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Lousy Sex Summary

Decent Essays

The article The Opposite Sex: with Lisa May Stevens excerpted from the book Lousy Sex, by Gerald N. Callahan dives deep into the concept of gender that we humans have deemed a taboo subject. This article sought to question what gender is and why humans feel the need to have it. Callahan explores other species that ignore our strict rules regarding gender and thrive just the same. This article was extremely fascinating and helped me to open up my perception as to what gender truly is. It was also surprising to me that so many other people are confused as to what gender really is. Humans have tried so hard to make gender black and white, but it is often more flowing and unique to each person. Gender is an amazingly interesting topic that seeks …show more content…

This women is extremely interesting due to the way her gender was expressed at her birth. Having been raised as a boy (Steven) she soon realized she was different and due to this has lived an incredibly interesting life trying figure out where she lands on the gender scale. May is commonly called a hermaphrodite which is described as a person with the characteristics of both sexes. Lisa May began life as two zygotes, one a boy and the other a girl, with some of her cells having two X chromosomes while others had an X and a Y. She is what doctors refer to as a “true” hermaphrodite, as both of these zygotes fused together. The article pointed out that this zygote fusion, referred to as tetragametic fusion, is incredibly rare. Even more interesting is the fact that she has the reproductive tissues of both sexes and a combination of ovarian and testicular tissue. While it would make sense that the world would respect and even admire her, many people are frightened by the lack of social norms that Lisa May shows. As such, it was hard for Lisa to navigate this world at times and she switched her gender identity a few occasions before she settled on being a women. The article quotes Lisa May as saying “It's not an easy thing to do, move between sexes. I find I did some of this (opt for Steven or Lisa) as a habit rather than thinking about it”(Lisa May Stevens). This is what many people searching for gender identity go …show more content…

This gender nonconformity that Lisa May has, was obviously not something that Lisa May chose, but is something that she has to live with and hopefully can love. I was surprised to hear that Lisa May lives in Fort Collins, as a lot of the people here are what most would classify as hegemonic America. I am so appreciative of people who dare to identify as something different and people like Lisa May, who wear these differences on the outside. I appreciated this article's description of Lisa May and the way it showed her humanness and I can now understand that we have more similarities than differences. One of the quotes in the article that really stuck with me was when Lisa May said, “I'd rather people see me as sexy than as a dog dressed up.” Not only is this very strong language with a lot of imagery, but it really makes others think about their actions. To think of any women calling herself a dog is heartbreaking and is something that should never go through their minds. What is even more unsettling is that in the case of Lisa May people feel as though they have the right to see her differences as ugly. It then makes sense that May would feel as though she would have to do extra. People like Lisa May will probably always be noticed first in a room, but that doesn't necessarily have to be a

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