29/05/2019
Sometimes those who are unaffected by the current world are the ones who feel the most outrage when faced with positive change that isn’t directed at them, this is the case for Escudo Identitáro, evidenced by their most recent post talking about ‘’gender ideology’’.
https://www.facebook.com/escudo.identitario/photos/a.142587926354798/384894842124104/
They start their post by referencing Michael Onfray and comparing ‘’gender ideology’’ to a literal dictatorship. The goal here is to muddy the waters and try and accuse the other side of being oppressive and authoritarian while simultaneously claiming to be the protectors of freedom and liberty. In the eyes of their audience and uneducated individuals, we are no longer the side that just wants to support freedom of gender expression or trans rights. All of a sudden we have somehow become the side that wants to instill a dictatorship and ‘’control society’’. Of course, all of this is ironic considering they are the ones actively trying to restrict liberty and freedom by continuing the status quo of anti-trans rhetoric, but I digress, can’t expect reactionaries to be the smartest tool in the shed.
Anyways, enough with attempting to analyze their incoherent propaganda. Let’s run down what ‘’gender ideology’’ actually is and what it’s trying to achieve. But first, let’s get rid of the dramatization of what is actually being talked about, s*x & gender.
S*x refers to the biological aspect of a person, usually characterized by chromosomes and s*xual organs. Unlike what you’ll hear from Escudo Identitário, s*x isn’t restricted to only two s*xes, a basic search of the term ‘’inters*x’’ would instantly show this. This is important because a common talking point you’ll hear from the right is ‘’there are only two s*xes’’. Unfortunately, this opinion is more likely to be informed by their bible studies or middle school biology classes and not actual scientific evidence, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from people who have already shown how willfully uneducated they are in this area.
Gender, on the other hand, refers to the assigned/perceived or chosen identity any person has, an important thing to note is that gender isn’t completely disconnected from s*x, but this is very different from stating that s*x and gender are the same thing. Generally speaking, most people fall into two categories, man or woman. However, people don’t always identify as either a man or a woman. People can be born as a male and identify as a woman and vice versa or they can identify as neither gender. This isn’t some mumbo jumbo, it’s a well documented and studied phenomenon in psychology and other social sciences, unlike the ‘’I identify as an attack helicopter’’ meme they spread.
By now some of you might be wondering ‘’Can someone just change identity?’’ Well, it really depends, some people are happy just being referred to as their preferred gender or by being more masculine or feminine in their day to day life, but sometimes people suffer from what is called ‘’gender dysphoria’’. Gender dysphoria can be defined as ‘’a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there's a mismatch between their biological s*x and gender identity’’ (nhs.uk, 2019).
For these individuals simply dressing more feminine or masculine isn’t always an option. As it stands the best way to deal with gender dysphoria is through ‘’counseling, cross-s*x hormones, puberty suppression and gender reassignment surgery.’’ (APA, 2019).
There is a lot more that can be mentioned when it comes to s*x and gender, but these are the basics. What we as a liberal and progressive society are trying to achieve is an environment where these issues can be talked about and discussed free of any sort of bigoted judgment and where we can encourage people to seek appropriate treatment, which is exactly the type of thing that Escudo Identitário is trying to fight against. They prefer to stick to their naturalistic fallacies and claim that we’re trying to instill a dictatorship when what is being advocated is the FREEDOM to call yourself what you want and identify by whatever gender you feel you fit into.
If you have any questions that weren’t addressed in this post feel free to post a comment in English or Portuguese, we will try our best to answer your questions or direct you to someone who can. We welcome anyone who is genuinely interested in knowing more about the subject and willing to challenge their current beliefs (despite the ad homs used in this post to describe Escudo :P)
