THE APPROPRIATION OF WOMANHOOD

The patriarchy strikes back with the erasure of women.

Ever since Matt Walsh asked the question "What is a woman?" the definition of womanhood has become a hot-button socio-cultural and socio-political issue with a myriad of conflicting, competing, and contradictory definitions.

One such definition is the idea that a woman is whatever a woman says she is and that only a woman can define what a woman is. This definition, reminiscent of Kendi's circular definition of racism leaves one scratching one's head in bewilderment. Yet, this definition is not only given but accepted by many in the medical community, political arena, academia, and western society in general.

Concomitantly, there has been a noticeable rise in the number of biological males who now identify as women. And they do so in the most flamboyant, exaggerated, and superficial way, taking on features of hyper-femininity almost to the point of a parody of womanhood.

These "new women" portray their "feminity" as an over-exaggeration of what it means to be a woman and in doing so have cemented the existing gender stereotypes while ironically claiming that nothing specifically can be attributed to womanhood.

Womanhood today is a thing to be parodied, caricatured, satirized, and appropriated. People often think of and make a fuss about cultural appropriation, but feminine appropriation is a much more sinister problem at the moment, and no one has portrayed this parody of womanhood more effectively and visibly than Dylan Mulvaney, a TikTok social media influencer.

The initial impression you get from watching his "days of girlhood" series is to be dismissive and think of him as a troll at worst and an ineffective comedian at best. Yet he is being taken seriously to the point of landing an interview with the president of the United States.

He is a far more sinister figure, as he has set out to appropriate girlhood instead. That in itself should spark all manner of red flags, that a full-grown man portrays himself as a girl. How did it become okay for grown men to be able to do this?

Non-descript males have automatically been shot to prominence, and wealth by simply declaring themselves to be women. The world stops and genuflects before these new women hailing them as brave.

Caitlyn Jenner was a "woman" for less than a year before winning the woman of the year award. Lia Thomas effortlessly dominated a female swimming competition and most recently, an obese man, Brian Nguyen won a beauty contest ahead of objectively beautiful biological women.

In a fair contest, there is no way that he could win a beauty contest of any sort even against the most plain-looking set of women. Yet when the announcement was made, the women who had just been robbed of a potential title acted like he had any chance at the title in the first place. As if it was not all orchestrated for diversity points, to virtue signal, and in this case ironically to a man at the expense of women.

Sadly, many women are complicit in this hostile takeover. They actively support it or passively affirm it. Those that dare speak out are bullied and labeled as transphobic. Some feminists critical of this appropriation have unceremoniously been branded as TERFs—Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists—and consistently draw the ire of the trans activist mob.

This has patriarchy smeared all over it. It is fitting to say that the patriarchy has remade itself in the image of a woman—and a not-so-beautiful woman at that—to take away from women their hard-fought rights and privileges.

Being trans is the trendy thing today and no one seems to care about the consequences for women who have lost their voices, their place, and their spaces to men.

What is behind this trans drive? A working theory is that this is a fallout from the demonization of men. At least for male-to-female transitioners. For the better part of the last five years, the narrative was that masculinity is toxic. Masculine behavior was shamed, abused, derided, and dismissed as being toxic.

Feminity was heralded as the ideal. Soft, sensitive, "feminine" men became the in thing. And any display of masculine energy was frowned upon. The metoo movement seemed to validate the claims that men were toxic predators lurking around ready to prey on unsuspecting females. Some men may have figured that the only way to escape this assault and become relevant or get some attention was to become a woman. After all, womanhood had become a category with open admission to all. There was nothing to lose but so much to gain by becoming trans.

A 62-year-old man who now identifies as female stated such to be his motivations, "Hey, I'm Ceri, 62 and in Bristol, UK. Discovering myself after 48 years of patience from my 13-year-old little soul. Interested in the whole world, but especially art and dancing. No idea why I'm doing this except what's to lose and so much possibility...."

This sums up perfectly the motivation behind the transitioning of many men. There is nothing to lose, rather there is the potential to gain fame, wealth, praise, recognition, and status simply by declaring to be a woman. Who wouldn't take such a good deal?

From every point of analysis, women are getting the short end of this deal. Either they are being pushed out of their space by biological males, or confused young women are being encouraged to transition surgically and medically without understanding the consequences of transitioning on their reproductive and sexual capabilities.

Years down the line, many have come to regret the decision to transition as it had not brought them the desired and promised relief from dysphoria. Stories of detransitioners are becoming more common pointing to the shocking fact that many young women transition out of social pressure and subtle coercion. These detransitioners whose stories run counter to the trans agenda are paradoxically targeted and harassed as being transphobic.

Those who have mutilated themselves have done so with the help and encouragement of activists, the media, physicians, and the complacency of western society. In no other medical condition is it prescribed as a therapy to cut off fully functional and healthy body parts. Yet, many physicians who took the oath to "first do no harm" have become butchers of young girls.

It's not hard to see the motivations of these physicians; one trans patient is a guaranteed patient and revenue source for life. There is thus a vested economic interest on the part of the physician to recommend medically transitioning as a viable therapy. In a twisted way, this is a perfect intersection of toxic positivity, narcissism, and profit-making.

As this assault on womanhood continues, posterity would judge this era harshly—and rightly so—as one which saw the erosion of the rights of women, the essentialization of gender ideology, and the mutilation of young female bodies for profit. And if a suitable caption is ever needed to describe today, "the patriarchy strikes" back would be as fitting as any.

Excerpt from Hotel Shendam

He looked lost and fatigued; the sweat breaking out at his brow a testament to that. His arms, numb from the weighted bags extending from them, lay limp at his side as he trudged along the dirt road to the destination unknown. Brown dust, coated his leather shoes—which in turn left their prints embedded on the face of the sandy road. He caught a glimpse of the lighted signboard of what appeared to be a hotel, its name undecipherable. It was some minutes away by foot and his legs protested an estimation of the distance—he couldn’t find any means of transportation to take him down to the hotel, so he settled for walking the distance. A passerby he approached for directions, confirmed to him that there was indeed a hotel in the direction he was headed.

The sky was coloured crimson by the sun in its late stages of descent, painting a mural of fiery patterns—splashed about like tentacles, engulfing patches of white-blue sky in a reddish web—as it made its way to the underworld, to rise again with dawn. Nightfall was imminent. The dry northern wind agitated dead leaves, strewn about on the street. The dead leaves coloured a dark brown, danced about to the rhythm of entropy……

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Charles Ekokotu (Pharm. D.) is a bibliophile, prose fiction writer, poet, and playwright. His first self-published novel, Hotel Shendam—a crime fiction novel featuring a debate on race and colonialism—is available on Amazon. A very fun read! Grab a copy now!

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