As a trans person living in diaspora i was deeply touched by his portrayal of migration, the dying of culture inside oneself and the feeling of never truly belonging anywhere. You could tell that he has lived these experiences as well and part with his descriptions of gender dysphoria, Middlesex was a very comforting and emotional read for me. I‘m not intersex, couldn’t really piece together the ending and when I found out that Eugenides wasn‘t intersex himself, I knew it would be better to listen to an intersex persons perspective regarding his book. Thank you for talking about it. I‘m looking forward to reading the books you recommended and work on being a better ally to intersex people 👍
@josielewis3258
4 жыл бұрын
At first i thought this was a video about why a certain town in England is absolutely reprehensible. But I'm glad that i watched for clarification. And I'm glad that today we actually have intersexed people voicing their own narratives. And as a bonus you mentioned some way cool books and videos. Thank you very much Hans!
@grumblebugbooks8842
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you for sharing your thoughts here! I picked up Middlesex a couples weeks ago--I'm only halfway through now--and wow was it NOT what I was expecting. I kept feeling disturbed and confused by the ways in which the author tells this story, all the more so since learning that he's NOT intersex himself. I started looking for places where intersex individuals shared their own thoughts and reactions to the book, and while there's a whole mess of commentary out there about what a literary masterwork this book apparently is, I could find very few places where people seem to have asked actual intersex people how they feel about this book. I'm so appreciative to have found your video. 💜
@MG-xn4sj
3 жыл бұрын
The same just happened to me!!!
@paulinepiolin9162
3 жыл бұрын
I just finished reading the book and am so glad I found your video ! The most annoying part of the novel for me was how much he insists on his sexual attraction for girls and women and the automatic conclusion he comes to « well if I’m into women I must be a dude myself ». So heteronormative. I picked it up cos I was excited to read a book with an intersex protagonist but it was disappointing, I’ll go check the novels you recommend !
@MG-xn4sj
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you sooooooo much for doing this video, for pride month I challenged myself to read books with characters of all the LGBTQIA+ letters I could. Middlesex was the book that I saw the most being recommended as a representation for intersex people. And I thought the author was an intersex person, and was reflecting his own story 😬🙄. But after getting through 37% of the book (I read the grandparents thing, and the thing about the girl he dates) that I started to think if that was how it really was to be intersex, the way he referred to his genitalia, or his family tree started to feel weird. And I started to gather information about the author to know if he really was intersex and I founded this video. Everything makes sense now!! I'm definitely DNF'ing this book and taking your recommendations instead. (English is not my first language
@hihellohans
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your lovely comment! Hope the people who write these lists are updating too.
@keidot2.058
2 жыл бұрын
You make some real good points, I completely didnt notice a lot that you mentioned when I read the book. Also provided a lot of context for why there's an issue with how he wrote characters. Merci✨
@1conk225
3 жыл бұрын
I found your channel because I live in Middlesex in The U.K, and I decided to search on KZitem to check if the county still exists or not because it's gotten absorbed by other counties over the years. Anyway, I clicked this video and ended up watching a lot of your other videos too. It's been a really happy accident, because I've learnt a lot from you! I'm not intersex or LGBT though. Just a straight male who made a very lucky detour! (I think I found out that Middlesex doesn't exist anymore, but then why is it in my address... Who knows!)
@hihellohans
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this incredibly charming comment! Glad you came across the channel. And hello to Middlesex from Chicago/USA.
@1conk225
3 жыл бұрын
@@hihellohans Thanks a lot! I've made sure to subscribe, so I look forward to anything you upload in the future! :)
@Neddoest
2 ай бұрын
The world could use more of people like yourself
@1conk225
2 ай бұрын
@@Neddoest Thank you!
@jackiemblanc
2 жыл бұрын
I just read Middlesex for an English class and really wanted to hear an actual intersex person's opinion on it because there are SO MANY aspects of the book that just felt SO WEIRD to me. So happy I found this video because I learned a lot and had a lot of my opinions validated!
@tinbetween
4 жыл бұрын
So good! You're so well-spoken and charismatic.
@FlowersfOrdaysart
4 жыл бұрын
Doing my Masters on the experiences of people with AIS in South Africa and I'm making use of life history research methods. This video has given me so much insight into the importance of intersex people telling their own stories about growing up and living with DSD conditions. Thanks for the recommendations of literature by actual intersex people
@hihellohans
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you Lize-Marie! At least here in a US context, many intersex people find the terms "DSD" and "condition" offensive and pathological. There are different contexts, such as code-switching to access necessary care when those in the medical profession still use these terms... I'm curious to know more about how those in other countries view terminology, especially in contexts where it may be more necessary to embrace the "medical condition" framing, if LGBT identities are criminalized due to colonial laws.
@FlowersfOrdaysart
4 жыл бұрын
@@hihellohans See! As someone who does not have intersex I'm often struggling with what terms to use!
@hihellohans
4 жыл бұрын
These might be helpful: ihra.org.au/style/ interactadvocates.org/interact-statement-on-intersex-terminology/
@FlowersfOrdaysart
4 жыл бұрын
@@hihellohans thanks so much!
@kimberlyw2591
4 жыл бұрын
You know, I just finished the book and had no idea what it was about when I picked it up off a free book table. I think in other aspects it was still a very good and well written novel, but a lot of the points you make changed my view of it overall significantly. I guess I was naive in that I expected that he must have done more research and had more conversations (or you know, at least one) with intersex individuals. I'm adding your recommendations to my book list now. Thank you for making this review.. and for including the interview clips that disappointed me so much
@del8019
3 жыл бұрын
My mind is blown. Thank you for being such a positive force. I'm probably going to binge this channel. I mean, sounds like that author is an ass but it existing led to you making a video and waking me self up to the fact other inters probably wrote or filmed something at some point. This is the most significant thing that happened to me since my genitals.
@hihellohans
3 жыл бұрын
😂 High praise. Thank you!
@carlaperez716
2 жыл бұрын
Really informative to hear the opinion of an intersex person about the book. I personally enjoyed reading it but because of the many other aspects that the novel treats. Purely from the "creative writting" perspective I think the book is well written, the characters well develop and the story telling is fluid and cohesive. From the realistic point of view I understand, based on your critic, that it is inaccurate, at least about how intersex people feel/think. In this aspect, I did notice some "tricks" that the writer applied, e.g. Using the first person as story teller, that means that whatever the character described as being intersex can be justified as "individual experience" rather than representative of a community. Another trick is to place the novel in the past, it creates disconnection between the modern readers and the novel, and thereby the readers are more eager to accept facts/opinions/behaviours because they sort of assume that those were the times. So yeah, on those Tricks, I believe, you realise that the author is not an intersex person, talking from experience...
@PaulMatthis
4 жыл бұрын
Came here because I just tried to read Middlesex and couldn't finish it. It seemed pretty obviously obsessed with binary genitals and the prose is overly flowery about wayyyy more than just that subject. Thank you for validating my gut reaction, haha.
@alexfischer2527
4 жыл бұрын
peh. I never knew Eugenides was such a creep. I remember reading it like 12 years ago. It was the first "intersex story" I could find and thought back then that it was authentic. But even back then it felt super weird to unfold this 300 page backstory on his grandparents just to explain why Cal is born intersex. I thought about reading it again with a more critical distance, but I guess I'll just take your word for it. Thanks for the video!
@colleen9081
2 жыл бұрын
I'm so sorry but I really enjoyed their backstory 😭😭 it was so sick and beautiful and well written lmaoo
@jameshorton3692
Жыл бұрын
You missed the point
@jameshorton3692
Жыл бұрын
@Caitlyn Carvalho I wasn’t Responding to you
@jameshorton3692
Жыл бұрын
@Caitlyn Carvalho I don’t see a comment by you.
@jameshorton3692
Жыл бұрын
@Caitlyn Carvalho are you asking me to give an opinion on medical papers I didn’t read? I’m sorry, I don’t have an opinion.
@qwiddity
8 ай бұрын
Review length 10mins, play time ~1hr including laughter pauses 🤣Thanks for an excellent take with enough humour to balance 🙏
@forelskelse
3 жыл бұрын
Came here right after finishing Middlesex. I enjoyed the book quite a lot because I treated it as a work of fiction. I was initially drawn to it because of my Greek-Turkish heritage, and I connected with the characters because they reminded me of my people. (beside incest, thankfully :D) With Cal though, I was aware that his experiences don't reflect that of a real-life intersex. So in the end, I was able to enjoy Eugenides' remarkable writing while not thinking this book would educate me on the matter. However I enjoyed your video as well, and I can get why you would dislike Middlesex. What I don't get tho is all the people in the comment section forming an immediate opinion by watching a video, without reading the material themselves. It's how the world works now, people blindly following opinions without making an effort themselves.
@dorasaurrr
2 жыл бұрын
YES these were my immediate thoughts after watching this video!!
@marklombard9360
Жыл бұрын
I read this 10 years ago and thought it was incredible and was brought to tears several times out of sadness, empathy or just the beauty of the world and characters. I get that it has flaws and may even be sensationalized at some points but it most definitely does not SUCK like the title of this video infers. It's a work of fiction and I found it powerful and beautiful. It saddens me that many won't experience it because of this video.
@BryonyVine-h2u
10 ай бұрын
I've wanted to write a comic about a polyamorous group ever since I realized that the world wasn't man and woman and there was more options than what I was taught as a kid. I wanted to include a really good variety of people. Like a very masculine woman with a lot of typically seen as male traits that is still a woman and to validate her experience. I also wanted a character that was a trans male that still likes feminine things but still has every right to identify as a male. And I also wanted to do a intersex character that throughout the story finds their gender. I really want to normalize that not everyone fits into these stupid boxes media makes. I don't want the main focus to be genitalia or oh this guy's trans. I mostly want to focus on their relationship and cute wholesome romance stuff, but also normalize that people like this exist. Personally I'm a non-binary maybe gender fluid person. I struggle with figuring out my gender and I've been doing a lot of research. I really want to write this comic as a cute wholesome way to normalize things.
@BryonyVine-h2u
10 ай бұрын
Basically I want a wholesome love story that crushes every gender stereotype and sex stereotype and relationship stereotype. Fuck stereotypes!!! Be your own kind of human!!
@rgs8970
4 жыл бұрын
Omg I was just remembering how horrible that book is the other day-- can't wait to hear your take (and your recommendations for palate-cleansers)
@azarahwagner2749
4 жыл бұрын
I as well get those messages ...” I am just curious “ crap and your facial expression was 💯, empathy overload . It’s the lines after that like “ gee I never would have guessed you were “ or “ you are so brave “ 😶
@marsrigger2641
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the links and info about others! I'll definitely give them attention! love the videos, i got real excited when i saw the notification!
@diinalens
3 жыл бұрын
i just finished reading the book, and being cis i really wanted to find intersex voices to see what is the general opinion on it and what are the more problematic aspects that went over my head. i actually enjoyed the book (tho i bought it maybe 10 years ago and never really got into it until now) and i can see why they would want to turn it into a tv series: it's an epic family saga that spans the birth of modern america and under that aspect i see it working well (i'm a film student so i can't help but "see" everything i read lol). yes some parts are very insensitive (all the euphemisms on the genitals, the heavy handed greek tragedy metaphores which spins being intersex as something negative, all the sexual experiences of a young woman being written by an adult man, and much more), but if they actually go into production with this, i at least hope they call intersex writers and consultants to edit those problematic parts and bring better representation. i think that a revisited adaptation of this could be interesting. it doesn't have to ben 100% truthful to the book and i hope they understand that!
@gonnfishy2987
21 күн бұрын
💛💜💛 Thankyou for this review and push for Intersex people to be authentically represented rather than dramatised by endosexed writers.
@Orampa
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for explaining. I was gifted this book, but I was wondering how respectful it was, since I have no idea myself and I don’t want to end up with ill conceived notions just by not knowing any better.
@soysaucemesslove2628
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for this video. I was halfway through the book and have felt, along the way, that there's something wrong about the way Eugenides is portraying Cal, something very ingenuine about it, but could never quite put my finger on what it was. Now I see why. Thanks so much.
@BobbySpringer1
Жыл бұрын
I think several things to bear in mind here in what is obviously a deeply personal and emotional subject matter: 1. As deeply flawed as the doctor’s theories were, you have to remember that Cali/Cal lied and withheld a lot of their true thoughts and feelings in consultations with the doctor through either fear or embarrassment. 2. The so-called “freak show” of Club 69 is more a reflection of the desperate situation Cal found himself in as a 15 year old runaway, mugged of all his money and preyed upon by Bob Preston, the club owner. Miles from home, alone and desperate you could easily imagine any teenager falling back on their only financial resource: their bodies. 3. The incest between, firstly, grandparents, and then, cousins is merely the genetic route via which the recessive gene comes to be expressed. There is not one moment in the book that suggests Cal displays any thoughts of incest or sexual deviancy. 4. As for only those drawing from real-life experience being able to write about particular topics, I couldn’t disagree more. Should only Jewish people write about the Holocaust? Should only former slaves write about slavery? Literature and all art comes from all walks of life. No one should have the final say on any subject. There is a big difference between art and a documentary.
@SammieMousie
11 ай бұрын
I think you make really compelling counter arguments and thank you for doing so. I actually enjoyed the book. I didn't love it but I didn't dislike it. I gave it a 3.5 / 5 stars. And it made me curious to read more books about intersex.
@persephone2706
4 жыл бұрын
Rosy Maple moth? C'mon Shea 😍 You're incredibly well spoken. I absolutely love listening to you speak.
@JTORNIAINEN
3 жыл бұрын
I really enjoyed this video especially as I have read Herculine Barbin. Can a non intersex person ever successfully speculate on the experiences of intersex people in fiction, I wonder? Or should it always be depicted by people who can authoritatively talk about their experiences first hand? There's another story which is written by Kathleen Winter called Annabel. Have you any opinions on that story?
@Andrew_Young
4 жыл бұрын
I'm a trans guy who is (as far as I know anyways) not intersex, I can really empathize with how you feel about this guys description of his intersex characters body. Watching you make fun of this dude reminds me SO MUCH of the youtuber contrapoints in her video "autogynephilia". She talks about how reading a well-written transphobic book can be particularly triggering because of how vivid the descriptions are. Have you watched that video? If so does that kind of resonate with you? There are a lot of differences between intersex and trans people but one thing I think applies to all of us is the curiosity/obsession around our genitals.
@talesofunity
2 жыл бұрын
Putting your own mouth in place of his has EXCEEDED my expectations ^ _^
@twistedironpaw
4 жыл бұрын
Great video! I can't see those links, however, the description looks empty?
@AlexMint
4 жыл бұрын
Am intersex filmmaker/youtuber! I'm working on coming up with something coherent, because honestlyh how I found out confused me too.
@HoloUniversee
4 жыл бұрын
Now you inspired me to write a book with an intersex main character, except that it wouldn't be about sex, but a character immersing into a fantasy world just like any character does. Great video by the way, I had a good laugh!
@violinlb10
3 жыл бұрын
I’m so glad I came across this video. I started reading Middlesex recently and liked a lot of the writing but was uncomfortable with how he was handling the subject material. Now I’m not sure I’ll finish because some of the other recommended books sound more interesting.
@baleksei
4 жыл бұрын
Didn't read the book. Other than volunteering for a campaign in SF a few years ago where one of the fellow volunteers I met was intersex, your channel is pretty my beginning intersex education source. (I forget the volunteer's name because they only worked the one time that overlapped my shift and they left before my shift was over. :(
@hidaviloria4142
4 жыл бұрын
LOVE this! Fantastic and hilarious critique--thank you!
@Diana-tx2iz
4 жыл бұрын
Wait, I knew about the 'reincarnated Chinese princess' thing from a conversation I've had before about bad writing, but that's somehow only the beginning?? This is just... bad in every way... why did It ever gain a following? But I also see this theme reflected in other movements and groups. Are people that desperate for that middle line between trying to understand something new to them, but also needing to be risque and dramatic?
@marklombard9360
Жыл бұрын
I don't remember this line. But isn't this the narators thoughts. If this is how Cal see's this person then isn't that just her limited and subjective perception, possibly from not being around many Chinese woman in 60s Detroit outside of media representations. This isn't Jefferies opinions.
@renab.7390
3 жыл бұрын
Oof, thanks for warning me not to buy and read this trash. As I was doing research on fiction with intersexual characters (one of the characters in my novel is intersex) this book was the top recommendation. 🤮 So glad I found your channel! 🖤
@hihellohans
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Hehe, glad to be here and hoping to do a few more videos that are actually geared toward authors soon.
@johnschindler8433
2 жыл бұрын
One of the criticisms of Jeffrey Eugenides' book is that it adds to Intersex stigma in a number of ways, 1) most of the main characters are not knowable and the few that are, are not likable, 2) any couple or Mother could have an Intersex child (there's no need for incest-traumatized characters, Jeffrey Eugenides' book missed a teachable moment, and this kind of ignorant storyline adds to stigma). I much prefer Kathleen Winter's book Annabel to Middlesex, not just because Winter is much more talented as a writer, but because the characters aren't self-hating, they are largely knowable and likeable and you find yourself caring about them, and the coming-out process is seen as a beginning rather than an ending.
@pinaykilljoy
2 жыл бұрын
Okay so, I only heard about this book while doing research on Hida Viloria's memoir (which I highly recommend everyone to read - Viloria is a phenomenal rockstar in their writing & activism). Since Viloria appeared on Oprah in 2007 to talk about intersex, that was when Eugenides' book got mentioned as part of Oprah's Book Club. So I got curious to read Middlesex and bought a copy, only to get past 5 pages. Watching your review makes me want to return the book and get my money back 😂 But seriously, thankyou for the review and the other recs on works by real intersex folks ❤
@mx.anunnakiraymarquez6295
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this review of a horrible book! As an intersex born activist, I am honored to get your voice out there better. Much love to you!
@Bugsyjr
3 жыл бұрын
I just picked this book up from Thrift shop and started reading it before finding this review. I'm so glad you're shedding light on this. I've also read Annabel by Kathleen Winter for a college class I had and was wondering if you'd read that novel and, if so, what your opinions are on it.
@hihellohans
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you! That one I have not read or heard of yet... Maybe next time.
@marinacortez2133
4 жыл бұрын
Hey Hans! I really appreciated your commentary on the book, thanks for sharing. As a dyadic person who read the book and quite frankly liked it, your comment was eye opening. Have you watched the movie XXY (2007) by Argentinian film maker Lucía Puenzo? I'd love to hear your comments on that movie!
@hihellohans
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you! I haven't seen it, do you know if it is available online?
@marinacortez2133
4 жыл бұрын
@@hihellohans I just checked and it's available on Netflix! At least here in Brazil. Hope it's in the U.S. as well. If not, I found on pirate bay. not sure if it's subtitled in english though, in case you don't speak spanish :)
@JibberJabJones
Жыл бұрын
i read it a while ago. i do remember being irritated by the unnecessarily florid language. it was very "writer-ly", so that the main character felt a little like some sort of personal science experiment. the combination of those two qualities made me think, "of course this is what wins a pulitzer". the older i get, the more bothered i am by intimate life portraits being put together by people who are only guessing at it. i can't, for example, watch "blue is the warmest colour" anymore. more often than not, they feel like the author took on the project just to prove how very clever they are. which, needless to say, has the effect of reducing the subject of the story. it's not that i don't think authors ought to be able to write characters outside their own experience, but man, does it necessitate as much compassion as humanly summonable.
@analuengo1626
7 ай бұрын
I loved your video. I am teaching a class on LGBTQI+ cultures at SFSU and will show it to my students!
@AZ-ty7ub
3 жыл бұрын
"Breasts have the same effect on me as anyone with my testorerone level" as a gay intersex man I say what???
@Tea-fg5we
4 жыл бұрын
sorry hans....had to do it to myself...I got the audiobook and it made me incredibly uncomfortable 🙃
@Andrewtr6
Жыл бұрын
I'm a writing major, reading this book for a Gender/Sexuality Literature class. I found this video while looking for an audiobook version of the book, and now I'm procrastinating actually reading the book by watching this video. Now I'm commenting to say I don't think that Chinese woman was a woman. This is solely based on the "lights off" part because it reminded me of Shi Pei Pu who was a Chinese spy that pretended to be a woman.
@MsVorpalBlade
5 ай бұрын
This is a very shallow interpretation. This is not Herculean's book. It's Eugenides book, about his whakapapa
@KathyTrithardt
4 жыл бұрын
I read this book years ago and remember it making super uncomfortable because it felt outdated and not factual, and remember someone telling me "but it was great for it's time" - which is such a dangerous line of excuse.
@heinoustentacles5719
3 жыл бұрын
Still sort of true. If they never made their fumbling attempts back in the day, there'd be nothing better to replace them
@JenniferSmith-eb2do
2 жыл бұрын
@@heinoustentacles5719 LOL, if you try to apply that comment to this specific example that we are talking about…Middlesex… there actually was something much better at representing an intersex experience that predated it by far….the writings of the Herculine Barbin. 😂😔 And we can’t exactly claim Eugenides was unaware it existed. Let’s not pretend that Eugenides’ Middlesex provided some important stepping stone for progress in representing intersex experiences without which we would never have arrived at better written representation… To me, it looks more like, if you want good representation of experiences that are marginalized, listen to marginalized writers tell their experiences through their writings, instead of praising & sharing only privileged voices that exploit the imagining of marginalized people’s pain for their own benefit & the entertainment and comfort of privileged audiences. #OwnVoices is a hashtag for many reasons. The more people stop making excuses for the popularization of privileged people exploiting marginalized people’s trauma, the better.
@JenniferSmith-eb2do
2 жыл бұрын
I’d also like to add…beyond just making a point to read #OwnVoices writings when wanting good representations of marginalized experiences…if we notice that there aren’t a lot of writings available by marginalized authors, we can also consider forces of marginalization that act as barriers to marginalized people being able to write their own stories, and find ways to remedy those barriers and support marginalized people to be able to do so. All of these are much better stepping stones for progress than stories like Middlesex where a privileged person exploits marginalized people’s trauma & pain, to be lauded by other people that don’t have that particular marginalized experience as being “so progressive,” all the while perpetuating stigma and harm to the marginalized group.
@JenniferSmith-eb2do
2 жыл бұрын
If Eugenides did want to be a small part of stepping stone for progress, he could start doing now what he didn’t do then…listen to intersex voices, and use the megaphone he has to point other people to intersex voices, including things that help to start undo the damage he specifically perpetuated. He could point people to things like this video, and #OwnVoices stories like the ones Hans listed.
@EllieRose1997
4 жыл бұрын
Never read, it, Maybe I should just to see. Think I might have a copy somewhere...
@DVaisius1206
3 жыл бұрын
“Stories about pain should be left to those who experience that pain.” Is an amazing way to put that. That is the perfect way to describe how to diversify the world of story telling in a way that doesn’t take peoples stories. 🖤
@johnr797
Жыл бұрын
What a horrible takeaway. Let's just go ahead and erase the majority of the great literature of the world because it's not autobiographical enough. Where do you arbitrarily draw the line for who gets to write about what? I'm pretty sure Shakespeare was never a Danish prince being plotted against who spoke with ghosts, so should we destroy all copies of Hamlet? And I'm pretty sure Shakespeare and the writers over at Disney were people, not lions, and probably didn't have their father murdered by their uncle, so Lion King's gotta go too, right? 0/10 take from you, and just further divides people when they can find commonalities in their emotional pain instead of gatekeeping it like the human experience isn't more alike than not.
@lindensalter6713
Жыл бұрын
@Nez Pez I’m replying to you and not the other because the other is 2 years old. You are taking what was originally meant and understanding it entirely differently. Even the video said that it’s ok to write intersex characters and that their job is to help make sure you aren’t totally off base when doing so. No one said you can’t write about other people’s experiences. The issue is when the book is supposed to be about the experiences of real life people and groups used to teach people what these people and groups go through but really have no insider knowledge of what it’s like. That’s the problem with Middlesex and American Dirt. Middlesex didn’t even ask for input of intersex people but now is the most popular literature people use to learn about what being intersex is like. It’s misrepresenting what intersex people feel while endosex (non intersex) people make a huge profit. All it truly does is harm instead of building understanding like it was supposed to
@jameshorton3692
Жыл бұрын
That’s the dumbest take ever.
@agentacey
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this and the other recommendations!
@kasnarfburns210
3 жыл бұрын
I had learned of this book while watching KZitem videos about intersex people. I got in in audiobook form. I thought the narrator's name was Talley. I wish I had come across this book before realizing that the concept of intersex was a theme. I wonder how I would have perceived this thread in the story. I'm still listening to it but I find the story is about the emigrant experience as much as it is about intersex -- so far.
@fairbanks_northstar5377
2 жыл бұрын
What about middlesex county Virginia
@VincentGonzalezVeg
4 жыл бұрын
Read the animorph books? Teenagers turning into animals fighting alien brainslugs I have mirror touch synesthesia and the description on the human body turning into the animals is pretty relaxing It 'plays' like a movie for me
@Dr.TLTillman.Ph.D.
2 жыл бұрын
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥 LOVEEEEE you & your content!
@mazsola1037
4 жыл бұрын
just finished this book today and while reading it was uncomfortable with some of the sexual descriptions but overall enjoyed it. this enjoyment is now going revision, thank you for your persepective.
@KerbalFacile
Жыл бұрын
I remember way back when BodiesLikeOurs had active-ish forums, an author barged in one day saying he wanted to write an intersex character, and had the main archstory figured out (I don't quite remember all the details, I think it was essentially a trans journey pseudo-justified by some medical revelation). It didn't go well for him. But it probably didn't stop him writing it anyway.
@milfredcummings717
8 ай бұрын
That lighter though... 😅
@astrinymris9953
4 жыл бұрын
I started the book, but never finished it. The turgid prose was too annoying to wade through to the end. I prefer 'Bone Dance' by Emma Bull.
@Dimitris_and_Aggelos
4 жыл бұрын
Unpopular Opinion Faking it, had an intersex person played by an intersex person . XXY is an Argentinian film about a girl with Klinefelter's. But she is played by a cis girl🤬. There is also Moragnos Com Acucar where André is implied intersex (never stated though) and probably the actor is also intersex (at least he seems intersex, based on my experience I bet he is) and he faces a lot of sexism and homophobia, he even ends up with a girlfriend.
@somepixelynerd
4 жыл бұрын
"played by a cis girl" -- I think you mean a dyadic girl? 'Cis' means not transgender, 'dyadic' means not intersex. 🙃
@Dimitris_and_Aggelos
4 жыл бұрын
@@somepixelynerd thanks I kinda confused that.
@DHU11
3 ай бұрын
Middlesex is a fantastic book idgaf what anybody says
@AVartist2023
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for saving me from reading this book. Now I can look elsewhere for something to relate to.
@ThePCguy17
2 жыл бұрын
So as a college guy who's just reading it for a class...I could not for the life of me finish this book after hearing that Eugenides wasn't writing an autobiography. And I mean that's literally all the information I had on the book, I came across this video as I desperately try to put together my classwork that assumes I've finished the book. So my take is basically, "the dude acts like he knows what he's talking about and spins a good yarn, but comes across as a bit of an presumptive ass." And that's me being nice. That was what I thought before hearing what you said in this video. I didn't know shit about intersex people (literally found out that calling an intersex person a hermaphrodite is rude while researching this book) and so I wanted to know how well he'd done with the main topic that the book centers itself around. Turns out he knows about as much about intersex people as he does about race riots: not nearly enough to be selling books about them.
@rachellestrunkov9389
4 жыл бұрын
This type of abuse of intersex still goes on today and so does needless aggression on homosexual people could you please explain how needless laws can be used as a form of power abuse
@ErisaDesu
2 жыл бұрын
I just bought that book because he portrays the history of the Greek genocide refugees in USA.
@jermaineconcern1539
2 жыл бұрын
I am immediately checking out your suggestions. I liked this Middlesex story. It was engaging and well written.
@thespiralingshapes
3 жыл бұрын
Ah, yes, this is why I dissociated through the whole book
@citlali333
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this!
@reluctantsocialist2670
2 жыл бұрын
I'm came because I'm 50 odd pages in but was feeling really uncomfortable by the incest storyline and how it was blatantly linking that to the intersex protagonist's genitals, and like you, I didn't like how he made it seem like being intersex was punishment for this. I get that he was trying to show the journey of this rogue gene through the generations, but this gene isn't dependent on incest. What shocked me most was coming here and finding you compare it to the same novel I was worried this would be like, American Dirt, and you confirmed that. I have no issue with different races or sexualities writing about ones they're not, but if you're going to you really do need to speak to and learn from those people in real life.
@DHU11
3 ай бұрын
Me when I have no understanding of literacy
@caterinaferrara1617
4 жыл бұрын
Great job. 💛💜
@kirancourt
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this Hans!!!! That book was just awful and he seems obsessed with genitals.
@starry65
11 ай бұрын
❤
@MadameCorgi
Жыл бұрын
i read this book when i was in high school and i was thinking about it again, wondering how it would 'hold-up'. It was the first book i read with trans characters, or discussing gender at all
@MadameCorgi
Жыл бұрын
Omg 'the blooming crocus' is giving me such flashbacks to being confused reading this book
@julesgleeson1237
4 жыл бұрын
Sooooo...Cal thinks that all gay men have low testosterone levels?
@DeuryMota
10 ай бұрын
Yes okay
@queensigal
3 жыл бұрын
Forgive me if i get this wrong but you are saying writers can only write about what they experience literally and not metaphorically which is absurd. I also dislike the claim only transgender actors can play transgenders. I find your opinion extremly like the very people you oppose narrow minded. I am just starting to read and will take it to another level not thd biological one
@infamous_orb
10 ай бұрын
They didn't say that non intersex people shouldn't write intersex characters. They said that people shouldn't fetishize it and that people who do want to write intersex characters should actually try to get feedback from actual intersex people. So they don't spread misinformation and fetishize it. Did you actually watch the video?
@chelseaswan772
3 жыл бұрын
I was about to read this. I am glad I found your video first
@sailor.seahell
4 жыл бұрын
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
@erin-vx4rf
6 ай бұрын
133❤
@teleconferencing-arkadin6748
4 жыл бұрын
JimExPatterson @#Mallwalkers
@oranjuly
2 жыл бұрын
I'm not sure you understand the concept of fiction writing.
@IrisBen-Efraim
2 ай бұрын
I agree, this is a work of fiction and there should be freedom of expression when writing fiction. I enjoyed reading the book but at no point did I think that it is supposed to depict what intersex people feel or think, for that purpose there are biographies
@jaylockwood5030
4 ай бұрын
You sound jealous and a little too immature for his work. It's quite pathetic really.
@ronuruabhilash
3 жыл бұрын
It is fiction.
@neosefudi8785
4 жыл бұрын
😂😂😂😂😂😂
@rachellestrunkov9389
4 жыл бұрын
Can you explain gender laws regarding public bathrooms and maskrade laws can be used to take people rights away
@m.e.valdez8662
Жыл бұрын
Don’t criticize anyone’s work with a bed behind you.
@jean-paul7251
3 жыл бұрын
Wtf? Awful
@MythicGirl2210
2 жыл бұрын
I know this might be a stretch... but "Eugenides" looks a lot like "Eugenics"... (I know it might be a real name, but I'm just suspicious.)
@MadameCorgi
Жыл бұрын
It is a real name. They're both Greek sp that's why they look similar
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