Men are invading female spaces, stealing championships, and mocking the very meaning of “woman”— subtly attempting to reverse centuries of progress. The testimony from Chloe Cole and former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan at a Congressional hearing on Thursday again points to a troubling emptiness in the narrative – where are the feminists?
Despite the obvious attack on women’s rights and all the achievements they fought so hard for, the headlines are empty of major feminists championing these women. Where are the Gloria Steinems of today?
Why are high level feminist activists freely allowing the regression of women’s rights? It’s simple—this is exactly what they asked for.
The 1960’s quest for female liberation slowly laid the groundwork for today’s seemingly abrupt attack on women’s rights. The truth is men invading female spaces has been a long-time brewing. Over 25 years ago Dale O’Leary called the nonsense out and demanded change in her 1997 book The Gender Agenda:
“Police were told: ‘It is respectful to ask a person whose gender identity is in question which gender they prefer.’ The problem of women who object to having to share a ladies room or dressing rooms in clothing stores with men dressed as women still must be addressed.”
If someone had listened to Ms. O’Leary’s concerns 25 years ago, perhaps I wouldn’t have had to play volleyball against a boy dressed as a girl. Though, if someone had listened to me even 2.5 years ago, maybe 14-year-old Blake Allen’s Vermont school would not have suspended her for complaining about a boy watching her change in the girl’s locker room.
In their celebration of the “inclusion” of men “identifying” as women, the feminists are showing their cards—they have never been about female flourishing.
The 1960’s feminists long fought for a single standard. Rather than acknowledging the complimentary design of male and female, the feminists sought to ignore distinction altogether. This was precisely the goal of some 1960s legislation, primarily the failed Equal Rights Amendment that was supposed to make everyone equal.
But in this comparison, something very obvious stands in the way: basic biology. Simply put, women can have babies and men cannot.
This cannot change, so what did feminists do? Deny it and divorce femininity from any biological distinction, turning on their own bodies, the feminists championed destroying healthy bodily uniqueness.
Fertility? Biological enslavement. Liberation? Contraception.
In their attempt to rid themselves of “the patriarchy,” they dissociated from reproduction altogether, determined to imply women can be just like men.
Under this new paradigm, where you are not bound by your body by any means, the unique abilities accompanying your sex are suddenly left out to dry. Enter, transgenderism.
With womanhood completely divorced from motherhood, who is to say a man cannot be a mother? Not the feminists! Unsurprisingly, a current Planned Parenthood director testified this session to U.S. Congress that “men can have pregnancies.”
With a transcendence from biology, what truly differentiates men from women? Is womanhood anything more than a costume?
Biology is now just a means for expression, up for our own customization. This is a direct attack on the dignity of human design and natural law and leads to existential questions we must all reckon… what relationship do we have to the bodies in which we live?
The truth is, we live in our bodies and to reject them limits our potential. Womanhood is not a costume, it’s a powerful tool ingrained into our being and its recognition aids self-realization.
There is no freedom in a single standard. It’s shoving a square peg in a round hole.
Equality does not mean sameness, and to assume it does places a high barrier to all human flourishing.
As an NCAA volleyball player and am quite certain there are differences between men and women. Men’s volleyball nets stand over seven inches higher than female nets. One net is not better than the other, but catering the sport to the bodies allows for both to thrive. However, if both sexes were to play on the same net height, it would be unfair due to male average height and ability to jump. Thus, pushing women aside because of a biological difference.
As a country we must acknowledge that we instinctively have different desires, learn differently, grow at different paces, and so on. In order for both sexes to flourish, there must be societal acceptance that both can prosper in different ways. The outcomes will not be identical, but that is a good thing– but this is exactly where the feminist went wrong.
This transgender moment is exposing the harm of pursuing homogeny. If they were truly about female flourishing, they would honor what makes them unique, not demonize it.
Macy Petty is an NCAA volleyball player and is an Ambassador for Young Women for America, the collegiate leadership program of Concerned Women for America.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.