Matt Walsh, blogger and self-proclaimed truthsayer, attacks flawed strategies behind the “War on Gender”

During his address to the audience of the Edith Stein Project conference on Friday, February 5, The Blaze blogger Matt Walsh reflected on the demeaning reality lying behind the cultural idea of gender. During his talk, entitled “The Truth about Gender,” Walsh sought to explain how the progressive concept of gender fails to empower but instead strips an individual of his or her identity and uniqueness.  

Known for his direct and matter-of-fact manner, Walsh began his lecture by saying, “The world is completely insane—it is literally losing its mind.” For him, this insanity stems from society’s inability to differentiate between fantasy and truth. He suggested that the greatest example of this “insanity” lies in the dissolution of the concept of gender.

Walsh outlined how this redefinition of gender occurs through two primary tactics, or “-isms,” that are seemingly contradictory: transgenderism and feminism.

The first of these strategies of the “War on Gender” is that of “transgenderism.” Walsh defined this term as applying to any person who does not identify as his or her physical sex. Walsh likened this to the genuine medical diagnosis of gender dysmorphia, which he explained has been ignored in favor of gender dysphoria, “a condition which treats the subject’s feelings and not his disordered identity as the problem.” In other words, “gender dysphoria” places ephemeral feelings over the reality of the body.

Walsh said the effects of this shift can lead to self-hatred and even more disastrous consequences. He stated that the rate of suicide attempts is 1,000 percent higher among transgendered persons and that this number does not fluctuate even within more accepting environments and after gender reassignment surgery.

Examining these statistics, Walsh asked the following question: in a society that places such a high value on the “true self,” enabled by gender reassignment surgery, then should not the statistics be less, rathern than more, tragic? Promotion of transgenderism, he concluded, harms more than it heals.

“Transgenderism puts feelings above everything,” Walsh continued. “In a world where a person can reject his biology in favor of his lust and emotions, the individual reigns supreme. My self-identity trumps my actual identity. The reality becomes subservient to desire.”

Walsh said that the most fascinating aspect of the transgender movement is its contradictions with other commonly held “progressive” doctrines.

“We have been told for years that gender is a social construct, but transgender theory often conflicts directly with that idea,” he explained. “Progressives tell us that gender is a societal invention, which imposes certain expectations of behavior and appearance on men and women. Progressives defeat their own point by next telling us that when a man acts like a woman, he might actually be one. Which is odd, seeing that they just got done telling us that there is no such thing as acting like a woman.

“The truth is we are ourselves, mind and body,” Walsh stated. “Our bodies and souls are one in harmony. Progressives would have us believe that we can find true freedom and our true selves by rejecting our actual identity.”

He continued, “For a country that talks so incessantly about self-acceptance, you would think we would understand that joy and peace can only be achieved when we accept ourselves.”

Walsh proposed that we treat the mental illness of gender dysmorphia, which makes it difficult for some to accept who they are, rather than mistake this illness for a false insight.

The blogger continued his lecture by next turning toward the second strategy in the “War on Gender.” Feminists, as the “matriarchs of modern liberalism,” are being attacked in this battle by none other than the transgender movement itself.

“For years, feminists have contended that they can do everything as well as men, and today we find out that they can’t even be women as well as men.”

He furthered explained the contradictory nature behind these campaigns by saying, “A man can’t have ideas about women’s issues because he does not have the correct anatomy, but instead [he] can be a woman despite not having this female anatomy.”

Walsh reflected on the natural beauty of womanhood, which consists in a woman’s biology, soul, perspectives, and unique way of thinking—all of which a man can only mimic. He advocated that this truth ought to be the foundation of the modern feminist movement. Instead, feminists are forced to weaken their principles in order to leave room for transgenderism.

“It is sad that feminists are too afraid to say that a woman is a woman,” he said. “She has earned that title, she pays for that title, she suffers with that title, she gives life with that title, she lives from conception until death and beyond with that title. She is that title. She should not be told that it’s a thing that a man can buy into with correct hormone prescriptions—it’s demeaning and reductive.”

Matt Walsh concluded his lecture by urging the audience not to remain indifferent about this issue, and he insisted that this “War on Gender” continues as a battle against what is real and true.

“This is a battle for reality itself. If progressives can wield the power to demolish and remake even the definition of man and woman in their ideological image, they have reached into the universe and reshaped reality itself. They have become gods—or at least that’s the kind of power we’ve relinquished to them.”

Molly Weiner is a sophomore studying theology and Italian. She spends her free time sipping copious amounts of tea while mourning the imminent end of “Downton Abbey.” If you wish to help comfort her in this trying time contact her at mweiner@nd.edu.