June 22, 2012
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Confused About Gender Confusion
Originally posted June 22, 2012.
I’d like to begin by making a clarification. First, I am aware that those in the gay community take their homosexual leanings very personally – as a part of their personal identity. I’m also aware of how disagreements with homosexuality and its (proposed) moral context have been viewed as personal attacks.
Please give me the benefit of the doubt that, while I disagree with homosexuality, in no way is this an attack on any individual who is gay or supports the gay community. As a Christian, I abhor when Christians and non-Christians alike use whatever “justification” they think they have to personally insult and attack the gay community in ways that clearly violate Christian and/or American law. The Bible teaches how to address problems with love. The battle ground should not be a personal one in that regard. I expect better from my fellow Christians, as well – for the standard of conduct has been well set.
This is also not intended to single out those who do struggle with their sexual identity. I can only begin to understand the difficulty such an issue must entail. Once again, there is no criticism against the people who struggle. There is no condemnation to be found here. It is my hope that you are able to read this post without feeling the need to be on the defensive.
The following is an opinion…and observation. I am not presenting this article as a conclusive piece. It is my hope that those for and against this opinion will receive it with open consideration. Adding references to support my observation might help *, I’m sure, but for the moment I just want to focus on sharing my thoughts.
I appreciate your time while you read.
MALE or MASCULINE?
While gender identity is, to my understanding, still a very misunderstood topic, I think it’s reasonable to equate psychological gender awareness along with physical gender traits. And this isn’t just mere speculation. There are numerous accounts of studies documented where the male or female gender equates to certain characteristics of the mind (the books “For Men Only” and “For Women Only” offer some great findings on this subject).This shouldn’t be confused with personality, necessarily. For we have men, for example, who are very aggressive and stereotypically “macho”, while others are more sensitive and soft-spoken. Some have skills of the mind, while others have strength of body (say, for sports). One may be lazy while the other is a dedicated worker. I think there is a major difference between personality & skills versus characteristics that define what it is to be male or female.
Unfortunately, clarifying what I mean by “male” or “female” is not exactly an easy task when talking about the non-physical, mental make-up.
Comments (5)
I think you’ve brought up some interesting points and thoughts here…
The problem however (and I’m playing devil’s advocate a little) is that it doesn’t really help a person who experiences such a problem besides perhaps making them think that there might be a problem.
The issue with gender identity is that it feels NATURAL… and since it’s more of a response (Just the same as when you look at a woman, you respond, a gay person, or someone with gender identity issues responds) and bam, it’s as natural as heterosexuality. Most of them from a VERY young age have felt this way.
So… even if a person does recognize that perhaps it is wrong or a perversion… then what? It doesn’t mean that they’re suddenly attracted to the opposite sex, and it doesn’t mean that they feel any differently in their body.
Intriguing conversation
I too have much confusion about the subject. I’m especially considering the words of Jesus about marriage in Mark 12:25:
“When people rise from the dead, they won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like God’s angels.”
This verse makes me think of sexuality and gender a little bit differently. I don’t have a solid argument or any hypothesis yet about sexual identity from this verse, but it does make me wonder about the role of gender, sex, and sexuality in the Kingdom of God. Will there be “gender” after the resurrection? Hmmm? I have no idea.
Great post. I follow your thinking and respect your struggle.
@LKJSlain - The point of the article was to simply explore how there is a problem…or why there even is one. The “then what” would have made this article far too long (as if it wasn’t already LOL). Once we have identified a possible problem and why it is a problem, then we can go about the “then what”. But first we have to identify it at all…if there is one.
I certainly wasn’t meaning to suggest that gender confused individuals are automatically somehow gay. Not at all. I was exploring this topic to offer a different perspective on how there is a very distinct nature to the male and female genders, which are expressed in masculine and feminine characteristics. And given those distinctions, this supports the argument that homosexuality – whether male-male or female-female – is not the same as heterosexual relationships.
@Kris0logy - Well thank you.
What intrigued you about it?
@myareoplane - On one hand, I think your Scripture reference plays some loose relationship. But ultimately I think the context is different. To better explain how, I’d have to dig into that passage more – I just don’t know enough yet to say. However, I do think our identity in relationship to God’s image plays the foundational key to it all. And it’s that image and our relationship to God that will clear everything up.
Also, contrary to the article’s title, I’m not struggling with gender confusion. *chuckles* The “Confused…” part of the title was just me trying to be clever with the words and terms.
Ok, I think I gotcha. Thanks for letting me know that it was ready.
Also, I thought that you might appreciate knowing that your previous blog on faith invoked a blog that I wrote about trust. (NOTE: I DO get that faith and trust are NOT the same thing.)