By Thomas Lifson
George Orwell taught us that control over the terms used to discuss consequential subjects is a key element of tyranny. It’s a lesson that the left took to heart as a weapon, not as a caution against despotism.
No better example exists today than the language of sex, which the left has asserted control over, immensely assisted by its dominance of the major media organs. Calling genital mutilation “gender-affirming care” is the most blatant example of bizarro-world terminology since calling abortion “reproductive health care” and its advocacy as “choice.” Virtually the entire medical, academic, and journalistic establishments employ the term “gender-affirming care” now.
But finally, there is a growing movement that has attracted at least one piece of critical support in fighting back. It started yesterday with a grassroots tweet from a therapist named James Esses:
When his point was picked up and extended to policy at Twitter (at least according to its owner, Elon Musk), attention to the term exploded:
My understanding of the import of the term “cis-” is that it denies any status as normal to what has been normal since the dawn of human consciousness: people (and the animal kingdom) come in two varieties, male and female.[i] Thanks to modern science, we know that these two (and two only) varieties are determined by chromosomes, equally binary, XY and XX.
This exchange led to further tweets making the point that the origin of the terminology “cis-” is perversely connected with pedophilia.
With the might of Twitter behind the stigmatization of the term “cis,” there is at least the possibility of rolling back this linguistic triumph of the trans brigade of the sexual left. The opportunity is enormous, since for years, the left has been claiming that hurt feelings are enough to merit the banishment of language and ideas. And that language is “actual violence.” Musk’s adoption of the term “slur” was genius in that regard.
Meanwhile, another neologism intended to suspend the concept of normality recently was snuck into the discourse. Men who are attracted to women are no longer normal, or even heterosexual. They are “gynosexual” — just one of countless orientations, all equally valid and there for sampling like some vast smorgasbord of sexual pleasures. The Ace of Spades brought this to my attention, citing this article and calling gynosexuality “just another of the many flavors of gay.”
Naturally, we can thank “experts” for the blessings of this new term, as the headline and sub-head instruct us:
Are You Gynosexual? Here’s What It Means, According to Experts.
If you’re attracted to women or femininity, it might be the label for you.
THE NUMBER OF terms and identities under the LGBTQ+ umbrella is ever-growing, allowing more and more people to describe their sexuality with words that make sense to them. One word you may not have heard that is helping some people express who they are is “gynosexual” (sometimes spelled “gynesexual”).
“Gynosexuality refers to being sexually attracted to femininity, irrespective of one’s own gender identity or the gender identity of the femme-presenting person they are attracted to,” says sex educator Lilith Fox.
The claimed utility of the term is that it can encompass anyone, male or female or just confused, who likes feminine characteristics:
“It’s a relatively new term in the lexicon of sexual orientation, created to offer a more inclusive language for people who don’t identify within the traditional gender binary,” Foxx [an “expert” – TL] explains. “For instance, if someone is non-binary and attracted to women, “gynosexual” may be a better fit for them than “straight” (which would typically be used by a man) or “lesbian” (which would typically be used by a woman). [quotation mark errors uncorrected]
While I have no expertise on what “non-binary” people think or feel, doesn’t the very status claimed indicate that they aren’t particularly attracted to one sex or the other? If they have XY chromosomes and are attracted to female characteristics, then they are heterosexual, aren’t they? If they have XX chromosomes, they are lesbians.
Rather than clarify an actual phenomenon in the real world, this neologism is intended to confuse and obscure.
In the one month–plus since the arrival of the article (in Men’s Health, which, judging from its many beefcake photos, is aimed at gay males), I have not seen an explosion in the use of the term “gynosexual.” Perhaps it is just a trial balloon that is not rising very far…yet.
I’m all for the revival of the term “normal.” If anyone ever asks me what my pronouns are, he will receive in reply: “the normal ones.”
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[i] This is not to deny the existence of a tiny number of people born with abnormal genitalia, parts of which are characteristic of both sexes. These are anomalies, not useful categories.