hermaphrodites

252-318

Hermaphrodite

The word hermaphrodite does not have any significant meaning to me because I have personally encountered or even discussed hermaphrodites before reading this book. I know that hermaphroditic individuals have both male and female genitalia. That is the extent of my knowledge. Until the doctor came to talk to us about the genetics and biology involved. Transsexual individuals are people who identify with the other gender than what their biological make up is. The only associations I have with these two subject matters are through pop culture. In the movie Baby Mama, with Tine Fey and Amy Poehler, Tina Fey’s character is reading a book about babies and says some statistics about hermaphrodites. There are the people who I watched on Oprah and the news telling their stories about felling trapped and their relationships. This book is really expanding my understanding for what the condition is, what it might feel like and why it happens.

Hair. Callie as a pre-teen girl, hide behind her long nest of hair that just sits on her head. The way she describes the salon she goes to get her mustache waxed helps Callie feel a sense of relief. She sees so many women the salon that it relieves her concerns that she was different for growing a mustache. In fact Cal describes the Hair belt. “It begins in southern Spain, congruent with Moorish influence. It extends over the dark-eyed regions of Italy, almost all of Greece, and absolutely all of Turkey. It dips south to include Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. /Continuing on the blankets of Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, before lightening gradually in India” (308). I think the way Cal shows what kind of women were in the salon shows the comedic effect of his story along with Callie’s temporary relief that there are other women, including Greek women who suffer from the same condition she is, female facial hair. The salon helps her feel like she is normal because she is feelings so left out compared to the other girls her age.