Late night host Jimmy Kimmel recently described Bruce Jenner, who now styles himself “Caitlyn,” as Donald Trump in a wig. “He obviously believes that trans women are simply men with wigs on,” Jenner fumed. “Where is the outrage from the left or LGBT community? Being WOKE must be optional if you are a Democrat.” It is, and Jenner should not hold his breath for leftist outrage over the comedian’s remark.
But like a stopped clock twice a day, Kimmel is correct: “trans women” are simply men with wigs on. There is no such thing as a “trans woman.” It is not possible to be “a woman trapped inside a man’s body” because our bodies constitute part of ourselves. The imaginary category of “trans woman” derives from the ancient heresy of Gnosticism, which asserts the evil of the physical world, the good of the spiritual world, and the necessity of secret knowledge for salvation. It has cropped up on several occasions over the millennia under the names of Manichaeism, Marcionism, and Albigensianism, among others, and it remains as false today as ever.
Most conservatives understand this fact of nature. They know that Kimmel is right and Jenner wrong. Unfortunately, in their zeal to own the libs, some conservatives seem keen to take Jenner’s side of the dispute, reality be damned. But who exactly is owning whom? As Bruce himself noted, “being woke” is “optional if you are a Democrat.” Are some giggles at leftists’ shameless ideological inconsistency really worth the cost of embracing their radical redefinition of human nature?
In his hit music video “Snowflakes,” rapper Tom McDonald features Blaire White, a relatively right-wing “trans woman.” Blaire appears onscreen for the ostensibly conservative purpose of mocking the present mania over pronouns. “He, she, his, him, hers, them, they,” Blaire sings, “screw a pronoun, ’cause everyone’s a retard these days.” The speech ridicules woke ideology, but in his very pretense to womanhood, the speaker embodies it.
One YouTube commenter celebrated McDonald’s decision to include Blaire in the video as a way “to illustrate how ‘we’ are not the hateful and intolerant ones.” Another YouTube commenter inferred, “He’s saying, ‘I’m not transphobic, I’m against and refuse to accept your premise, in general.’” In other words, “Leftists are the real transphobes.” But they are not. Leftists by and large accept transgenderism; conservatives, in general, do not — at least until recently.
There is nothing “hateful and intolerant” about acknowledging reality, nor does such an acknowledgement connote an irrational fear, or “phobia.” One suspects most conservatives still understand that the body and soul are bound together and that men cannot become women. Yet some will say otherwise to score cheap points against a political opponent. Conservatives keenly perceive the Left’s hypocrisy. Too bad they fail to see their own.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.