Is "Sex-Reassignment" Surgery Good?

 In the last post, I established that everyone (except for a nihilist) believes that there is such a thing as "good" and "right." Now, we will look at whether the gender binary is the good and right way to relate to self, others, and one’s telos (i.e., the purpose for which God made us). In this post, we'll look at whether "sex-reassignment" is good and right. 

Is "Sex-Reassignment" Surgery (or altering the body) Good?

People experiencing gender dysphoria have trouble aligning their psychological gender with their biological sex. In a fallen world, it is not surprising to find suffering in which some people experience feelings of alienation from their own bodies. 

The question is, What is the good and right thing to do in the face of such suffering? It seems as though seeking to align the person’s psychological and physical aspects is correct, but which one should be reoriented? The transgender viewpoint would say so-called sex-reassignment surgery is one way to handle it (thus bringing the body in line with inner feelings). The binary viewpoint argues that the internal feelings should be addressed to bring them closer to physical reality.

When confusion exists in the mind and body is it good to alter the body? Perhaps a parallel question would help. “Would it be kind to tell someone suffering from anorexia that their self-perception of being overweight is correct simply because that is how they perceive themselves?”[1] Would the course of treatment be to have them starve themselves to shave off the psychological perception of being overweight?

In a recent study on “Gaining ‘The Quarantine 15’: Perceived Versus Observed Weight Changes in College Students in the Wake of COVID-19,” psychologist Pamala Keel noted that while many perceived they added pounds due to the quarantine, the objective measurements showed that most did not. What was her counsel? “Keel recommended people use objective measures instead of subjective feelings to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on their weight.”[2] If seeking to align a person’s perception with reality is good in terms of treating eating disorders, surely the same is true with the issue of gender dysphoria. 

The gender binary is good because it helps people rightly relate to themselves by affirming what is objectively true about them. Though feelings of dysphoria might not disappear this side of heaven, affirming objective reality is the only way to direct a person towards what is ultimately good for them and right according to God’s design. In other words, it is the only path to true flourishing. The same cannot be said of affirming transgenderism, which produces “pain, uncertainty, and [an] endless search for holistic personhood.”[3]  

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[1] Walker, God and the Transgender Debate, 72.

[2] “FSU Researchers Find the ‘Quarantine 15’ Weight Gain Might Just be in Your Head,” https://news.fsu.edu/news/2020/12/16/fsu-researchers-find-the-quarantine-15-weight-gain-might-just-be-in-your-head/

[3] Andrew T. Walker, “HBO’s Transhood Makes the Argument Against Transgenderism,” https://cbmw.org/2020/11/25/hbos-transhood-makes-the-argument-against-transgenderism/

The Gender Binary is Good: Is There Such a Thing as "Goodness"?

We have looked at "truth" of the gender binary (Scientific Data and Reason). Now it is time to ask whether it is good. In this post, I will give some introductory thoughts on the notion of goodness. Then, in the next posts, I will begin to demonstrate why the binary of the two sexes is good.

Is There Such a Thing as "Goodness"?

Goodness corresponds to what is right. “The good life is a flourishing life, a life rightly ordered with respect to self, others, and our end.”[1]  In a world created by the triune God, “goodness is achieved when personal creatures live and act according to their Creator’s character and purpose for them.”[2] 

Before looking at whether the gender binary is right and leads to a flourishing life, it is important to address whether there is such a thing as objective morality. The postmodern view that undergirds transgenderism claims that there is no such thing as objective righteousness. However, those who hold that view are quick to claim that transgenderism is right and leads to flourishing and that the gender binary view does the opposite. This proves that they actually do believe in objective goodness. As C.S. Lewis put it,

The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better than another, you are, in fact, measuring them both by a standard, saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than the other. But the standard that measures the two things is something different from either. You are, in fact, comparing them both with some Real Morality, admitting that there is such a thing as real Right, independent of what people think, and that some people’s ideas get nearer to the real Right than others.[3]

So, no one, except for a nihilist, truly doubts that goodness exists objectively.[4] People often disagree over what constitutes "the good," but they believe it does exist. 

Now the question is whether the gender binary is the good and right way to relate to self, others, and one’s telos (i.e., the purpose for which God made us). We will take up that question in the next several posts. 

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[1] Gould, Cultural Apologetics, 148.

[2] Wainwright, 24.

[3] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 25.

[4] A nihilist is someone who believes there is truly no such thing as right and wrong. Thus, a true nihilist (of which there are almost none) would believe that helping an old lady across the street is the same as shooting her. Neither act is better or worse. All acts are ultimately meaningless for the nihilist.

What is True about Gender? Applying Reason

Having laid out the empirical data that proves a sexual binary in the last post, it is important to now consider if it is rational to conclude that there is a gender binary. Before answering that, it will prove helpful to distinguish between sex, gender, and gender identity. “Sex is biological, recognized in the observable world; gender is sociological, recognized in the perceptions of masculinity and femininity in human society; and gender identity is psychological, recognized as an individual’s personal interaction with the observable world within human society.”[1] 

Is it rational for a person who is a biological man (sex) to think that he is a woman trapped in a man’s body (gender identity) because different cultures have different views of what is masculine or feminine (gender)? Ultimately, the issue is whether it is rational for people to make their “inner psychological convictions absolutely decisive for who they are.”[2]

This subjective notion of truth and reality is only possible in a postmodern worldview. Postmodernism claims that “reality is not an objective fact or a comprehensive truth, but a set of socially constructed ideas and social systems.”[3]  In such a system, gender is merely a social construct that can be reconstructed according to whether a person feels connected to his or her biological sex or not. Is that view rational? The answer is “No” for at least two reasons.  

First, while gender is a sociological and cultural category, it is not unrelated to the biological reality of sex. The two are integrally intertwined. Every culture may view expressions of masculinity and femininity slightly differently (such as the masculinity of wearing a kilt in Scotland versus the femininity of wearing a skirt in America). However, every culture has a concept of gender that is fundamentally tied to the notion that there is a binary—men dress like men and women dress like women. “Gender properly understood is a social manifestation of human nature, springing forth from biological realities. . . . Gender is socially shaped, but it is not a mere social construct. It originates in biology.”[4]

Second, applying the postmodern logic of transgenderism to other areas of life demonstrates a serious lack of coherence. Reality cannot be determined based on a person’s psychological experience or desires. An extended quote from Carl Trueman illustrates the point:

I might truly desire to be Marie Antoinette, queen of France—indeed, I might happily decide to self-identify as such—but my body is male, has a genetic code provided by my English parents, is physically located in Pennsylvania, and exists chronologically in the twenty-first century. Being Marie Antoinette is therefore not a viable option for me. My body, not my psychology, has the last word on whether I am the last queen of France in the eighteenth century.[5]

The incoherence of transgenderism’s logic is further illuminated by a legal case in which a Dutch man asked a court to change his birth certificate to make him 49 years old rather than 69 years old (his biological age). “He claimed he did not feel 69 and said his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation gaining acceptance around the world, such as the right to change name or gender.”[6] The court rejected his argument for pragmatic reasons. However, it is obvious that the unreasonable view of reality is the issue.

The foundation that transgenderism is built upon is shaky ground. Where does one draw the line? What if a 50-year-old man wanted to identify as a high school student and enroll in elementary school? What if a six-foot-tall white man wanted to identify as a five-foot-tall black woman?  

Summary: The Gender Binary Accords with Truth

In summary, the gender binary is established by empirical data and reason. In other words, it accords with truth. It is the reality set by God who created humanity as male and female (Genesis 1:27). The transgender position can only find support by locating truth decisively in psychological experience. Such a view is not in line with reality or tenable. Now it is time to turn to examine the issue of gender in light of goodness.

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[1] Jonathan Parnell, “Being a Man and Acting Like One” in Designed for Joy: How the Gospel Impacts Men and Women, Identity and Practice, ed. By Jonathan Parnell and Owen Strachan, 27.

[2] Trueman, 23.

[3] Mohler, We Cannot be Silent, 71.

[4] Neither Androgyny nor Stereotypes, 215. Emphasis added.

[5] Trueman 165. 

[6] “Dutch court rejects man’s request to be 20 years younger” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/03/dutch-court-rejects-emile-ratelband-request-20-years-younger