Questions About Written on the Body

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I'm currently working on transgressive forms of gender, basically all forms that don't fit the binary distinction male/female. The aim is to construct a literary analysis, meaning that I will analyse novels in which genderqueer characters or issues are at stake. I want to focus on 21st-century novels so my question is if anyone can recommend me any good literary, genderqueer novels written in or after the year 2000?

Iwona Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

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Isn't the withholding of the gender of the narrator the most important part of the book? By withholding that critical piece of information, I had to judge the actions and decisions on their own merits rather than through the lens of gender expectations, which would make some decisions better or worse depending upon if a man or woman made them.

Anne I don't know if it's the most important part, but it is very important. Exactly, as a reader you have to judge actions and decisions free from gender …moreI don't know if it's the most important part, but it is very important. Exactly, as a reader you have to judge actions and decisions free from gender expectations. But what's more, I noticed that it just emphasised for me how arbitrary gender norms are, and how crazy it is that this sediment of opinions on behaviour influences our lives and our image of ourselves and others so much.

I think the other important thread is the narrator's views on romantic love. The attitude towards it is pretty similar: why follow culture-bound rules on love if they don't make you as an individual happy? The book is not without its faults, but it does invite the reader to investigate whether aspects of culture can be artificial and arbitrary, and I think that is very valuable.(less)

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