fully awake, alert and reciprocating. The book’s collective silence
Take Callie’s first experience with Jerome. It is problematic because the experience suggests mere tacit approval of sex at best. It doesn’t help that both are under the influence of drugs and alcohol. And from her behavior the next morning (spurning Jerome’s advances), we see that Callie is largely unhappy with the encounter. Cal does not describe or intimate what Callie is thinking or feeling about it. We only have events and we are left to draw our own conclusions at the end.
Callie’s sexual relations with the Obscure Object only happen at night, where she is the active practitioner and her partner feigns sleep. Though Cal goes into great detail to describe Callie’s euphoria in consummating her romantic feelings for her inamorata, the relationship is peculiar because the Obscure Object is just that–an object. It is an object that is used with the utmost care and sincerity, but the girl is an object for Callie’s sexual affection. Like an inanimate object, the Obscure Object does not actively return any of the practitioner’s caresses.
Cal describes the shared sexual dysfunction between himself and his college girlfriend–a relationship that isn’t presented sexually. All we are left with is an image of commiseration between the two lovers. And at last, we have the relationship between Cal and Julie, which leaves sex to the imagination of the book’s readers.
When we string together Calliope’s sexual experiences in the book, we don’t receive enlightenment or clarity about sexuality, sex, dating or even the intersex movement. We are left with an understanding that sexuality is murky. Cal’s sexuality cannot be easily defined, but I got a vague understanding through his choice of words and his description of events. His older counterpart aside, I wasn’t surprised when Callie decided to run away when she did. Her descriptions of the crocus were poignant and it seemed as though she had an affinity, rather than an abhorrence to it.
Rather than feeling enlightened about my own sexuality, this book at the end of the course left me feeling aware that I am not very aware at all. Perhaps I should look to traveling west like Cal.
Tags: Middlesex
