In May of 2023 I wrote the following paragraph in this blog. "I also read Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Wow, is all can say other than it deserves its own post and I’ll bet it’s on the top of the Banned Books list in Florida. I learned a lot about bees from the book as well as about a topic I dare not name because none of the reviewers I've read have named it. Doing so would be like telling the who-done-it in a murder mystery. The surprise element is part of what makes the book such a great read and knowing it might keep some from reading the book thus missing a compelling learning opportunity."
If you've guessed that this is going to be that 'other post' where the book gets more space and attention, you'd be right. After reading the book last year I recommended it for a book club selection and this month it finally cycled up to the top of our 'read and discuss' time. If you've got the book on your "To Read" list you might want to stop reading this post because I'm about to reveal the surprise element that made it a controversial choice for a place where every now and then at a lunch table here at the Continuum Care Complex you might hear someone mention the 'evil woke teachers' who want to indoctrinate school children to change their sexual origination.
IMDb sums up the plot this way: "The novel focuses on the themes of young love, teenage angst and parental grief interwoven with murder and high intensity courtroom drama. The story follows a mother who relocates to her sleepy hometown in New Hampshire to take over the family beekeeping business and whose son is suspected of murder." The Washington Post called the book, "Heart pounding and Heartbreaking." And that is so true.
I got a preview of how the book club discussion would go at a dinner table a few days before our meeting when someone asked if anyone knew who recommended the book for the club and I owned up to it. And I did so without hesitation. Then she said and I quote, "You! I never would have guessed it was you and I've been trying to figure it out all week."
"Why wouldn't you think it was me?" I asked. "I'm open minded." Then a couple of people who aren't in the club asked what the book is about. None of the three of us who'd read it told them about the young transgender character who went through the sex change surgery and whose death led to a murder trial. One woman said there are three shocking elements in the book. It wasn't until a few days later at club before I found out what three things she meant because, to me, there was only the one shocker. (I feel so 'worldly' around some/most of my neighbors.) And I knew it was coming because I'd listened to the authors being interviewed before I read the book so I knew that Jennifer Finney Boylan, was a transgender activist. Picoult needs no introduction having authored 28 books, many of which have made the New York Time's list. She's known for writing about complex human relationships and controversial issues.
DNA and our Chromosomes: For those who don't know what 23 and Me is, it's a place that does genetic DNA testing. You send in a chunk of money and some spit and they can tell you things like if you're predisposed to various types of diseases, what part of the world your ancestors are from and if you have an inny or outy belly button or if your second toe is longer than your big toe and what color eyes you have. There were enough of the sillier markers that my DNA test revealed that I could verify just by checking out my body that I have no doubt about the accuracy of 23 and Me testing. There are lots of research articles on the site that are way too complex for me to understand. But one day after listening to how "left wing teachers are trying to turn boys into girls and girls into boys"---I need an eye rolling emoji here---I did a deep dive at 23 and Me on the topic of sexual origination.
The thumbnail version is it all has to do with something that happens or doesn’t happen in the first 12 weeks fetal development. All fetal brains begins in the 'female' state and by the 12th week if the Y-chromosome puts out enough testosterone it overrides the circulating estrogen a typical heterosexual male is formed. But if not enough testosterone is received it causes same-sex attraction in males---brain chemistry that doesn't match the plumbing. In other words, while my generation was brought up to believe that there are only males and females science is proving that sexual origination can be one of seven distinctions on a sliding scale of sorts. I printed out one of the research papers and took it to book club to refute anyone who still buys into the theory that same sex attraction is a choice.
Surprisingly---or maybe not considering the club is mostly made up of the liberals at my CCC---eleven of the twelve in the group liked or at least found the book interesting or enlightening. One woman---a member of the Trump Cult---quit reading at the chapter where a doctor was on the witness stand describing what is involved in a reassignment surgery and how even on close inspection a penis turned into a vagina would not look any different than a normal one. It also can have the same sensations and fluids during sex that a naturally formed vagina has.
Another thing I learned on my deep dive is that there is a debate going on about where the research should or could lead us to. Some look at the ongoing research as leading to a way to detect and correct babies in the womb whose brain chemistry doe not match their genitalia, while there are others who advocate for the research helping to change society from thinking of gender as two polar opposites---to accepting that a spectrum of sexuality is part of nature's (or God's) plan. Not something that needs correcting. The fact that the same percentage of humans on the spectrum is the same percentage as what can be found in the animal kingdom puts a thumb of the scale, in my opinion. But does it really matter if gayness or being transgender is a kind of birth defect or a normal part of nature's/God's plan? Either way, isn't it time that we all learn how to unconditionally accept the LGBTQ community?
Until Next Wednesday!
