Thank you, Tax-chick. Oft thought but ne’er so well expressed.
I just read your posts and think about them until I sound clever ;-). I was thinking about the “gender confusion” phenomenon at the gym this morning - have to think about something other than the pain.
A couple of generations ago, our culture rejected natural human sexuality: a man and a woman engage in natural sexual intercourse, which produces a baby, which the man and woman rear until the mini-human achieves independence. Having rejected the very physical basis of our sexual dimorphism, the culture has exaggerated “gender” as a far more important quality.
“Gender,” being socially imposed, is far more limiting to the human person than is simple manhood and womanhood. It allows far less individual variation, just as you can’t express very much of your individuality when you’re playing a role on stage.
The rules of “masculine” and “feminine” are now being strictly imposed on children who have no concept of “an act I have to put on.” They very naturally become confused about their identity at a fundamental level. Then adults throw in a perceived connection between “gendered” expressions and sexual activity. A further level of confusion. Adults using children for sexual gratification; another level of confusion and trauma.
I would like everyone reading the thread to pity these children and young adults, although without concluding that the harm done to them requires realigning society around their pathologies. I think some of the extreme “nonjudgmentalism” of young people results from their recognizing that their contemporaries aren’t to blame for their attempts to cope, however bizarre.
What is really needed is committed mothers and fathers, protecting the innocence of children, accepting the variety of personalities in children of either sex.