Social Development in Middlesex - Essay Example

Social Development in Middlesex Introduction Most researchers argue that human beings selectively attend to social stimuli based on their own individual desires, goals, and unique developmental histories. This essay will discuss how social development is portrayed in Middlesex basing the arguments on a number of psychological writers. The paper will explore different ways in which Middlesex challenges traditional beliefs about gender leading to social development. As the paper analyses the character traits and experiences of one of the main characters in the novel (Cal/lie), it also shows how the author criticizes traditional thinking about gender identity and how he seems to encourage a broader acceptance for every individual in the society (Eugenides, 2011). The following essay basis its arguments on the perspectives of social development theories. These include such as cognitive development theories. Cognitive theory states that an abstract concept merges with social development norms. Additionally, traits dependent on individual characteristics socially inform ideologies and values. According to the cognitive theory, traits of an individual organize into super-ordinate classifications. Another theory that will referenced in this essay is a group socialization theory. Summary of Middlesex Middlesex is a narrative novel explaining a gene that goes through three generations. The novel narrates a story of Calliope Stephanides who at the age of 14years decides to live as a male. Cal traces the truth about his transformation from a female to male and his genetic condition from his parents who were a brother and sister. In accordance with a cognitive theory of social development, Cal’s behavioural change to become a male is influenced by environmental, people, and behavioural factors. The isolation, hate, and discrimination from people in the village, they lived with his brother influences his behavioural changes to become a male. In the year 1992, Desdemona and Lefty her brother has lived alone since their parents’ death during the Turks war. Due to their isolation, fate, and sympathy, they decided to become a wife and husband. A genetic condition starts its journey towards the eventual expressions in their grandchild. Middlesex is a novel explaining the meaning of occupying the unnamed and multifaceted condition between females and males and the tradition and present. For Cal, who finds herself between these two identities, her journey to become an adult is fraught. The author’s epic presentation of Cal’s struggle to live in between the two genders is a notion that is increasingly relevant to the current society (Eugenides, 2011). Socio-Biological Theories and Population-Level Variation Cal/lie’s position in between the two categories of gender, male and female is central to the social development investigation in the novel. Through his position between the gender of male and female, this shows how Eugenides presents a social development critique on the identification of gender categories in the society, that is, an individual has to be a female or a male (Scarr, 1992). The concept of hybrid portrayed by Cal/lie is also a way of identifying identities; her hermaphroditic physical condition. Cal/lie also demonstrates the role of language, which is so painful and shows how language constitutes him as a subject. Cal/lie also portrays the role of sexual desire, which plays a vital role of influencing this character’s decision of living as a man. Therefore, an individual’s sexual desire constitutes to gender identity, sense (Knafo Israel & Ebstein, 2011). Although the Cal transformation to Cal/lie indeed portrays gender as one social development in Middlesex, the novel also shows that gender has a natural basis of sexual desire as seen in the character trait of Callie (Harris, 1995). This shows that Callie decision to transform his sexual his sexual status depends on her/his sexuality and his/her desire and attraction towards females. Through Callie’s desire to live as a female, the reader can say that the author presents an issue on gender that places biology and nature as the key determiners of one’s gender. The author also creates social development of gender identity (Scarr, 1992). Callie’s decision to transform into a male depends on her natural drive of sex. This process of transforming from a female to a male reveals gender per-formative, and therefore, it portrays how categories of gender are social constructions and development (Knafo Israel & Ebstein, 2011). Currently, the issue of sexual differences has completely changed and all individuals receive similar treatment in the society. In the last years, male and females were treated differently depending on their gender, but according to Callie’s character trait, all individuals are the same. Through Cal, the author presents the changing gender climate from early 1970s and onwards. Cal describes how people have socially developed since the seventies, the time when environment could determine one’s personality (p. 479). His character portrays social development in the current society (Scarr, 1992). Thereafter, the period of evolutionary biology followed, whereby, the two sexes started to separate again (Eugenides, 2011). Men could do their own specific activities such as hunting and females only carry out activities such as gathering. The novel tries to teach us that nature did not form us (478). However, Cal states that he cannot fit in any of the social development theories, the evolutionary biologists and cognitive theory. His psychological status does not agree with the essentials found in either the intersex movement. Through the inability of Cal to fit in much theory, the novel gives us a categorical thinking critique, and an understanding critique about gender identity (Scarr, 1992). It also, through Eugenides’ fraught categorical critique developed by society that the author takes on the cognitive theory and group socialization theory. The two strengthens that we question this gender categorization and norms, which the society continuously reinforces (Knafo Israel & Ebstein, 2011). Additionally, the two are also broadening the society’s understanding and creating a space for those who do not fit in so that their existence unintelligibility can come to its end. Eugenides’ narrative seems to portray some aspects of cognitive theory, which she portrays in her introduction of gender trouble. Group socialization and cognitive theory hope for a coalition that will address the issue of sexual minorities in the society leading to a social development (Bruck M. & Ceci, 1999). He also wishes that the coalition will transcend uncomplicated identity categories, and refuse the bisexuality erasure (Scarr, 1992). Eugenide’s wish to “transcend uncomplicated identity categories” is also in this paper’s opinion on what Cal/lie is doing in Middlesex, and in what ways he/she succeeds. Cal/lie plays an essential part in the novel that portrays gender and social development in Middlesex Cal/lie-A Hybrid identity Eugenides published the novel Middlesex during the period when the establishment of feminism in the society and psychological authors was prominent contributors. Additionally, the postmodern era brought a decline in the traditional identity such as gender and ethnicity hence influencing social development in our society. The focus was fairly on individuals and their opportunities. This was no longer impossible, for instance, one individual mixing different genders and ethnicities without automatic ostracizing. The literal meaning of hybrid, that is, “something produced after mixing different things” is relevant in hybrid ethnicity, which is more in both postmodern and postcolonial eras (Eugenides, 2011). According to Cal, nationality is no longer the determinant of one’s identity, something that she recognizes in the novel as well. Cal states that one used to determine the nationality of someone by face and this is how immigration ended (40). Additionally, this term is also central to the cognitive theory. Moral development The way Cal adapts his new form of gender challenges the idea that gender identity is something stable that consists of either a female or male core (Eugenides, 2011). After becoming Cal, Callie there is nothing changed about her inner status, transforming into Cal is completely physical, and he describes in many occasions the way her female character traits are still present in his life as a male. For instance, when something is stuck in his shoes, he looks what is it over his shoulders instead of lifting up his leg in front as most men does. In keeping close to her female self, Cal challenges the notion of binary support of gender identity. This means that females will remain females and males will remain to be males, therefore, no one can have two sexes at the same time. As a grown up man, Cal narrates how he feels uncomfortable when he is among men (479). For Cal, his female to male transformation does not bring any big change in his life. Although Cal terms himself as being a man, his selfhood and personality remains the same. In Elizabeth Piastra’s essay, “Narrating Identity in Middlesex” she claims that after Cal’s transformation to Male, his body physicality remains unchanged, and that it is only Cal’s understanding about his new gender that is different (Götje, 2007). This clearly explains how an individual’s body cannot determine his or her gender, but what people do with their bodies. It is, therefore, through Cal’s character, that Middlesex teaches the society that gender cannot determines someone; therefore, an individual determines his or her gender identity through his or her performance (Walker & Frimer, 2007). This gender identity’s view resembles a Walker & Frimer (2007) view of gender as something that inhibits in our bodies and not something that decides over it. However, Cal has a bodily urge referred to as sexual drive that influences her decision to transform into a man. Although this sexual drive is the key factor that determines Cal/lie’s transformation to male, the transformation itself portrays gender as cultural or social development. One of the interesting features of Cal is his sexual drive to transform from a female to a male and still not repressing the female identity fully (Eugenides, 2011). This shows how Cal/life challenges the traditional discrimination of female gender, hence resulting in social development. Cal does this by positioning himself in between the two sexes, female and male. He describes how has always desired to speak the language of the two genders (269). This shows the advantages of treating both genders in a similar manner in the society. It also influences social development in the way people currently ensures there is gender equality and thus the two genders can carry out almost similar activities without any discrimination. In the novel, Zora, who is the intersexual staying with Cal in San Francisco, portrays this view of intersexual and hermaphrodites as the original and real human beings (Blasi, 1983). Again, Cal/lie resists categorization, which the central theme of Middlesex. Here, the point that the author wants to attest is that by defining Cal as intersexual is just defining him as female or male. In summary, Cal has not acknowledged any collective identification since in every identification category, there must be a difference. This refusal of identification category, Cal argues against the fraught identification categories and argues opposes that the society need to label each individual. Additionally, this means that the society must recognize each individual as “normal”. To remain in between What should be considered as the most essential threat to heteronormativity and the current gender intelligibility norms is the physical appearance of a Cal / lie and her decision to remain physically as he/she when living as a man. The choice of rejecting genital surgery closely links to Cal’s experience due to sexual pleasure (Götje, 2007). His sexual pleasure is for both female and male, showing that the society should be treated both female and male in a similar manner. Consequently, in terms of his ambiguous experience of sexual desire and actual physical status, as far as sex is concerned, Cal remains between the two genders. Cal/lie remains as a hermaphrodite throughout the context of the novel. Because of this, Cal/lie challenges the society’s binary category of female, male, and intelligible genders. This means that in order for a society to influence social development, every individual should be termed as intelligent, be it a male or a female. According to Götje (2007), a hermaphrodite is a person who disorganizes and convergences the rules governing gender, sex, and desire. Through inhabitation of an identity that fits neither a female nor a male, Cal/lie challenges the fraught sex categories of female and male. As we are all aware, hermaphrodite is one of the silenced taboos, condition, and precisely since intersexual is not believed to belong to a transcending or a different category. Additionally, it is silenced because the current society does acknowledge those individuals who fall outside the recognized binary opposition of female and male (Götje, 2007). People understand that hermaphrodites are indeed a threat challenging categorization stability, and therefore it should be silenced. As Götje (2007) states, it is only through unintelligible status that disrupts the dominant norms of gender that people can find resistance. According to Götje (2007), Cal’s decision to remain as a female and a male, certainly interrupts the regime supporting the existing norms of gender. Conclusion Eugemide’s hope for a new social development and genealogy of feminism, a new procedure of determining gender and creating gender categories was the basis of investigation in the analysis of Middlesex. This essay has explored how Middlesex challenges the traditional gender representation, hence influencing social development in our current communities (Steinberg, 2004). The paper also shows the new perspectives on the concept of male and female genders and gender categories. Throughout the analysis of Cal/lie’s character traits, this paper has investigated the way Middlesex promotes people and psychological ideas about gender. It is evident through the analysis of Cal/lie that the novel challenges the traditionally thought of gender and feminism (Markus & Nurius, 1986). However, the notion of gender performance is evident in Middlesex as Cal/lie undergoes a gender transformation. This novel influences social development since it challenges the traditional concept of gender discrimination and feminism. References Blasi, A. (1983). Moral cognition and moral action: A theoretical perspective. Developmental Review, 3, 178-210. Bruck, M., & Ceci, S. J. (1999). The suggestibility of children’s memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 419-39. Eugenides, J. (2011). Middlesex. London: Bloomsbury. Götje, A. (2007). Ethnicity and ethnic identity in Jeffrey Eugenides "Middlesex". München: GRIN Verlag GmbH. Harris, J. R. (1995). Where is the child’s environment? A group socialization theory of development. Psychological Review, 102(3), 458-489. Knafo, A., Israel, S., & Ebstein, R. P. (2011). Heritability of childrens prosocial behavior and differential susceptibility to parenting by variation in the dopamine receptor D4 gene. 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