Monday, June 08, 2015

Why Elizabeth Warren never made the cover of Vanity Fair

Does anyone remember when Elizabeth Warren claimed to be a native American? It was a claim she was expected to back up—not only by her conservative, but by her liberal critics—and couldn't. All she could produce was a rumor that she might be 1/32 Cherokee.

Now we have Bruce Jenner claiming something much more biologically significant that what Warner claimed and yet he is not expected to back it up at all. There is no proof Jenner is even 1/32 female. But it doesn't seem to matter.

Why in one case (the racial makeup of a person) is evidence expected and yet in another (the gender of a person) evidence is not only not expected, but considered completely irrelevant?

We live in a culture that is so science obsessed that if you use the expression "A scientific study has found ..." you are almost guaranteed a serious hearing. We are told on an almost daily basis that everything about us, from our appearance to our psychological states—including our ostensibly free will decisions—are biologically determined.

Everything is biologically determined. Everything—except one thing: gender.

How in this science-worshiping culture can you say basically anything you want to about gender—anything (other than that it has some kind of verifiable, biological basis) and no one checks your credentials at the door?

Funny how that works.
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1 comment:

  1. Rob Mattheu9:24 PM

    These are amusing to read. Keep it up.

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