"Stones' in My Pocket, Stones in My Heart" was very interesting, because it helped me to see how Eli Clare was treated throughout most of his life. I refer to Eli Clare as a man, because this is how he has wanted society to view him all along. A person does not have to be constituted by the body he/she was born with, but rather what makes him/her happy. We should not just be referenced as a category of boy or girl, because we as individuals are so much more than just a category to be placed into. Eli Clare was trying to convey this message to society, because we are so naive in our understandings that we have cannot even fathom a person who does not fall in a certain category. Clare was open to discovery and tried to find his place in this world, and it took several tries even refering himself as a dyke. Clare had enjoyed being called a boy when he was younger, but he was still lost because technically he is actually a woman by medical terms. However, Clare seems confident now about being a man, and it really is about being happy where you are in life. Clare did not feel comfortable when he was younger and sought to change the society's perspective on him by declaring himself as a man.
Although Clare is a successful person now, he had to endure much pain and hardships while growing up. There was one certain scenario that I found odd at first, but perhaps the purpose of this certain scenario was to compensate for something else. This, of course, is when Clare was raped by his father when he was younger. The father could have done this to prove his dominance over Clare, who was beginning to portray himself as a man. The father could have wanted to show Clare what it means to be a man, although to rape Clare was an extreme method to go by. However, if the father had wanted to show Clare who he really was, then why did he treat him as a son for so many years? Maybe, the father wanted to show what the life of a man was like in hopes that Clare would not be satisfied, however, Clare had loved working with his father and doing the hard labor each day. Clare was free to feel and do what he wanted to do, and by doing so would eventually set him free.
(David Roberts, Post 19)
I think your post represents a very accurate and thoughtful meditation on Clare's gender identity, which can be one of the most confusing aspects of Exile & Pride for readers to deal with. I like that you refer to Clare as "he" even though throughout most of the book we know him as "she" because this is the identity he comes to prefer. It is important to respect the identities of others and to try to view them in the same way they identify themselves. Nicely done.
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