Ovaries, Requires a Dress or Sex vs. Gender
A Revised and Expanded Thinking With Clarity
Edited and Revised, December 25, 2021.
So much recent public discussion has been focused on the issues of Sex, Gender, and things such as the Drag Queen Reading Circles, I have expanded my original, 1st Substack publication of August 2020.
I hope it addresses many of your inquiries.
A coming post entitled, “Homosexuality and the Bible, Pt 1: Intro, Romans 1”, will go much more deeply into this subject.
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Sex vs. Gender - First in a series
Edited and Expanded, December 25, 2021
What are all these new sexes? I just don’t get it! Men in women’s restrooms? Or better yet, What is there to get? Many have a hard time understanding the new “Many Genders” discussion. We don't get it. You're a boy or you're a girl.
Well, yes, there are some “Tom Boys”, and yes, those boys who are a bit more effeminate... but darn it all, nature tells us that you’re either a BOY or a GIRL!
I would like to resolve confusing diatribes on the subject: these two words are used interchangeably by the Left and Woke society. However; the words sex and gender are NOT synonymous.
To state this very clearly from this author’s point of view, the real issue of the new Gender Discussion Should Be that your Sex Organs do NOT equal your Gender. They are your sex.
So in response to my perposterous title above, if you have ovaries, it does not mean you have to wear a dress.
And also, nature does not completely tell us that things are male or female. In many instances, both sexes are often in one. So a person may be in a boy's body, but everything that generates feelings of acceptance…. The pleasure of seeing the right reflection in a mirror, the feelings inside, that, what you feel is what you see, and possibly more importantly, how others see you as well. That person just wants to feel right! To be congruent. The desire is to know that when out in public the genuine self or their gender is seen by others. And one way that may be shown is by the fashion statement displayed.
A Closer Look
Let’s take a look a Webster:
“Either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. The term is also used more broadly to denote a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.
"a condition that affects people of both genders"
Are gender and sex the same? Usage Guide
Noun
The words sex and gender have a long and intertwined history. In the 15th century gender expanded from its use as a term for a grammatical subclass to join sex in referring to either of the two primary biological forms of a species, a meaning sex has had since the 14th century; phrases like "the male sex" and "the female gender" are both grounded in uses established for more than five centuries. In the 20th century sex and gender, each acquired new uses. Sex developed its "sexual intercourse" meaning in the early part of the century (now its more common meaning), and a few decades later gender gained a meaning referring to the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex, as in "gender roles." Later in the century, gender also came to have application in two closely related compound terms: gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female; gender expression refers to the physical and behavioral manifestations of one's gender identity. By the end of the century gender by itself was being used as a synonym of gender identity.1
So Gender is not just a choice of A or B. Gender is just NOT what your sex organs look like. So, I agree when Webster says that “gender gained a meaning referring to the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits are typically associated with one sex, as in ‘gender roles’.”
Gender is expressed through actions: How you FEEL when you dress a certain way; from men's wear to women's wear. Pants to dresses to pantsuits, i.e., Hillary Clinton. Wingtips to pumps. Beyond your sex organs, gender is very frequently discussed in terms of heredity vs. environment. The part that each plays is still very much a part of scientific study.
I believe the real problem in the social discussion, or should I say “Argument”, is that too many discussions insist on reducing this index to “One Measurement” and inaccurate words are continually used to discuss a complex matter.
So What Is Gender
I believe sex is indeed MALE or FEMALE. Gender, however, is that feeling within yourself. That feeling that reducing yourself to just the ONE index of male or female doesn’t capture your total essence.
You may not feel this is not a problem for your identity. Being a Male or Female may suit you just fine and you don’t get what all the fuss is about.
If you are still reading this far, I believe you may well be open to expanding your awareness. Homosexuality really exists. Gender dysphoria is real whether we choose to understand it or not.
Let’s look a bit deeper:
“Research on the causes of human sexual orientation has been marshaled in support of predetermined and opposing theological viewpoints. Whilst acknowledging that there is still much that is not known, the peer-reviewed scientific literature clearly shows that a combination of genetic and environmental factors contribute to sexual orientation, with approximately one-third of variance currently attributed to the former.
"Much of the known environmental influence appears to be intra-uterine and there is no currently convincing evidence that the social environment plays a significant part. This body of evidence is relevant to theology. Greater attention should be given to critical interdisciplinary engagement of the theology and science of sexual orientation.”2 (Emphasis supplied.)
The Gender Color Chart
The magic of mixology or the Hardware Paint Man
In my own mind, I have likened gender to two (or more) cans of different-colored paint being slowly mixed together. As experiences happen, the paint mixes as in the picture below. As experiences happen and the many inner feelings of your unique and individual self are outwardly displayed, the individual experiences what might best be labeled as euphoria, they just feel right. What is seen in the mirror is just right!
Because these feelings, i.,e., colors are mixed, a NuTone™ color chart of sorts, expression (color) is experienced, internalized, and demonstrated.
How people treat us also affects what we think of ourselves. The exact color that results is on the color-chart-continuum does not necessarily stop at a specific color number on the chart. We make our own personal hue. It's like the container gets tipped and bumped thru the day with experiences and the colors are tossed and mixed a bit more and a new expression evolves. In many professional settings, this is called personal growth. In other words, today is not what you will have tomorrow.
It’s not just red or blue, male or female, A or B. There's that entire color spectrum of what we call “gender identity”. Yes, most people fit within the Bell Curve, or norm of all people, but the Curve is not just the people in the middle. They are not the whole group. This is critical for the rest of us to recognize.
Up to this point, you can’t change your heredity markers, but how individuals are disciplined at home, whether or not there is a strong male or female role model, how they are treated by siblings, what bumps and mixes they encounter on the school bus or at school lunch and recess, and attitudes in the workplace, all influence the way their internal color mixing progresses.
So join with me in demanding that there are really only two sexes as created by God. There are not many labels for sex, but I can accept that there are many labels for Gender. Sex is not Gender. The old days of hiding your internal feelings, or Gender are waning. And to that I say Amen.
Transgender
Just because you have a penis, doesn't mean you don't feel more at home in your body wearing a dress or that a person with ovaries doesn't feel more at home dressing in more traditional male clothing. But to say, in a male body with muscles developed from birth, that you are now a Female and can join Women’s sports leagues is insanely stupid and should be fought at every occurrence.
Maybe a picture could help.
This issue of transgender is a much broader issue than just how an individual feels. It is affecting sports. A recent transgender swimmer won in a Women’s Competition. This has caused women, parents, educators, and sports officials significant stress with some officials actually quitting3 their position.
The controversy and stress are not over. There are pros and cons. Consider the following:
“Transgender and nonbinary youth are already at higher risk for poor mental health and suicide because of bullying, discrimination, and rejection,” Amit Paley, CEO of The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, said in a statement. “This misguided legislation will only make matters worse.”
“As of late November 2021, 37 states have introduced bills imposing restrictions on participation in school sports based on a student’s biological sex. Of those 37 states, nine of them have successfully passed those bills into law. Another state, South Dakota, enacted restrictions through an executive order.”4
South Dakota Governor, Kristi Noem (R) said she was going to enact a law, but has instead decided to issue an executive order due to pressure from social conservatives urging that only biological women per their birth certificates be allowed to participate. Gov. Noem said,
“Common sense tells us that males have an unfair physical advantage over females in athletic competition,” Noem said in a statement, adding on Twitter that "this issue is about basic fairness" and that she will ensure "only girls are playing girls' sports." 5
That decision will not end the controversy as some states are now allowing individuals to change the sex on their birth certificates. You can see the line getting more and more blurred.
Intersex - What?
Yes, such a designation exists. So we begin to understand that the areas of sex, gender, and sexual orientation are not as concrete as was once thought.
“The term “intersex” describes a wide range of people that don’t meet 100% of the criteria for male or female sex. An intersex person is born with or naturally develops characteristics that aren’t considered exclusively male or female. These include variations in:
Sex chromosomes
External genitalia
Reproductive system (gonads)
“Because of the possibility for variations, "intersex" has become an umbrella term for a wide variety of people. This makes it clear that sex isn’t black and white.” 6
In reality, as Solomon says, “there is nothing new under the sun”. All people exist on this continuum. Today, you can observe in society a more nuanced understanding of what we see every day sitting in our classrooms, walking into our offices, eating at our restaurants, sitting under the trees in our parks, marching in various parades, serving us in retail outlets.
Each unique person is seeking the joy of discovering who they are, desiring a friend, seeking groups of friendships, and eventually a person who will love them for who they are. To many, that openness is identified as a certain sign of the end of the world, and believe that we should not embrace it.
I believe as more and more time-saving devices have evolved, we as a people have gained more time. And as the population grows there are more people able to pursue topics once left aside. Time to think of things that once were overlooked, not discussed, or understood. The older that a person is, makes this transitional understanding very difficult to comprehend. Parents can never understand their children’s music, but that has been true over the ages.
Counting the Cost
For those who are caught living an experience that is not genuine, the weight of living that insincere and dishonest life comes at a huge cost to both the individual… and ultimately to society-at-large.
A young person questioning their gender role being raised in a Christian home is much more likely to contemplate suicide than the unchurched. The reason should be very clear, and costly!
The church has taken such a strong stand against change or what some would even call understanding. As a result, those youth with religious training are devastated when their internal self conflicts with what “everyone” says they should do or be.
Ostracization from the church and the many parents who simply throw their children out of the home, beyond the significant loss to the individual, is the loss also experienced by the church and the larger community. The rejection of these out-of-the-norm people repels many a former Christian into returning to the church. They find nothing but added rejection to add to the rejection they already carry internally.
I read an interesting article in Psychology Today by David W. Wahl, Ph.D. He gave an exceptional example of gender labeling distaste by many. He started his article with:
“When I write a piece on a particular gender or sexual identity, I am invariably met with emails and comments about how we need to stop putting labels on everything. Yet I only really note this in matters of gender or sexual orientations. I have yet to hear how we need to stop naming models of cars or diseases. Really, can’t everything just be a Corvette or not, cancer or not cancer? Aren’t all cars the same? Isn’t one cancer identical to another?”7
The same could be said of new kitchen utensils, names of new colors, new plants, fruits, and even viruses. When you think of it, why would people be any different and time progresses? Don’t we know more about genetics and CRISPR’s capabilities? We certainly do!
Dr. Wahl concludes his article noted above with:
“Labels denoting one’s sexual and gender identity provide a meaningful sense of identity in an individual’s self-awareness and self-development. Sometimes for that self-development to be truly meaningful, gender and sexuality labels need to emerge beyond the labels that are currently accessible.
“So, yes, we need to make room for emerging labels. I am confident those who write me adhere to their identity labels. This “newly acquired terminology for everything” allows for authentic self-expression and promotes diversity. It is only fair to permit others to express their authentic selves too.”8
This is the END of the Beginning
To many, this is just against everything we think we “know” from the Bible. To answer this, I present this as a remake of my first Substack.com post. And by so doing, establish a beginning point for a series of articles dealing with the Bibles’ teaching on this and related subjects and just what the Christian response should be.
There is a group of people who use the acronym “WWJD”, What Would Jesus Do? Hopefully, we can get to that point of understanding.
NOTE: Various articles will be published between this continuing series.
If you know of someone who is struggling with this issue because of a family members’ involvement or others who you know are interested or are studying this topic…
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Excellent article. I have had to adjust a lot of my thinking as my #2 child is a trans non-gender conforming., using neutral pronouns. Very hard as a parent who delivered the child to think in those terms. I accept the idea of gender being fluid and a continuum but I cannot seem to convince them that their sex is still female. Doesn't really matter what I think but I get yelled at for using feminine pronouns or the name I gave them and I am the one disrespecting them. I do see the advantages to being non-gender conforming. Might have saved many of us from being discrimminated because of our biological identity. I look forward to the rest of your podcasts re the Bible and gender. I have long (long before I had children) been unsportive of the SDA church policy re "gender."