Gender or Deformity?

I've been thinking so much about our discussion last class about whether the novel is more about gender or physical deformity. I found this question to be very apparent throughout the whole novel when I was reading it. I just didn't have a name for the thesis.

The novel is more about gender than it is the freak. Or perhaps gender is supposed to be considered freak-ish. In fact, I think that is where my mind is going. The idea that the body is on display is historically a female position. We are first introduced to this in the novel with the Glass House. It's a comfortable transition to the display of the body and the freak. Each female character projects sexuality in a different way. Olympia is a virgin (as far as we know), Lily is a reproductive machine, the twins are sexually curious and because there are two of them the argument for lesbianism can be made (from a theoretical perspective), Miranda uses her sexuality to make money, Miss Lick is completely absent of female sexuality, and even the Red Heads are promiscuous. Each female character is unique in her deformity or oddity and in the projection of her sexuality. Ultimately, women in this book are individualized through their physical appearance AND their sexuality. But throughout the novel the only male deformities we see are in Arty, the Bag Man, and McGurk. I'll get to Chick in a minute. These men are also sexualized, but in a more dominating way. Except perhaps McGurk, but his deformity is less "freaky." Chick does not have a physical deformity and his sexuality is not projected at all. Instead, I think he is a kind of transcended freak. He has moved beyond the physical realm all together into a purely mental arena. However, he is tied to the physical realm because his gift can only be seen via the manipulation of atoms and particles that make up the physical dimension.

Back to the gender issue... Because the book is based around the freak, it would make more sense for sexuality and gender to be the subversive message within a larger context that is more disturbing to either draw the reader in to the realities of gender issues for those who really know how to stomach the disturbing, or to contrast the social perspective of the two by putting them on the same plane.