Gender Debate Is A Non-Issue

What is a Man? What is a Woman? What are you? What is your problem?

No one is born a man or a woman. One is, generally speaking, either born with a penis or a vagina and at birth is classified as either male or female respectively. So why then is this becoming a debate?

The commonality shared by the non-binary and the binary people is that they both want to take sides in this issue and are very angered by the beliefs the other side holds. To better understand what the debate is about, let us break down all the factors that contribute to identifying oneself with a particular gender:

• Biological

• Social

• Psychosexual

The biological aspect is based on what genitalia one is born with, a penis or a vagina, and if one is able to get pregnant and give birth.

The social aspect of it, to name a few, includes factors such as the clothes one wears, the toilet one uses and the sport one competes in.

The sexual aspects of it are what genitalia sexually arouses one.

Putting aside the biological and sexual aspects and purely concentrating on the social side of this matter, gender becomes a role played by a person and a role with which one identifies, acts out, and through which one interacts. To be a man or to be a woman is to fulfill a list of obligations and follow a set of unwritten rules. Regardless of the functionality, high standards, and bigoted notions that many of these rules carry, the fact that these are mere roles needs to be addressed.

Any identity that one chooses to take on is a role. To be a teacher is to fulfill a certain set of obligations through their actions. To be a soldier requires one to train to behave and handle situations in a certain way. It is through these roles that one is able to contribute to society.

The traditional roles of "Man" and "Woman", without ignoring the oppressive and power misbalance aspects of these roles, contributed to a certain order that was brought within society. These traditional notions no longer carry utility in these changing times. In the past the man of the house wielded the sword of power, now, the state has more power over the wife than the husband. And let's not forget about the role contraceptive pills and condoms play in the power dynamics.

Now, when one is blessed with a penis or a vagina at birth, we categorize them as being a male or a female. The problem here is that a fully grown male in society becomes a boy who has grown to become a man, and a fully grown female is a human who has grown to become a woman. When this biological categorization mixes up with social conditioning and expectations, it begins to confuse people.

One side of this confusion has people who feel that the traditional idea of "Man" and "Woman" are based on facts and on the other side of the spectrum are people to whom feelings dictate their reality. To the latter, it doesn't matter what dangles between their legs or not, they are what they feel they are. If you take a step back to look at both these sides, the ones who feel traditional gender ideas are facts versus those who feel their individualistic feeling are their reality, both these groups, the binary and the non-binary bozos' mistake feelings for facts. They are in fact the same kind of people: angry, passionate, and afraid to think for themselves.

This gender issue is actually a non-issue. The true problem with gender and identity here is that the English language fails to differentiate the social from the biological and the sexual. But, the reason this non-issue has become such a big headline is that anything that has people passionately fighting for or against will be politically weaponized and commercialized. Now there is a whole industry that makes a killing by changing the genitalia of confused adolescents.

Under all their color-claded, flashy, and cynical disguises, the non-binary side is pointing out a valid dysfunctionality in the English language. But, instead of zeroing in on the core problem here, these self-proclaimed comrades of the left have very conveniently and unconsciously become victims of the system that can and will commodify and politicize anything and everything. And the right's repulse and reactions to the other side's argument strengthen the need to question the nature and purpose of human sexuality and gender identity.

Say we somehow, as a species, find a solution and a middle ground to this issue, don't you worry, we shall always find something to fight about and distract ourselves with.

Kahan J Sudev