What is "middlesex"

literally "(land of the) Middle Saxons" (those between Essex and Wessex); originally a much larger region. See middle + Saxon.

Middlesex is a former county in southeast England.

Middlesex is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides published in 2002. The book is a bestseller, with more than three million copies sold by May 2011. Its characters and events are loosely based on aspects of Eugenides' life and observations of his Greek heritage. It is not an autobiography; unlike the protagonist, Eugenides is not intersex. The author decided to write Middlesex after he read the 1980 memoir Herculine Barbin and was dissatisfied with its discussion of intersex anatomy and emotions.

Primarily a coming-of-age story ( Bildungsroman) and family saga, the novel chronicles the effect of a mutated gene on three generations of a Greek family, causing momentous changes in the protagonist's life. According to scholars, the novel's main themes are nature versus nurture, rebirth, and the differing experiences of what society constructs as polar opposites—such as those found between men and women. It discusses the pursuit of the American Dream and explores gender identity. The novel contains many allusions to Greek mythology, including creatures such as the Minotaur, half-man and half-bull, and the Chimera, a monster composed of various animal parts.

Narrator and protagonist Cal Stephanides (initially called "Callie") is an intersex man of Greek descent with a condition known as 5-alpha-reductase deficiency, which causes him to have certain feminine traits. The first half of the novel is about Cal's family and depicts his grandparents' migration from Bursa, a city in Asia Minor, to the United States in 1922. It follows their assimilation into American society in Detroit, Michigan, then a booming industrial city. The latter half of the novel, set in the late 20th century, focuses on Cal's experiences in his hometown of Detroit and his escape to San Francisco, where he comes to terms with his modified gender identity.

Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times Book Review considered Middlesex one of the best books of 2002, and some scholars believed the novel should be considered for the title of Great American Novel. Generally, reviewers felt that the novel succeeded in portraying its Greek immigrant drama and were also impressed with Eugenides' depiction of his hometown of Detroit—praising him for his social commentary. Reviewers from the medical, gay, and intersex communities mostly praised Middlesex, though some intersex commentators have been more critical. In 2007, the book was featured in Oprah's Book Club.

Middlesex is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.

Middlesex (, abbreviation: Middx) was a county in southeast England that is now mostly part of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouring counties. It was established in the Anglo-Saxon system from the territory of the Middle Saxons. The historic county included land stretching north of the River Thames from east to west of the City of London with the rivers Colne and Lea and a ridge of hills as the other boundaries. The largely low-lying county, dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south, was the second smallest by area in 1831.

The City of London was a county in its own right from the 12th century and was able to exert political control over Middlesex. Westminster Abbey dominated most of the early financial, judicial and ecclesiastical aspects of the county. As London grew into Middlesex, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the city boundaries into the county, which posed problems for the administration of local government and justice. In the 18th and 19th centuries the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East End and West End of London. From 1855 the southeast was administered, with sections of Kent and Surrey, as part of the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works. When county councils were introduced in England in 1889 about 20% of the area of Middlesex, along with a third of its population, was transferred to the new County of London and the remainder became an administrative county governed by the Middlesex County Council that met regularly at the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster, in the County of London. The City of London, and Middlesex, became separate counties for other purposes and Middlesex regained the right to appoint its own sheriff, lost in 1199.

In the interwar years suburban London expanded further, with improvement and expansion of public transport, and the setting up of new industries. After the Second World War, the population of the County of London and inner Middlesex was in steady decline, with high population growth continuing in the outer parts. After a Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, almost all of the original area was incorporated into an enlarged Greater London in 1965, with the rest transferred to neighbouring counties. Since 1965 various areas called Middlesex have been used for cricket and other sports. Middlesex was the former postal county of 25 post towns.

Middlesex (also known as Middlesex—London—Lambton) was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Lambton West, Lambton—Kent, Middlesex West and Middlesex East ridings.

It consisted of: (a) the north-central part of the City of London bounded by Adelaide Street on the west, Clarke Side Road on the east by, and Cheapside Street on the south;

(b) in the County of Middlesex, the Townships of Adelaide, Caradoc, Delaware, Ekfrid, Lobo, Metcalfe, Mosa, West Nissouri and West Williams, Westminster, North Dorchester (excluding the Village of Belmont), East Williams (excluding the Village of Ailsa Craig), and the Township of London (excluding the part of the Township lying south of the Fanshawe Road and bounded on the east by Crumlin Road and on the west by Clarke Side Road); and

(c) in the County of Lambton, the Town of Forest and the Townships of Bosanquet and Warwick.

The electoral district changed name in 1974 to "Middlesex—London—Lambton", and was abolished in 1976 when it was redistributed between Lambton—Middlesex, London East and Middlesex East ridings.

Middlesex was a provincial riding in Ontario, Canada, that was created for the 1975 election. It was abolished prior to the 1999 election. It was merged into the riding of Elgin—Middlesex—London.