I got into a conversation recently about transexuals and whether a trans woman was a woman. When I said no, the two other participants seemed appalled at my opinion. It obviously marked me out as a bad or, at least, ignorant and bigoted person. I asked in what way is such a person, born male but supposedly made female by hormone treatment and surgery, a woman I was told it was what 'she' felt 'herself' to be that mattered. In other words, the old feelings trump facts argument. I was told, and it may be true, I don't know, that in some people a female-oriented brain inhabits a male body and so they were clearly female from the beginning. But so what, I replied. They are in a male body so they are not female. I asked what they thought about the fact that a trans woman would not have a womb or XX chromosomes as a biologically normal woman would have but was told that was beside the point. Many biologically normal women cannot have children. Are they any less female? No, I said, but a biological woman whose biology is defective is quite different to a biological man who decides to be a woman. I asked if a white person decided he was black did that mean he now was black? They avoided the question but I fail to see how, in a rational universe, the two cases are different. Perhaps that is the issue here. We no longer live in a rational universe.
I should say that I have the greatest sympathy for anyone who feels him or herself to be born in a body of the wrong sex. This must be a horrible position in which to find oneself. I realise there are medical anomalies but genuine intrasexuals are rare. Most transexuals are not like this. Moreover, that is not the point. The point is that a society that divorces itself from reality, for what ever reason, is a society that has separated itself from both God and Nature, and it is therefore one that is on the way out. This is just the latest indication that we are such a society.
You know William, I absolutely agree with you - 100% (and more!)....the scary thing is that people like those two you talked with, have been quite literally brainwashed into their opinions on the matter, thus having no means by which to even assess the validity of alternate perspectives - hence, the avoidance of questions rather than any attempt at 'thinking' thru to an answer.
ReplyDeleteNow, from my perspective, people who've been brainwashed have, quite literally, been cheated of their freewill (whether in total, or in some particular matter). Thus, my prayer for them is "Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do." - or 'what they believe', as the case may be.
As to the societal perspective, the primary problem going unacknowledged, are all the "trans" people who want to claim the opposite to their birth gender without having undergone any of the 'transitional' surgeries....
From a legal perspective - as long as a person has completed all the 'transitional' surgical procedures and is in a permanent (monitored!) program of hormonal therapies - I could accept a legal/societal claim of whichever gender they chose.
But, I am absolutely against any hormonal or surgical changes to underage persons, and as well, the very subject matter should be considered an utterly personal matter, not appropriate for discussion with anyone outside of legal guardians or assigned mental health counsellors and utterly forbidden subject matter for prepubescent children.
Here is a link to a really excellent interview which I believe might be helpful should you (or any of your readers) need a resource in future such conversations.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/03/11/pioneer-in-child-gender-dysphoria-treatment-says-trans-medical-industry-is-harming-kids/
I actually feel that the linked article should be shared far and wide, as it might possibly be a catalyst toward potential paradigm shifting 'back to rationality'.
Thank you for posting on this topic - all the above has been 'fermenting' quite a while, so I'm grateful for the 'soapbox' opportunity here at your blog!
Carol
Thanks for your comment Carol. It is absolutely true that to interfere with the development of a possibly confused teenager in such a way that they are radically altered before they are old enough to have come to a proper decision about themselves is about as wrong as wrong can be.
ReplyDelete@W - In terms of the history of the world; it is extraordinary that such a discussion as you describe could ever happen (outside of a psychiatric hospital) - and probably versions of it are happening all over The West, if not the world.
ReplyDeleteIt shows several things - one is the truth of that comment (Chesterton?) (which goes something like) when people stop believing in God, they don't then believe in nothing - they can believe in anything.
More specifically; I can see the pervasive (and indeed compulsory) dishonesty of modern life at work here.
And also a distortion of the 'fact' (a great possible benefit, as well as a curse when misused) of the power of choice in modern Man. We 'make our reality' to an extraordinary extent compared with Men of the past. But this ability is made a curse by the choices made - which begins with the choice to hand-over our discernment and thinking to external sources.
Both these people did actually talk about 'my' truth and 'my' reality as these were objectively real things just as valid as what actually is. It seems as though when you abandon God you also abandon reality because it has lost its roots.
ReplyDeleteWhat do they even mean when they assert that a "trans woman" is a woman? What exactly are they predicating of "trans women"?
ReplyDeleteNothing biological, obviously, since they freely concede that "trans women" do not have XY chromosomes, do not ovulate, do not have wombs, etc.
Nothing about mere appearance or dress, obviously, since the "drag queen" (who presents as a caricatured woman but is still really a man) is equally recognized and celebrated.
Nothing about social roles, personality or behavior, obviously, since it is an axiom of feminism that no such differences exist, or should exist, between the sexes.
Once all these possible meanings of "x is a woman" are ruled out, we are left only with the recursive definition of "woman" as "anyone who thinks they are a woman" -- which of course makes the whole thing semantically empty and meaningless. Women are defined as people who think they are people who think they are people who think they are . . . and so on ad infinitum, an infinite regress of never-ending buck-passing which never gets cashed out as actual meaning.
As you say, we no longer live in a rational universe.
I meant to type "XX chromosomes," obviously.
ReplyDeleteA pity you weren't with me when I was talking to these people, Wm! You've countered their incoherency much better than I did. It is hard to talk to people who just say complete nonsense.
ReplyDelete"You can beat 40 scholars with one fact, but you cannot beat one idiot with 40 facts" Attributed to Rumi
ReplyDeleteThe thing is these are intelligent people as in high IQ. But they are the ones that succumb to the madness first it seems.
ReplyDeleteThe entire premise is that form of evil that is directly anti-Value; destructiveness towards Value for the purpose of that destructiveness (rather than the traditional form of evil that involves selfishly pursuing natural instincts to the neglect of Value). This destructiveness towards masculinity is a kind of profanity that intends to torture or destroy Beauty.
ReplyDeletePeople animated by such evil will naturally torture and destroy Truth too (as well as Virtue).
Julius Evola rightly stated that man and woman represent a dual unity. There are degrees by which either is more or less representative of their sexes, but it is vital to discover how the individual may achieve the unity between the sexes. I may at most say that a man is less feminine than women but I will not be telling him that he is more feminine than men. XD
ReplyDeleteModernity treats the individual as a mannequin. Determine a material value, negotiating the fees, subtracting losses and adding profits,all managing surface features and neglecting the internal human being. We treat each other this way mistaking what individuality means, and many forget that they need to make a choice of what they intend and what they are to be.
Identity and intent always go beyond sexual nonsense. If you want to make believe otherwise you are playing the victim card in this jungle of confusion you helped humanity walk into.
ReplyDelete