Discussion about this post

User's avatar
E.B. Howard's avatar

I find the Church’s viewpoint on this issue is either very easy or very difficult for people to deal with, and generally, it’s very difficult for everyone to handle it with charity. Props to the good Drs. for doing so, far more so than I generally see on Catholic sites.

I do know a lot of people with some sort of neuro or sexual developmental disorder. This is probably somewhat due to self-sorting, as I’m autistic myself, but it still seems increasingly common in the 30 and younger cohort. This is a complicating factor: by definition, we seem to differ from the norms of God’s plan.

What can we say to young people who come to the Theology of the Body with open minds, but find themselves strangers to the nature that should be proper to them? ‘You have a fundamental disorder, and that is your cross to bear’, maybe; I would be happy to hear that much, if it were true. From "our side", I hear much more often the gender-role fundamentalism mentioned by Dr. Grabowski, without any thought for those tempted to believe that if they struggle with the stereotypes of their sex, then they must not belong to it at all.

Anyway, thank you for these interviews. I really appreciate hearing from a perspective that mentions individual variation. I’ve added Edith Stein’s ‘Essays on Woman’ to my reading list in the hopes of clarifying what constitutes legitimate diversity in the feminine nature.

Expand full comment
Joseph's avatar

I appreciate the clarity and nuanced thinking of Drs. Favale and Grabowski on this topic. For example, recognizing the strong and unseverable connection between biological sex and its expression through gender, and the wide degree of cultural variation that can accommodate while still being tied to reality. I'm also glad to see others share my conviction that the trans movement is highly linguistically focused, and thus that using pronouns which don't accord with reality is a problem. I thought Dr. Favale's approach to pronouns vs. names was interesting; I figure that to use a trans person's preferred name would also amount to linguistically affirming their false reality, eg, referring to the athlete formerly known as Bruce Jenner as "Caitlyn." On the other hand, because the name itself is not so directly tied to gender identification as pronouns (at least in English), it may be better to use a person's preferred name out of politeness, except where prudential considerations demand otherwise (like the example of parents with children).

Expand full comment
17 more comments...
Latest

No posts