Marina's Gift: A Tongue-In-Cheek Look at Immigration Law and Gay Marriage in the U.S.
cursor HERE for Note to Reader

Dear Marina,
Congratulations!!!  Getting a Master Degree in Business Administration is a huge accomplishment, but getting one in a language other than your own is AMAZING!!!  In light of this, I have had a very, very difficult time trying to find just the right gift to show my affection and respect for you -- as well as to commemorate this tremendous accomplishment.  This task has been particularly challenging given the unpredictability of you and Marlene’s future living situation: will you be here in the U.S.?  Will our government's immigration policies force you to leave your family and friends here?  These questions weighed heavily on my mind, and heart, as I was pondering the dilemma of finding you just the right gift.  After much thought though, I do think that I have the perfect gift for you.  Let me explain:

Whenever I begin to consider the fact that you and Marlene may have to leave the U.S. I am struck by the way in which our government, and specifically our immigration laws, are so overly concerned with bodies. They seem to be obsessed with them. In thinking this obsession through I have come to realize the following:

  1. People's bodies matter . . .ALOT [unless, of course, the topic is affirmative action, then people’s bodies do not really matter . . .] 
  2. Bodies, and relationships among bodies, must follow a certain - very specific - kind of organization. 
  3. Properly organized bodies are rewarded: socially, financially and legally.  Improperly organized bodies are punished: socially, financially and legally.
  4. The otherwise private nature of one’s body is completely ignored in the interest of preserving these organizational principles. In other words, the government has a right to both know, and define, what is (or isn’t) in your pants, and it has a right to know, and evaluate, what you plan on doing with these endowments.

Of course none of this is new to you and Marlene.  In fact, it is really the root of why you may be forced to leave your lives here in the United States. But, it does lead me to wonder (when I am not just feeling totally pissed off about the whole thing); what exactly IS a body???  Where does a body end and begin? (Is, say, a prosthetic arm or leg part of one’s “body”? . . . how about a dental implant? . . . what of a wheel chair?)  Does the definition of a body change over time? (A wart grown upon the nose in the latter years of life is surely a part of one’s “body,” yes? . . . But, how about hair extensions, or the nose hair I recently noticed rudely appearing on my own "body"?) Can something become a part of one’s body? (Like breast implants? Hearing aids? Mechanical hearts?) Who gets to define the body?  So, I looked “body” up in the dictionary and this is what I found:
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Body; noun.
1: the entire physical structure of an organism (especially an animal or human being); "he felt as if his whole body were on fire"
2: body of a dead animal or person; "they found the body in the lake"
3: the body excluding the head and limbs; "they moved their arms and legs and bodies"
4: a collection of particulars considered as a system; "a body of law"
5: the central message of a communication; "the body of the message was short"
None of these definitions satisfied me.  They seem so reductive, after all, the body is the medium through which we touch our lives and the bodies of those we love, it is the instrument through which we sense each other and the world, and it is the site through which we leave our lives too: it is not merely “material” and “physical.”  But then I had an idea!  A great idea!! I realized that if this is what “they” call a body, then
YOU CAN STAY IN THE U.S.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the ticket is in this little box that I present to you as my gift.

 

[Roll your cursor over the box to see Marina's gift.]

 

 

 

 

 



Now, you can be assured that I have thought this through carefully, and this little tool – when consistently and properly worn hanging from the chain around your neck - conforms to, and even exceeds, all specifications as outlined in their dictionary.  Let me briefly go through each one as they are presented in the passage taken from Webster’s above.
1: It is a part of your physical structure.  It is attached to you. You are a human being. If you catch fire, it will burn.
2: If they find your body dead in the lake, it will still be attached to you.
3: It is not connected directly to your head or limbs.
4: It is a particular thing that is connected to other particular things which, taken together, are your body.
5: It is definitely a “central message of communication.”  [In fact, in this culture it is the most central -and powerful- kind of communicator!]

Furthermore, when necessary you can even use it in your everyday life, just as others who happen to have one do.  What I mean is: you need not wear it outwardly to prove its there, you will know it’s there, and by virtue of this you can pretty much do whatever you want with confidence!  Additionally, when others see you acting this way, they too will know you have one, and will treat you with respect. But, if you DO need to actually prove it’s there, you’ve got it, and you can whip it right out (I hear that there are some primates that do this when one male wants to intimidate another male).  Now if this occasion ever arises, and you do have to” show your stuff,” – say, to an Immigration and Naturalization official - I hope that you won’t feel in the least bit self-conscious about size, as it is quality that really matters, and yours is . . . GOLD!!!  [Given the highly capitalistic nature of U.S. culture this should really impress them!]
So . . . I hope you like it!
I hope you wear it well. 
I hope it will remind you that, although the world is not yet willing to recognize everyone’s gifts immediately, there are always those who do recognize truth, beauty, and excellence, no matter what form it is presented in.  And that, when all is said and done – despite George Bush, “Compassionate” Conservatives, and religious zealots - bodies really only make meaning to the extent that we use them to show those closest to us that we love them.
With all my love . . .

karyl

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marlene and Marina are a same-sex couple living in the United States under the restrictions of U.S. immigration laws. These laws refuse to recognize their relationship -- a relationship made legal as a "domestic partnership" in 1999 in Norway and honored with all rights and privileges throughout Europe and much of the rest of the world -- because Marlene and Marina do not have the "right" combination of bodies. Their struggle illustrates the problem of semantics and language which U.S. immigration laws both highlight and exploit as they attempt to pin down definitions of the body in order to discipline it. The question
of the meanings of the "body," and which bodies belong and which do not, become
critical in a global world where borders are challenged as "open," "free," "negotiable," and
even nonexistant -- if you are a multi-national corporation or an easily exploitable "alien" worker, however, if you are an individual inhabiting the "wrong" body, using the "wrong" language and/or trying to love and create a life with the "wrong" person, borders become
suddenly fixed, terrifying, and made of materials that are violently unyeilding and nonsensical. These materials might be understood as ideology . . . mixed with a good portion of fear. The interactive text below attempts to deconstruct the body, drawing attention to the
impossibility of contemporary national discourses which base their (ill)logic on the shifting meanings of the body's surfaces and the slippery slopes of language

>gggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

.