Current Events: A Taboo being Un-Taboo-ed

The discussion about masturbation, the stimulation or manipulation of one's own genitals, especially to orgasm; sexual self-gratification, is such a taboo. No one ever really discusses about it due to the awkwardness and the weirdness about it. Masturbation is usually done in private. However, in the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, the main character, Callie and her crush known as the Obscure Object performs a sexual act in public on the front porch swings. Although the act of masturbation is done here, there are many arguments that the obscure object is a significant character that doesn't just appear as Callie's crush but also she's finding her path to finding herself. She's exploring her desires, she is living the dream of finding her desires through this obscure object what I would call her is a sex toy because she can do anything to this object. But anything until the object refuses to do a certain act, Callie will obey and stop the action. Callie uses the obscure object genitals to fulfill her sexual desires, "And then with our eyes wide open but confined in that way my thumb slipped inside her. She blinked, her eyes closed, her hips rose higher, and I did it again" (390). Callie was gratified using someone else's private areas.  

      Although the book does not deal with the act of masturbation, two interesting article I found from the websites, The times of Israel and Zee News were about religious self-gratification. Some religions believed that the act of masturbation was immoral and some believed that there is a religious and kosher way of dong the act. In the article from the Times of Israeli website, an Orthodox Jewish therapist named Max Grunberg believed that, “In Jewish tradition female masturbation is allowed when it’s for exploring oneself and one’s sexual feelings,” Grunberg said. “It is valuable for gaining knowledge about the different parts of your anatomy through touch, which is needed to be a sexually knowledgeable women in order to communicate without fear your sexual needs to your partner” (Liphshiz, 2013). In short, religious and moral masturbation should only be done when exploring and desiring of sexual feeling and helps gain knowledge about your body using your touch sense. And in terms of Callie's situation, Callie is exploring another female body to explore her desires and also to explore her sexual feelings towards another. She is also familiarizing with a female's body exploring what's right and what's wrong in terms of anatomy. Therefore, it is fine to be exploring one's desires through touching oneself or another's, with permission of course. Callie is trying to discover her desire or her sexuality, capacity for sexual feeling. She explores what she is comfortable with.

Reference Links:

http://www.timesofisrael.com/orthodox-slowly-lifting-taboo-on-female-masturbation/

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/israeli-film-breaks-ultra-orthodox-taboo-on-masturbation_1544075.html

Original Creative Response: My Beautiful Focal Point

My Beautiful Focal Point 

She is my focal point.
She is my masterpiece.
She is in my my center of attention.
The red headed girl I see everyday
in my English class.

When she walks down the hallways,
I stop.
And stare.
The only one in this hallway,
in this room,
in her house,
is only her and I.

The obscure object,
Mysterious,
Beautiful,
Foreign.
Everyone is watching her, staring at her

That touch...
She touched my hand!
She held my hand!
I felt a spark!
That strong chemical energy flowing through our bodies.
Just one touch,
that was all I needed.

Oh how you make me crazy
You are all I see, my beautiful.
my focal point.
My beautiful focal point.


This poem relates to the strong liking of Callie liking the obscure object. Callie is so interested and invested in her every move. For example, one of the scenes that stood out to me was the scene when they were practicing their lines at the obscure objects house and there was this end point of the scene where Callie and the Obscure Object were fooling around and at one point she felt her hand touch her hand along with the breath on her face. The way Callie described the moment seemed intense and it felt intimate and real for her, "Without letting go of my hand, she leaned closer and I heard, felt, very softly, her hot breath in my ear. 'Hi Tiresias,' she said, giggling," (336). Her words seem really seductive and her word choices had a feeling like she really enjoyed the feeling of her hot breath and her hands touching hers.

Text-to-Text: Hamlet and MiddleSex

There is an interesting part in the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides in the chapter "The Obscure Object" towards the end when Callie meets a red-headed girl who is from the Charm Bracelets. In the book, Callie classifies her as the "Object" or the "The Obscure Object" and towards the end of the chapter she gets closer and closer to her both emotionally and physically. They get closer and closer due to a project play called Antigone Mr. Da Silva assigns the whole class to present to the school. "The obscure object" plays the part of Antigone and Callie plays the part of Tiresias. During the opening night there was a shocking incident that occurred during the play, "It wasn't stage fright. An aneurysm had burst in Maxine Grossinger's brain... But Maxine's mother, knowing exactly what pain looked like on her child's face, shot up out of her seat. 'No,' she cried. 'No!' (338). The reactions from her mother along with the red headed girl reminded me of the known Shakespeare play called Hamlet. It reminded me of the scene when there was a play within a play. Hamlet created a play for his stepfather, King Claudius to reveal the truth about the death about his father. The purpose of the play was to observe King Claudius's reactions to the play, Hamlet was specifically looking for guilt in his face to prove to the audience especially his mother about how he killed his father. After King Claudius watches the play he says, "Excellent, i’ faith; of the chameleon’s dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed" (III.ii.84–86).

The reactions between Maxine's mother and King Claudius are really similar they are both shocked due to the death that is shown during the play; King Hamlet and Maxine. Both their reactions seem really dramatic and shows total emotion throughout the characters. It also touches and effects the audience due to the word choices and the tone the characters present it.