Sex, Gender, Sexuality: Subalternity in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex

Soheila Faghfori,Zeinab Chatrzarnegari,Esmaeil Zohdi

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.9n.5p.101

Abstract

In contrast with what is widely emphasized and academically discussed, subalternity emerges in a broad spectrum. The current research discusses sex, gender and sexuality as fertile grounds of subalternity in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex. Although the Classical Marxist tradition submits “class” as the only narrative of oppression and inequality, Gramsci’s Marxism can account for a wider range of narratives, namely, sex, age, race, gender and sexual orientation, and, subsequently, replaces “the proletariat” with “the subalterns.” Gramsci divided superstructure in two parts (civil society and political society) and traced the footsteps of oppression and subordination through everyday lives by concepts such as “hegemony,” “civil society,” and “common sense.” As well as Gramsci, Judith Butler draws attention to the legislation of norms in the social domain. Heterosexuality, sexual dimorphism and masculine/feminine dichotomy are norms which are legislated and hegemonic through the institutions of civil society and shape people’s common sense about sex, gender and sexuality. “Normalization” and “recognition,” to employ Butler’s words, occur based on the norms and turn the outsiders into the subalterns. In this regard, this study discusses intersex Cal/lie and homosexual Sourmelina as subalterns challenging the normative sex, gender and sexuality. The Stephanides family, New York Public Library, Orthodox religion, Sophie Sassoon’s beauty parlor and Ed’s barbershop are all civil society institutions that play a significant role in dissemination of heteronormativity, sexual dimorphism and masculine/feminine dichotomy and ,thereby, subalternity of Cal/lie and Sourmalina.

Highlights

There was a time when Marxism considered subordination of the proletariat to the bourgeoisie as the only kind of subordination within a capitalist society, which was only economic-based
The Stephanides family, New York Public Library, Orthodox religion, Sophie Sassoon’s beauty parlor and Ed’s barbershop are all civil society institutions that play a significant role in dissemination of heteronormativity, sexual dimorphism and masculine/feminine dichotomy and,thereby, subalternity of Cal/lie and Sourmalina
This research aims to delineate a new picture of subalternity, which is in terms of sex, gender and sexual orientation, in Middlesex- the 2002 novel by Jeffrey Eugenides

Summary

Introduction

There was a time when Marxism considered subordination of the proletariat to the bourgeoisie as the only kind of subordination within a capitalist society, which was only economic-based. In the opinion of many Marxist thinkers and critics, the only narrative of inequality was that of class This assumption was derived from the great deal of emphasis that Karl Marx put on base and economic power. It is not all Marxism is concerned with, as long as it has Antonio Gramsci as a contributor. Showing a break with the classical Marxist tradition, Gramsci looked for the roots of oppression in the superstructure than the economic base. Scrutinizing the superstructure, he submitted a much more complicated and detailed model introducing the challenging terms, namely, “hegemony,” and “common sense” and redefining “civil society.”. Civil society becomes where issues more than class are in circulation

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Discussion

Conclusion