You've almost certainly heard someone tell you sometime during your life that since you, a man or a woman, belong to a certain gender, there are social customs you must adhere to and gender-specific expectations you must conform to. And, quite possibly, you have been bothered or even very personally frustrated by these judgments. Here I hope to concisely explain the irrationality of belief in any difference between men and women other than one pertaining to the appearance and function of the body and anatomy.
Note that I did not say that no differences of any kind exist between men and women. That claim would ignore clear physical differences, such as sexual anatomy and average length of hair. But many people who claim that men and women are naturally different refer to more than just physical distinctions. People commonly assert that men and women naturally have different skills, personalities, motivations, and desires.
This is bullshit, as I will delightedly demonstrate. Other than physical and anatomical differences, no verifiable universal differences between men and women exist--and experience, Scripture, and reason demonstrate to me all the time that social stereotypes and gender roles amount to nothing but bullshit accepted because of popularity or familial/social conditioning. My experiences contradict all sorts of entrenched beliefs about inherent male (and female) nature; the Bible does not teach that these non-physical differences exist and actively teaches otherwise; logic proves that the arguments for these beliefs hinge entirely on fallacies and erroneous assumptions. All alleged non-physical and non-anatomical differences inevitably reduce down to differences in individual personality and the product of social conditioning.
Stereotypes often become the justification for the construction and support of arbitrary gender roles. The fallacy of composition--a very common flaw in many arguments--reminds us that what is true of the part is NOT necessarily true of the whole. In other words, just because some women or men may act in a certain way does not mean that they are or aren't in accordance with some (nonexistent) natures or obligations that God allegedly assigned to either gender. And physical and anatomical differences between the two genders do not indicate the presence of moral obligations to behave in certain ways. The naturalistic fallacy preys on this type of faulty reasoning--for instance, it may be objectively true that women are generally physically weaker than men, but it does not in any way follow that they should be confined to certain roles in society in the name of some unproven moral obligation.
The beliefs that result from gender stereotypes and assumptions about how men and women are or should be do not possess any logical defensibility. For example, the idea that men are or should be emotionless and that women are or should be emotionalistic has no intellectual support. The idea that men should be the ones making money to support their families while women remain at home has no intellectual support. The idea that men should initiate dates and women should be pursued in romantic relationships, not pursue, has no intellectual support. Neither the Bible nor reason teaches any of these asinine concepts.
I find it very ironic and amusing that the Bible, a book so often believed to demand various gender roles, actually does not attach these "obligations" and stereotypes to either gender. Read here if you are interested in hearing more about this from a Biblical standpoint [1]. What the Bible teaches about this matter may surprise quite a few in the church--and may liberate some from false expectations, beliefs, and anxieties. After all, the truth sets people free from falsities; it alone releases people to face reality.
I hope to write more about this subject and related ones in the future!
[1]. See here:
A. http://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/02/why-ephesians-5-does-not-teach-rigid.html
B. http://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-poisonous-offspring-of.html
No comments:
Post a Comment