“'When I use a word,' said Humpty Dumpty disdainfully, 'it means just what I choose it to mean, and nothing more, and nothing less.'” — Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
Humans can't communicate telepathically, but we do, as a rule, use a common language with widely agreed-upon terms. And we don't arbitrarily change definitions. And if someone told you that their dog could enter the frog races at your county fair, you'd probably consider them a straightjacket target, even if they were happy that “dog” meant “dog” when they entered their dog in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. But such Humpty Dumptys lurk among us.
Enter the Biden Administration and its new Title IX “rules,” which are based on the assertion that “sex” means “gender.”
Education Week magazine covers the story: “The Biden administration's new Title IX regulations expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students take effect on August 1, but in a messy and incomplete manner, with injunctions blocking them in 26 states and blocking them from going into effect at some schools in other states,” the site reports. “They also go into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court considered an emergency request from the Biden administration to partially limit those injunctions, allowing most of the regulations to take effect nationwide.”
Title IX became law in 1972 and states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be denied participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
While the above states “on the basis of sex,” the Biden Administration is now conflating “sex” with “gender,” arguing that this law means that men who identify as women (a.k.a. the “transgender” status) must be treated as women in all respects, which of course includes being allowed to participate in “women's” sports.
Currently in the news on this subject is a female volleyball player who was injured by a 5'11″ male MUSS (Fictional Sexual Status, aka “Transgender”) opponent, leaving her partially paralyzed and with a brain injury. The woman, Peyton McNabb, is speaking out against the inclusion of two male MUSS boxers in the women's competition at the Paris Olympics, one of whom ejected his female opponent from the match after 46 seconds, yelling “this is not fair!”
But the problem remains, as swimmer and activist Riley Gaines wrote in Fox News today:
One of the most disturbing aspects of these (Biden Title IX) changes is the fact that, in both academics and sports, men are now receiving scholarships that are meant for women. This change goes deeper than the obvious unfairness of men competing against women.
…Starting August 1, men will be able to freely enter women's restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms that were once sexually protected, so long as they identify as women. The new policy could force men to live in women's dorms. College men having unrestricted access to women's quarters, locker rooms and other private areas is like the fox guarding the henhouse.
The new Title IX amendments would require any student, faculty member, coach, employee or person involved in a program that receives federal funding to use biologically inaccurate pronouns, under the guidance of preventing “hate speech.”
Of course, the latter would mean that students and faculty would be forced to lie. Speaking of which, the new Title IX mandate isn't exactly a “rewrite” – it's a laughable fantasy.
This change is based on the assumption that the term “sex” in the law can mean “gender.” But in what world does this compute, apart from the fact that people don't actually have “gender” (though the word does)?
Motivated by the elimination of “discrimination” against women, the drafters of Title IX meant “sex” as the quality of being male or female. In fact, they could not even imagine a relevant alternative definition. Why?
When this law was enacted in 1972, many Americans were not even aware of the connection between sex and gender, because the word “sex” was rarely used to describe people. Consider the definition of the term in my old American Heritage School Dictionary: “One of several categories, such as masculine, feminine, or neuter, into which words are grammatically classified.” And that's it. It says nothing about people.
Note: This dictionary was published in 1975, three years after Title IX was enacted.
Additionally, the term “transgender” was virtually or completely unknown in 1972. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the term was identified “by 1974.” At the time, people described in this way were called “transsexuals” (another misnomer).
But what about common usage? Modern people commonly use “gender” to describe “sex,” but Americans don't typically confuse the two. One internet commenter expressed a common logical misconception: “Sex is what you do. Gender is what you are.”
So what about the “experts” the Biden administration will listen to and follow the “science”? As Psych Central reports, “The terms 'sex' and 'gender' are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings.”
“Sex refers to the biological aspects of masculinity and femininity,” the site later points out, “and gender is a person's identity. It refers to the roles, norms, and relationships associated with masculinity and femininity.”
In other words, the Biden administration’s definition of “sex” would not have been recognized in 1972 and is not the status quo on the streets or in academia today. It’s a bizarre fantasy quibble party.
But if a word can mean “whatever I choose to mean,” then let the dogs of the vocabulary wars go unleashed. “New Title IX rules”? “Rules” can now mean “proposals.” (And “court decisions,” for that matter.) “Discrimination” can mean “trepanation,” “federal” can mean “Martians,” “funding” can mean “Fig Newton” (and “president” can mean “idiot”).
After all, to continue Lewis Carroll's opening line, “The question,” said Alice, “is whether words can be made to mean so many different things.”
“The only question,” said Humpty Dumpty, “is which one will be master.”
The question is: who will be Humpty Dumpty? The Biden administration wants to be the master of everything, including reality itself, not just us. And those who oppose this must ensure that Humpty Dummy is dethroned and that the King's horses and the King's soldiers cannot once again wage a victorious election campaign.
