Biology of Gender Reflective Essay

In this undergaduate research essay, I take the concept of unediting, adjust the meaning appropriately, and apply the concept to my research on Emily Dickinson. I conducted extensive research on the biographical background of Emily Dickinson followed by close thematic and structural analysis of her poem “Truth is as Old as God.” By analyzing the piece, its influences, its epistolary context, and the original and well as edited drafts that are available to the average reader, I “unedit” the poem, and attempt to explain the consequences of leaving the piece as it is in most major publications without context.  

Unediting Dickinson

The thought that I could be sold into slavery or become a sex worker crosses my mind approximately… once a year. Primarily when I watched the film “Taken” or see a rare commercial about it on television. I am, without a doubt, never concerned that this could become a reality for me.

As you can imagine, empathizing then becomes a challenge. For me, it is an impossibility. For many women in countries I will never visit, it is the only reality available to them. So it took me a moment before I was able to understand a fraction of the weight of the situation at hand.

What shocked me was the passive acceptance that most women in the midst of this problem had. All women that interviewed as sex workers did not seem phased in the slightest that they lived that particular life. An acceptance of their lifestyle was rooted so deeply simply because they knew nothing different.

It is clear in this case as it is in many that the key to solving this problem is education. If people don’t know any better, they won’t do any better. My hope for this unsettling reality is that somehow, eyes will be opened not only in America where most individuals are completely unaware of this problem and, moreover, have the means to do something about it. But also at the personal level in the actual countries that suffer.

Menstruation is often a source of shame in young girls in many different cultures and societies. In some more progressive areas, it can instill pride, and a sense of womanhood. Traditions and practices like those in Africa or India can be condemning and shaming, while others like those practices by traditional Jews can be empowering if done correctly.

Cultural tradition has the ability to be empowering and beautiful. The mistake that is often made is connecting the menstrual cycle to dirt and filth. Let’s be honest, the idea of blood and other “stuff” coming out of one’s genitals isn’t exactly cute. It’s not often a fun process; it hurts, it’s expensive, and it often prevents you from having sex on demand.

With that being said, it is vital to recognize that while the menstrual cycle is not particularly elegant, it is imperative to the life-bringing process in women and it is an important biological function. Therefore, it is beautiful. It should be appreciated and recognized as an important process rather than a shameful period of time when women are not to be touched because they are unclean.

Male circumcision contrasted with female circumcision is a sensitive topic (no pun intended). The benefits and costs rest heavily on the culture’s perception of the traditional practices in terms of functionality, ceremony, religion, and so on. Comparatively, both male and female circumcision were initiated out of ceremonial, cultural practice.

Male circumcision originated religiously however it has proved to be beneficial in many aspects, therefor the practice is continued. Female circumcision, however, has only ever been a cultural practice without health benefits of any sort. While male’s benefit from cleaner genitals, females simply suffer an increased lack of sexual desire, identity, and risk of infection.

In the eyes of the societies that practice female circumcision, it will limit female’s sexual promiscuity and make for more virtuous, moral women. Women are outcast and treated with gross disrespect otherwise. This practice, especially in many of the countries it is performed, is incredibly dangerous, dirty, and painful.

The right to enjoy sexual intercourse in birth-given and inherent. Taking the enjoyment out of the very practice that gives life is inhumane is disgusting, and those cultures that do still practice female circumcision should at least be given the opportunity of education on the subject.

I added the close reading essay of “Truth is as old as God” to my page. This poem is the primary piece under analysis for my final project.

In order to contextualize the poem and its editorial journey, the basic meaning and message of the poem need to be closely read and analyzed. This will also serve to purpose the effects of the mechanical changes on each differing published version.

This first close-reading is done looking at the Franklin Variorum 1998 F795A original manuscript, originally published in Letters in 1894.

The poem clearly has religious and spiritual underpinnings, beginning with a mechanical separation but a conjunction in message between “Truth” and God.” Dickinson chose to place a hyphen directly after the first word, forcing the reader to pause and reflect on “Truth.” This choice serves to make the noun its own entity, not necessarily apart from God but not wholly dependent on Him either. “God” is also visually separated, being placed in the next line in this version, but this is most likely due to the space available on the original page; the other version in Dickinson’s handwriting contains this section of text as one line.

She then refers to “Truth” as God’s “Twin Identity.” This could either be joining the two objects in identity or separating them, implying a false identity, an appearance rather than moral depth of character. It should be noted, however, that Dickinson chose not to claim that they are one and the same, only of the same age and endurance.

She writes that Truth will “endure as long as He—A Co Eternity.” Here, she implies co-dependency, one’s life relying on the other’s survival and vice versa. Her use of the verb “endure” is particularly interesting because it suggests a struggle in survival, rather than just living effortlessly as one would think God is capable of doing.

On that note, a “Co Eternity” suggests an inability to die, immortality. However immediately following this line, she refers to the death of Truth, contradicting this theory. Strangely, the rest of the poem becomes ambiguous when referring to each subject. This ambiguity could be unintentional but most likely serves to confuse the reader between the two subjects, because they can be mistaken for one another so easily. “He is borne away” could be referring to God due to the masculine pronoun, as well as the personification.

“The Mansion of the Universe” could be referring to heaven, being the pinnacle of luxury and wealth in theory. One of the objects Dickinson refers to is being “borne away” from this heaven, allowing for the death of either himself of the other. This contradiction only adds to the ambiguity that Dickinson has provided here.

Finally, the last line of the piece is particularly intriguing in placement and structure. In the F795A manuscript, Dickinson reaches the end of the page after “Universe.” She then leaves an entire page blank on the paper she originally used, then wrote the last line, “A lifeless Deity.” This structure is peculiar because it was either a purposeful mechanical choice meant to force the reader to pause before reading and internalizing the last line, or a beautiful insight into the personal, poetic process of Dickinson.

She closes this piece with her signature, simply “Emily,” either ending a message or claiming ownership. This also allows us a small insight into Dickinson’s mind, further proving that poetry is not a black and white, cut and dry, linear process. Patterns in the process itself aren’t so easy to find.

The beginning of my final research paper was drafted and posted in “Progess.” This clearly identifies the focus of the final project.

Author of “Editing Emily Dickinson: The Production of an Author,” Lena Christensen’s definition of unediting is as follows: “to “unedit” [texts] is to discover a vast array of possibilities suppressed or neglected in modern editions. Her version of unediting “analyzes specific periods of Dickinson studies for which the status of the texts of Dickinson, and the editorial questions related to the editing of those texts as works, have been articulated as problematic. There are so many versions of ‘Emily Dickinson’ available that the critic who wants to ‘figure her out’ finds herself wandering through a maze of ddifferent and differing voices.”

In her doctoral project on Dickinson, she claims that “Emily Dickinson is treated as an intertextual constellation of editorial and critical narratives.”

Christensen approaches Dickinson as a collective voice, aiming not to dress Dickinson’s work down to what it originally was because of the vast number of versions there are in publication, but to take the editorial voices into account when reading Dickinson’s work so as not to disregard editorial effect whilst not obsessing over an “original.” Christensen does not desire to figure Emily Dickinson out, nor do I.

It is argued that a poem ceases to be what it truly is at even the slightest change, alteration, or dismissal of any aspect of the original manuscript, including handwriting, paper stock, spacing, and so on. Cristanne Miller writes that “most debate on Dickinson’s letters has focused either on their aesthetics or on the look of manuscript pages.” (2012) This approach emphasizes the radical end of the spectrum away from all editorial processes.

My aim at “unediting,” inspired by Christensen, is simply to view Dickinson’s work as a fluid process of her own doing, as originally as possible without the confinement and limitations of what an original manuscript may or may not represent in this fluid, poetic process.

A prime example of the variations of Dickinson’s work comes down to the particular. Her poem “Truth is as old as God” is available in two “original manuscripts” and countless edited version in various collections and analyses. Because we have more than one copy in Dickinson’s handwriting and drafting process, we are able to look at her poetry as a personal process as well as an editorial autopsy through the years of pokes, prods, and collections.

After collecting as many variant printed editions of this poem I will close read and analyze the differing versions and contextualize the editorial changes through the years.

The Gender Health Gap is very clearly decreasing as people in both the medical community and average western society become more aware and open to the reality that women’s medical needs go further than was thought up until several decades ago. The waves of feminism absolutely had to present themselves in that format because the degradation of women as an entire gender had so many more issues than originally thought needed to be dealt with.

In terms of health, however, it’s interesting to determine who has the upper hand. In general, men have a lower life expectancy. A knee-jerk reaction to related statistics imply that men need more medical attention, more coverage, and women need to stop complaining so much. However a Harvard University study claimed that several of the reasons men “lag” so severally are brought on by themselves. Examples are:

• Work stress
• Risky behavior
• Aggression and violence
• Smoking
• Alcohol and substances abuse
• Diet
• Lack of exercise
• Lack of routine medical care

It’s intriguing to think about human potential in terms of health and life expectancy if, in theory, we actually took care of ourselves.