Brief Summary of Glory This by Michelle Moo
Glory This is a narration about transcendent suburbia presented in a teen vernacular style. The story accounts for shifting sexualities and adolescents but with ambiguous representations of the related subject. Glory This delves into a contemporary representation of the deep 1970s about young Melbournians who shaded their heads, drank booze, and smoked Winnie Reds during long summer months (Moo, 2004).
In the story, the author focuses on two protagonists – Snigs and Mayne – who were ambling through the suburbs by making confessions to each other. Their friends and enemies cross their path as they deepen into the pleasures of the marginal culture of the suburban space. As the author discloses the episodes of the narration, it is possible to follow a peculiar vernacular style enabling the story to transform from a descriptive phase to a performed one. While applying to such style, the story is mixed with immediate dialogues and actions in the present tense. In such a manner, the action manages to unravel simultaneously.
Explaining the Term “Androgynous”
While looking at the term “androgynous” through the perspective of the ideas represented by Goodlad (2005), specific emphasis should be made to such contextual aspects as gender ethics, transgender characteristics, and gender preferences. These alternatives concepts are united by the ethical deficiencies in a view on sexuality and gender in the era of post-Enlightenment. Post-modern culture, therefore, is a step forward to understanding deviation from the established “incommensurable sexual differences and the set of normative masculine and feminine identifies” (Goodlad, 2005, p. 218).
The ethical framework established in the capitalist era discouraged the distinction between the private and public perception of the self in terms of gender and the publicly assigned characteristics to males and females. By incorporating the above-presented aspects, the author defines androgyny as “the entire absence of gender” (Goodlad, 2005, p. 221). In other words, androgynous is closely associated with the attitudes between people beyond the sexist boundaries.
Therefore, the term excludes the consideration of male and female differences and, therefore, it exhausts the concept of gender variation. The roles that have historically been assigned to men and women are predetermined by social circumstances and stereotypes, which support the idea of gender preferences. Hence, the gender choices and variations are largely dependent on the options offered by social institutions on gender ethics.
Judging from the above-presented characteristics, the term “androgynous” is also connected with the concept of self that goes beyond the established masculine and feminine roles performed in society. This definition fits in something between male and female, or even entirely genderless. Because androgynous individuals are deprived of the functions and roles performed by men and women and, therefore, their selves are much easier to define because of the direct focus on their identity that does not depend on social norms and sexuality.
Understanding the term with regard to the Moo’s Glory This
Glory This also represents androgyny in terms of shifted sexuality and deviation from the socially established gender roles. In particular, the protagonists Mayne and Snigs can be referred to as transgender categories, judging by the descriptions of their appearance: “Mayne is a real spunk with her smoke and drink. Her hands especially. Short nails, this time deep emerald glitter, and chunky rings all over every finger, like the boys do” (Moo, 2004, p. 8). The portrayal of one of the main characters reveals a kind of rebellion against the established norms and standards for gender roles that should be performed. Mayne is set somewhere between male and female representations.
The story also represents heroes whose androgynous natures are revealed through an effort to redefine human competences and liberate them from a bourgeois system that has outlined the existing gender lines. The second half of the past century represented different sub-cultures creating marginalized communities and challenged the traditional system of ethical differences.
Explaining the Definition in Terms Of “Contemporary Androgynous in Australia”
Currently, the term androgynous in Australia is largely identified as an official gender that belongs neither to the male or female category. Therefore, it should be based on the analysis of such concepts of transgender and trans-sexuality (Brewer et al., 2002, p. 79). Hence, individuals who “possess high levels of both are labeled as androgynous” whereas “those possessing low levels of both are labeled undifferentiated” (Brewer et al., 2002, p. 81).
In this respect, the modern definition of androgyny does not include the definition of asexuality. It is also closely correlated to the contemporary representation of androgynous in Australia, which is specifically revealed in such spheres as fashion and art. Specifically, the famous Australian model Andrej Pejic works both female and male runways. He is not limited to feminine and masculine representations because the model believes that even a female dress can fit males as well (Weeks 2011). In this respect, the concept of gender differences, therefore, is not enough while communicating with different people in a social setting nowadays.
Reference List
Brewer, N, Mitchell, P, & Weber, N 2002, Gender Role, Organizational Status, and Conflict Management Styles, The International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 78-94.
Goodlad, LME 2005, Toward a Victorianist’s Theory of Androgynous Experiment, Indiana University Press, USA, pp. 215-229.
Moo, M 2004, Glory This, Local Consumption Publications, Newtown.
Weeks, L 2011, End of Gender?NPR. Web.