Although they concern only a small proportion of the population, gender issues seem to be dividing public opinion and getting to the heart of social debates. And for good reason: they touch on a civilizational issue: the notion of truth.
«A woman is anyone who identifies as a woman.» That's the definition Matt Walsh comes up against in the documentary What is a woman?, where the American commentator interviews various experts on this seemingly simple question. Walsh insists: «And they identify themselves as what?» To which the answer is: «as a woman». But if the concept of woman means as many things as there are people who identify with it, then why use this one and only term?
The circularity of this definition, which sums up gender theory, reveals a reluctance to give meaning to the concept of woman. Doubtless the aim is to leave room for total freedom, in which everyone can identify with it according to their own conception. Nevertheless, the term «woman» loses all descriptive power, making gender theory a contemporary manifestation of relativism.
Inconsistencies at the heart of the theory
Gender theory is based on the criticism of a supposed confusion: contrary to what we might think, sex and gender are two completely separate notions. A trans woman would be a person whose biological sex is male, but a trans man would be a person whose biological sex is female.’gender identity feminine. However, by asserting that «trans women are women», the term «woman» is used to designate both sex and gender, making this theory the first victim of the confusion it denounces. The statement «trans women are women» is therefore a tautology, which can be translated as «male people who feel they are women, feel they are women».
This refusal to define fundamental terms leads to inconsistencies within the theory. Gender is sometimes seen as a social construct - an external factor that allows a certain flexibility - and sometimes as a strictly intimate attribute that cannot be discarded, thus forcing people suffering from gender inequality to take a stand. gender dysphoria to transition if they wish to grant their identity to their gender expression.
This ambiguity is resolved by the notion of gender fluidity, In other words, the tendency of gender identity to change over time. However, this argument introduces a new inconsistency: for some, gender is fixed, and for others, it is fluid, implying divergences within the theory concerning the very nature of gender.
A fight against relativism
Gender theorists, however, revel in their contradictions, because the truth matters little to them. Like Judith Butler - one of the leading figures of this current - who, in in an interview with Big Think in June 2023, admits that she is «no longer interested in knowing which theory is true or false». She subordinates truth to compassion, presuming, as a matter of principle, that only the recognition and acceptance of the truth can make a difference.’affirmation of feelings would enable the individual to free himself from his dysphoria. It doesn't matter if you're a woman or not. What's important is that one feel woman, even if we can't say what it means.
Gender thus refers to no objective, demonstrable or measurable reality apart from gender identity, inaccessible to all except the individual through a mysterious feeling. To question this feeling would be to attack the individual's identity, and thereby exacerbate his or her suffering. Any attempt to define gender is therefore seen as transphobic, The only way to escape this accusation is to ignore the inconsistencies inherent in the theory.
Believe. This is what gender theory demands. Not in God, but in feeling, which the theory has made sacred. It's no longer a question of relying on reason to believe that a proposition is true, but rather of suspending judgment. Far from representing progress, this approach marks a return to dogmatism, threatening the notion of truth so dear to cultures imbued with the spirit of the Enlightenment.
Write to the author: yann.costa@leregardlibre.com
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