The Lies Of Femininity And Masculinity

Even as the world slowly becomes more consistently egalitarian, the myths of femininity and masculinity continue to have supporters.  A desire for truth does not deter them because they do not truly want truth.  Instead, they seek a mixture of freedom from oppressive discrimination against men and women and the familiarity of the social conditioning behind much of that discrimination.  Both people who believe in some sort of positive form of femininity and masculinity and those who believe in the "toxic" versions of them collectively succumb to the same assumptions and non sequitur fallacies, even though they try to distinguish themselves from each other.

Phrases like "toxic femininity" and "toxic masculinity" (or their "positive" counterparts) have no philosophical legitimacy, but not for the reason many would say.  These phrases are not powerless constructs because "real femininity" or "real masculinity" aren't toxic, as those who try to distinguish between some fallaciously stereotypical characteristics of men and women try to insist; they are powerless because there never was and never will be such a thing a masculinity or femininity.  There are only male and female bodies and socially expected behaviors or desires arbitrarily associated with one gender or the other.  A phrase referring to a nonexistent thing does not make the concept behind it true when it is repeated numerous times.

Rather than point these logical truths out to a world engulfed by stupidity and assumptions, Christians (and non-Christians) who identify as egalitarians tend to favor some stereotypes while opposing the ones that they personally dislike the most--sometimes this means they only actively oppose stereotypes or other injustices facing just one gender!  Social conditioning is too familiar a prison for such Christians for them to wish to escape it entirely.  All who are guilty of this fundamental hypocrisy are egalitarians in name only, as their words and actions betray their lack of consistency and depth.  No one who does not reject the lies of femininity and masculinity in full deserves the indignation of the only true egalitarians.

As with many other issues related to gender, many self-proclaimed egalitarians are not consistent at all when it comes to fighting gender stereotypes, instead dismissing some stereotypes while claiming others, selectively confronting issues that affect men and women on a discriminatory level, and equivocating words that are not synonymous.  Those who think they have fulfilled the ideology of egalitarianism by simply rejecting a handful of stereotypes about women that have kept them out of positions of church or corporate leadership have stopped far short of living out genuine egalitarianism.

You cannot fully embrace gender equality on the level of social justice, criminal justice, and friendship when you accept any of the poisonous ideas that have been used to harm men or women, regardless of the intent behind them.  A half-serious "egalitarian" can even be far more devastating to the pursuit of gender equality than someone whose idiocy is far more blatant to the legions of incompetent thinkers with the power to influence their society.  If sexism against men or women is open and fierce, those who might have otherwise agreed with it might instead reject it.  If it is more subtle, a legion of fools will be all the more receptive to it.

Logic, people.  It is very fucking helpful.