So the other day I heard all about the Harry Styles controversy. Men dressing like women. According to Vogue, this is the epitome of progressivism. How big thinking of our man, Harry! He can blur the lines and it’s so super cool! That’s not weird at all. Wait, what???
I love how Candace Owens put it. I’m paraphrasing, but essentially, she said something like, “If I saw a man in a dress on the street, I would run the other way. That’s not normal!” Well, yeah, there’s that. Not normal at all, no matter how much someone wants to convince you otherwise.
As I was thinking about this, it came to me that, well, exactly what has been normal lately (up to and including the last few years)? The blurring of the genders has been something pushed hard by far Leftists. Making men more feminine and women more masculine. So we can all meet in the middle and be this happy androgynous society, presumably. The problem with this thinking is that men are being made to be exaggerated caricatures of femininity and women are being expected to embrace the worst stereotypes of men. Men are encouraged to dress in lace and dresses and that’s seen as “creative, fun, and freeing.” They are also urged to get in touch with their feminine side by being more sensitive and nurturing. Women are encouraged to sleep around, focus on their careers above and beyond everything and/or anyone else, and compete aggressively alongside men (ex. women in combat, women wrestling or playing football, etc.). Nothing to see. Just women being men. And men being women. Ahem.
The funny thing about all of this is that the blurring of genders falls into stereotypes just as much as the binary gender stereotypes have in the past. I guess this highlights how we end up following certain stereotypes or expectations whether or not we realize it. The cultures and/or sub-cultures we surround ourselves in heavily influence us, thereby making most people within these subcultures look and act extremely similarly – and that is not always good, let alone healthy.
What our culture fails to understand in all of this is that our sense of autonomy will only hurt us if we continue to push back on who we were created to be. It’s like a ball we try to push under some water. No matter how hard we try, it will keep popping back up, sometimes in unexpected ways.
For example, no matter how hard Bruce/Kaitlyn Jenner wants to believe he’s a woman and wants others to affirm it, he isn’t. And that’s not based on anyone’s opinion, that’s based on science and that thing called, “DNA.” Vogue claimed Harry Styles was the first man to be on the cover of Vogue, but they were wrong. Jenner was, although he was posing as Kaitlyn (thanks for the correction about this, Heidi St. John!). My heart breaks for this very confused man, but nothing will ever change his hardwired, biological genes. Jenner may have implanted breasts, but he can never implant female DNA.
We live in a world created by God. This is His world and we must live under His rules, whether or not we want to, whether or not we understand. And that’s not God being a jerk. Far from it. He just knows us and He knows what works best for us. Seeing as He created us, He gets to call the shots. Makes sense, right? It’s like if someone wanted to write or draw on tissue paper. Yes, you can do that, but that’s not what it was designed for. It’s better if you use a notepad or piece of paper. But you wouldn’t want to use a notepad or piece of paper to wipe your nose. I mean, you could (ouch), but that’s not what it was designed to do. Obviously, I’m oversimplifying here, but you get the point.
Since God created us, He knows what’s best. He wants us to have an abundant life and to live a life to the full, according to His will and by His design. We may think He’s holding back on us, but really, that lie has been around since the beginning of creation. It’s not true. It wasn’t true when Adam and Eve heard it, it’s not true now, and it never will be.
Harry Styles in a dress may seem like a fringe, edgy, and artsy thing to do, but it symbolizes much more than that. This is an example of humans placing their own autonomy and their own will above the goodwill and intention of our Creator. We want to make the rules. We want to do whatever feels good. But instead of freeing us from the good and easy yoke the LORD wants to place on our shoulders (Matt 11:29-30), this will only place us in different chains. Chains to our appetites and our ever-changing whims that come and go which never satisfy.
I pray we wake up. Church, we need to boldly declare truth. The most loving thing we can do for someone is share truth rather than coddling them while knowing what they’re doing is wrong. If we were to appease every desire of our children with whatever their fickle hearts desired, we would be participating in creating a little tyrant and a potential future monster who will only end up miserable. No, children are not superheroes who can fly. No, they’re not princesses with unlimited monetary resources. But they are God’s creation, made to honor, glorify, and obey their LORD as well as serve His people. Praise God, there is truly no better thing in God’s creation to be and no higher calling than that. Nothing else will bring us the joy we so ardently desire – only Jesus.
