Gender Bender
by Mike James
A recent Washington Post article (12/6/19) titled “Argentine Teenagers Rewrite the Rules of Language” caught my attention due to society’s increased acceptance of transgenderism. Transgenderism is a male-to-female or female-to-male gender orientation or self-identity. The article went on to discuss an Argentine teen named Natalia Mira, 18, who used gender neutral language in a TV interview that made headlines in the Spanish speaking world last year.
Mira and other teens in Argentina are replacing the masculine “o” or the feminine “a” in certain words with the gender neutral “e” in order to change what they perceive as a deeply gendered culture. For example, in Spanish all nouns are assigned a gender, the word for soldiers is masculine: Los soldados. Teens like Mira would say Les soldades. These types of changes are not just occurring in Argentina.
In the United States the word “they” is becoming so commonly used for non-binary people that Merriam-Webster put it into their dictionary in September 2019. Non-binary means you have a gender identity that doesn’t fit into the typical male-female binary. In other words, non-binary people don’t experience their gender as male or female or they experience their gender as both male and female. Debate is raging in the United States, Argentina, and other countries over these types of gender issues.
A textbook in France with a gender-neutral bias led to the Prime Minister banning gender neutral language in government documents. In Germany dozens of popular citizens protested efforts to adopt gender-neutral language. In Sweden, the gender neutral pronoun hen was added to the Swedish dictionary in 2015. The Swedes report that the adoption of hen has led to better feelings toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning) (LGBTQ) community.
In my opinion, the acceptance of gender neutral language is another sign of society’s downward slide away from God and his Word. In Genesis 1:27-28, we read that God created humans in His own image and He created them male and female. In Genesis 1:31, He called His creation good. Nowhere in Scripture do we read where some of us are created non-binary. In fact, we read we should not fall into non-binary activity (Deuteronomy 22:5). In Ephesians 5:21-33, we read about specific gender roles for males and females. In 1 Corinthians 6:9, we read about God’s stance against wrong sexual practices like homosexuality, fornication, and adultery.
Remember there is a battle raging between God’s ways and the god of this world. Ephesians 6:11-12 says, “Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm” (Complete Jewish Bible translation by David H. Stern).
We are beginning to see Satan’s schemes taking root. As more and more of society believes transgenderism to be normal, more and more children and teens will be influenced. According to CBNNEWS.COM (9/19/18, Charlene Aaron), the American Academy of Pediatrics published information that more teens are beginning to use “non-traditional gender terms” to self-identify. In the United Kingdom, young people identified for “gender treatment” increased from 97 in 2009 to 2,510 in 2017-2018. That’s a 4000 percent increase in ten years. There is no doubt in my mind that much of the increase is due to mixed up kids being confused by societal forces and issues in their home.
Let’s not be judgmental on our young people who really are suffering from confusion on gender roles in our society. No, I don’t believe people are born gay, transgender, bi-sexual, etc. I believe most of the people in these categories are confused because of childhood trauma, sexual abuse, bad parenting, family dysfunction, and the like. According to Dr. Stanton Jones, “Experience of sexual abuse as a child, in other words, more than tripled the likelihood of later reporting homosexual orientation” (Restoring Sexual Identity, Anne Paulk, p. 57). When you realize why many of these people are suffering we should feel compassion and empathy rather than hatred or anger.
It is possible there could be a biological predisposition to gender confusion in a very small percentage of the population. This could be due to hormonal or chemical imbalances when the baby is in the mother’s womb. Some argue that some obesity, alcoholism, and violent tendencies may have a biological component in a limited amount of people. But we know obesity, alcoholism, and violent tendencies are not good for us. Marriage does not magically remove lust from the minds of carnal humans. But we know from Scripture that it is a sin we must eradicate from our minds. The same is true with gender confusion and homosexuality. God’s Word is clear on the subject. Let us not forget that the spiritual power that is influential in leading us into sin is no match for the power that can lead us out of sin (Philippians 4:13).