"Get in the kitchen, wo(MAN)!"

"It is thus within the grotesque, nonheroic (this is not a battlefield), and somehow "feminine" space of the kitchedn that Titus loses his bodily integrity and jeaopardizes his gender identity."
***
"Indeed, in Taymor's film, the severing of his hand is given a particular emphasis in keeping with the dynamics of gender confusion."

It is interesting that Cecile Marti suggests that Titus's loss of hand was comparable to castration and the cause of his "gender confusion." I suppose that this is due to the fact that Titus began to show a feminine side after having his hand cut off as he turned Tamora's sons into a feast, but why was his hand a symbol of his manhood? Is it something that is more figurative than literal? It is likely because Titus was a warrior, and he earned his status as a strong hero while in battle, so the loss of his hand would make him weak, and much more vulnerable to defeat. Because he lost strength and power, he essentially also lost part of his manhood since a man is not truly a man if he is not big and strong, right? I understood the whole loss of power as he lost his hand idea while reading the play, but I never really saw it as him becoming more feminine. Then again, when considering that Lavinia lost both of her hands, it is understandable that Titus be considered more woman-like since he was becoming more like his daughter in that sense. It is interesting, and he didn't even have to have sex with a woman in order to let his feminine side come out!