The Beauty of The Gender Binary

In the first post in this series, I noted that philosophers have long noted the three categories of truth, goodness, and beauty. Every person longs for what is true, good, and beautiful because God has implanted it in us. Furthermore, those three are wed in an indissoluble union. If something is not true, then it is not good. If it is not good, then it is not objectively beautiful. 

The question we have examined is whether the gender binary or transgender view of humanity accords with the truth and goodness. We have found that understanding humans as immutably male or female (and the corresponding gender) is true and therefore good. Today, I will briefly discuss the beauty of God's design.. 

Objective Beauty

“Beauty . . . awakens a longing within us for a world where everything is as it should be, where everything fits together in the right way.”[1]  Ultimately, beauty is objective because God designed the world and gives it the template for beauty. Thus, “beauty emerges when the material and spiritual creation is shaped according to the divine design.”[2] 

This argument is obviously based on the previous two issues of truth and goodness. If one disagrees with the above assessment (i.e., that the gender binary accords with what is true and good), it is unlikely that the binary will appear beautiful. For those that have eyes to see, however, it is lovely. 

The Gender Binary is Beautiful

The binary is beautiful because it cultivates a budding and flowering process in humanity. As Anthony Esolen observes, “The boyishness of the boy is to come to flowering in manhood and fatherhood. The girlishness of the girl is to come to flowering in womanhood and motherhood. That is what the sexes are for. We want no longer to deny reality. We want to work in harmony with it.”[3] The binary is the rich soil that produces wonderful flowers in life.

On the other hand, transgenderism is like an orchestra in which there is no composer or music to ensure everyone is on the same page. The musicians show up with instruments they have never played before, and some even show up with instruments that they made with no expertise. These musicians then play what they want when they want. Such self-determination and lack of design can only result in a cacophony. It leaves nothing to enjoy or dance to. 

The gender binary, however, is beautiful in the same way that an orchestra makes a wonderful tune. There are certain musical realities and defined roles that provide structure to what is going on. The composer expresses creativity in a way that highlights harmony. The musicians each fill their roles and play in ways that fit the musical design of the composer. The music produced prompts joy within those who experience it. The gender binary is written into reality by God and performed in the lives of people. It gives people a beautiful song to dance to.

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[1] Gould, Cultural Apologetics, 104.

[2] Wainwright, 24.

[3] Anthony Esolen, Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2017), 96.

The Gender Binary is Good Because It is God's Design

We have been looking at the goodness of the fact that God has made two genders. By "goodness," we are indicating that it lines up with what is right and, therefore, leads to human flourishing. Today, we will finish talking about the goodness of gender by looking at how it fits God's design for humanity. 

Relating to God's Design for Humanity

God created the binary of male and female and said that his design was “very good” (Gen 1:31). God’s design also indicates that one of the main purposes for this binary is to provide complementary roles in which men and women work together to accomplish what God has given humanity to do. The binary is good because it enables men and women to marry, produce offspring, and employ complementary giftings as they exercise dominion over the creation (whether they are married or not). 

God created humanity to embody and image his benevolent rule of the created order (see Genesis 1). Yet, his design was for a man and a woman to represent him together. Thus, the design that the wise creator implanted in the world was two complementary sexes and corresponding genders which, together, display his character and rule over creation. God could have designed many different forms of gender. He could have designed just one. Instead, he created two that are equally human and complementary to one another (that is their roles are distinct and work together to accomplish God's purposes).  

We will look more at the flourishing that the binary produces in the next posts when we look at the beauty of God designing two genders. 

Affirming the Gender Binary is a Good Gift for Kids

Many proponents of transgender ideology continue to argue that children should not be raised as the gender that corresponds to their sex. In the transgender view, gender is not something decided for a person, but something a person decides for himself. In this view, then, we are forcing something on children by treating them as a boy or girl. But is that the case? Or is training a child to live as a boy or girl a recognition of reality (truth) that proves to be a gracious gift that God has given us (good)?

“In a culture where transgender identities are not only affirmed but celebrated, everyone will be compelled to construct their own gender identity, unaided by a common understanding of sex differences and why they matter.”[1] This “self-making” principle of transgenderism will prove oppressive to children. It will not help them find their place in the world. To illustrate this, imagine a person born into a world where transgenderism and the requirement to self-identify were taken at full face value. The ultrasound technician and the doctor could not tell the parents anything about their child’s gender (though, ironically, the child could only come into existence because a man and woman were involved at some point). The parents could not “impose” any gender on their child either. When identity is only a self-determined psychological category, the only way forward is to let the child decide. This “places a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the child (‘Only you can decide who you are . . . not even your own body can give any help here’).”[2] In practice, however, it might be that others are quite willing to shape the child’s view of themselves by pushing a transgender identity on them. Is it good to decide for a child, or even to let the child decide, to go on a sex-reassignment quest? [3]

Despite our culture's messaging, we cannot be anything we want to be. Such a notion is not true. It is not freeing to believe something that is contrary to reality. Rather, embracing reality and living in accord with it provides true freedom. It's like a train. A train is not freer by jumping off the tracks. It is free when it operates according to its design. The same is true of children (and all of us). Recognizing that the gender binary is true is a good gift for parents to give to their son or daughter. To muddy the waters of what is obvious is not good. It is confusing at best and damaging at worst. Children gain stability and freedom when we affirm the goodness of their boyness or girlness.


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[1] Ryan T. Anderson “Neither Androgyny nor Stereotypes: Sex Differences and the Difference They Make.” Texas Review of Law & Politics 24, no. 1 (Fall 2019): 262.

[2] Carl R. Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 377-378.

[3] A major hospital in Sweden has announced it will stop giving puberty-blocking drugs to minors (see https://thefederalist.com/2021/05/05/major-swedish-hospital-stops-prescribing-puberty-blockers-hormone-treatments-for-children/). In addition, a UK court ruled that children under 16 likely cannot give informed consent to such treatments (see https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-55144148). That is an understatement, but at least it was the right decision.

The Gender Binary is Good for Relating to Others

In this series, I am looking at the truth, goodness, and beauty of God's design of men and women (the gender binary). I began looking at the goodness of the binary. In the last post, we saw that it is good for a person to seek to bring feelings in line with who they are made to be (biologically). In other words, recognizing that one cannot change his or her God-given gender or sex is a good way to relate to one's self. Today, I will look at how it is also good for how one relates to others in society. 

Relating to Others 

Transgenderism is based on a worldview of radical individualism. The individual determines personal reality when it comes to his or her sex and gender. Such thinking represents a hyper-individualism that is anti-social to the extreme. It is anti-social because gender is a core reality that affects human interactions. It is one of the main things that allow people to know how to properly relate to one another. 

According to the logic of transgenderism, “you can choose to change your gender identity as often as you change your clothes.”1  Not every person who identifies as transgender changes their identity frequently, but the logic requires that it is possible. If that is the case, then how can anyone know how to relate to others? There is no social stability. Furthermore, one would always have to be afraid of “getting it wrong” and offending the transgender person because the outward appearance offers no evidence of the person's sex or gender. 

What makes this so anti-social is that it is all based on a person’s feelings and ignores the reality that is visible to others. If physical gender markers mean nothing and self-identification means everything, then the terrain of personal interaction is always subject to capriciousness. Capriciousness does not make for thriving human relationships. 

Contrast this with the stability of the gender binary. A person’s physical appearance matches his or her sex and gender. Relationships are not based on one person forcing an invisible narrative on all those around him or her.2 Instead, relationships are defined by what is evident to all and unchanging. The gender binary recognizes individual uniqueness (not every man or woman has the exact same way of expressing themselves), but it does not give way to radical individualism. This provides clarity and stability, which leads to relational harmony. That is good for relationships. 

1. Allan Metcalf, "What's your pgp?" Lingua Franca (A blog of the Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2, 2014 http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2014/09/02/whats-your-pgp/.

2. This is not to deny that the person might be experience very complicated feelings. It is not my intent to minimize this experience by stating the facts. I do believe that compassion requires truth-telling though. 

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