stories, by contrast, contain all the usual reports of change and growth,
though what is reported as important experience tends to blur gender
categories (Conway Chapter 7). I believe that this passage from When
Memory Speaks assists the claim to Herculine Barbin being a different
story because much of Barbins story surrounds her speaking of events
being blurred by her being a hermaphrodite and generally unsure of whether
to refer to herself as a man or woman. This is just one instance of Barbins
story relating back to being a different story.
The first story I would like to compare Barbins to is that of Kate Millet,
whose book Flying, would treat the subject of lesbian relationships and their
connection to the movement for womens right with a degree of explicit
detail unimaginable for Sartons generation (Conway Chapter 7). In Millets
narrative we see feminists and gay rights people being very inspired by
Millet, similarly to how we see Michel Foucaults introduction to Herculine
Barbin being inspiring to many different doctors and scholars. While Barbins
notoriety came after her life had ended, Millets fame grew while she was still
trying to figure out what kind of an activist she wanted to be. She was
coming to terms with her own bisexual erotic and emotional life and
uncertain of whether her primary political commitments were to gay rights or
womens rights (Conway Chapter 7). This compares to Barbins story
because so much of Barbins story was spent trying to come to terms with
her gender and sexuality.
This passage from Herculine Barbin comes during a time when Barbin
is told she will have to conform to being a female, which is that of her
stronger sex, which we can see is something she is deeply uncomfortable
with, similar to that of Kate Millet being forced to admit to her sexual
preferences. An interesting aspect of Barbins story, though, is that she does
not only align with that of the different stories for females, but males as well,
if not more being that Barbin ultimately identified with being a male.
Although Herculine Barbin is written under the context of Barbin being
female, we ultimately discover that she would rather be a male. However,
due to societys constant pressure on Barbin to be female, she is never truly
happy in her male skin. The amount of turmoil that this caused Barbin is
similar to that of Martin Duberman, who wrote Cures: A Gay Mans Odyssey.
Dubermans narrative is largely based around him being discriminated for
being a gay man. Its main theme is the authors struggle for a cure for his
erotic drives, which a punishing society, and in particular its medical and
psychiatric professions, defined as sickness (Conway Chapter 7). This
particular excerpt almost mirrors that of Barbins in that she is forced into a
girls home at a young age, and when she should be able to make a decision
of her gender, is forced into being female. In addition to this, the sadness
that both Duberman and Barbin carry is very evident. This leads me to
further believe in Barbins story being a different story because despite being
ridiculed and beat down, both Duberman and Barbin still tell their stories
from their own point of view, and document these moments in ways that are
meant to be meaningful, not entertaining.
different stories because these narratives are meant to make the reader
consider things in ways that perhaps they never have, something I think that
everyone can agree to doing after reading Herculine Barbin.
Works Cited
Conway, Jill Ker. When Memory Speaks: Exploring the Art of Autobiography.
Kindle Edition. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 2011.