num_pages: 176
description: Another internationally acclaimed writer contributes a fascinating, compelling reinterpretation of a myth that resonates deeply today.Ligdus and Telethusa are having a child, but they cannot afford to have a girl. Ligdus informs Telethusa that she had better hope for a boy. While this decision makes them both sad, Telethusa “must/obey.” She prays to Isis, but births a girl and names her Iphis, a name that “suited male or female–/a neutral name.” She convinces everyone, including Ligdus, that Iphis is a boy.Iphis matures and falls in love with another girl, Ianthe, and is engaged for marriage, yet s/he is ruled by the sexual norms of the “[P]ossessed by love so strange . . . no female wants/a female!” but “no learned art–can ever make of me/a boy.” She attempts to reconcile her love for Ianthe against the pressures of “nature.” The wedding day is near, Telethusa is desperate, and prays again to Isis. Iphis is transformed, looking like a boy.Is Ovid suggesting that what we think is nature is attitude? Does Iphis grow a penis? Or does Iphis, adopting the characteristics of a boy, remain a girl married to a girl, undermining traditional values?
language: English
title: Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis
titlecomplete: Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis
genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Retellings, Feminism, Queer, Literary Fiction, Mythology, Romance, Fantasy, LGBT
ratings_count: 8606
places: Inverness, Scotland
awards: awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: James Tiptree Jr. Award
publisher: Knopf Canada