God, despite what we have been told for decades, is not a man and, sorry to break it to you Ariana Grande, but God is not a woman, either. And this? This is a fact confirmed by the man himself– no, not God, unfortunately (that would make for a much better blog post), but Mr. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury…
As implied by Welby, God is nothing other than a form of energy, energy of the very purest kind. And, because energy- this being the very thing that constitutes God and everything/everyone else in the world- transcends language (it is too complex and therefore indefinable, not least when it comes to gender), God too has no gender.
In modern day terms, God can be described as being ‘Gender neutral’/’Non-binary’/’Agender’ (neither male or female). And, likewise, so too can we, as human beings, also be defined as being such (genderless), what with each of us being made in the image of God, whereby we are all simply one universal energy, made up of the same stuff that constitutes the whole universe, existing for a little while in human form. The idea that we are different comes about only when we attach labels to ourselves and believe other superficial ideas that convince us that we are somehow ‘different’…
Want to know one of the biggest superficial ideas there has ever been and that, unfortunately, still exists today? The belief in gender, something that, when we really stop and think about it, we realise is in fact nothing more than a societal construct. How can I be so sure of this? Because, as I have already highlighted above, we are all just energy. And energy? It is genderless… And so really, at our core, we’re all just spirits in drag or, as RuPaul puts it; ‘We’re all born naked and the rest is drag’, as I will explain further below…
As Oprah rightly said in the video linked above, ‘we’re all spiritual beings having a human experience.’ Our souls, the very essence of us as spiritual beings, they have no gender, for they are pure energy and energy, of course, is genderless. It can therefore be said that we too are genderless. We have a sex, as determined by our anatomy, yes, but a gender? That is entirely constructed by society. It is not real. Like the idea that women have no right to vote because they are ‘lesser than men’, and the idea that they should ‘stay at home whilst their husband goes off to work’ are outdated views that we have, in the last 50 years, realised are wholly untrue, and incredibly damaging stereotypes, I hope that, in the next 50 years, we will come to the same realisation about gender, too (that it is yet another wholly untrue and incredibly damaging construct, and one that ought to be scrapped, sooner rather than later…)
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that there’s absolutely no disputing the fact that people are born either male or female, and that there are obvious physiological, anatomical differences between men and women, as noted above, but what I am disputing, is whether someone being born male or female actually means anything. I would argue that it doesn’t (mean anything, that is). Firstly, because sex is completely different to gender, and therefore whether someone is born male or female is completely irrelevant to their gender. And, secondly, because the only reason why different sexes exist in the first place, is to ensure that humanity can continue/to prevent us all from going extinct… All that someone’s sex actually tells us about them then, is what they have between their legs, it doesn’t tell us anything else about them- their behaviour, their ‘taste’, their interests etc.
When men and women do behave differently, and have different tastes in fashion/dress differently etc., this isn’t because of their sex, it is simply (& sadly) because of the labels that society have imposed upon them. An example: The idea that women are more nurturing and sensitive whereas men are more ‘hands on’ and ‘tough’ is nothing other than a made up story that we have been fed by men. What better excuse is there to segregate women from men/ to control women, than telling them that God made them this way? I like to think that we are waking up to these stories now though, as society is becoming more and more secular by the day. Religion isn’t being discarded entirely, no, but as we are all better educated we realise that the traditional doctrines just aren’t realistic, and we are finally beginning to take them for what they really are- metaphors designed for us to interpret, not reality to be taken literally.
Still not convinced that we are all the same apart from our physical anatomy? Then I urge you to turn your mind to every other animal in existence. Every animal has a sex which is determined by their anatomy. Not every animal has a gender. In fact, as far as we know, unless some other ‘alien’ species exists, only one animal has a gender, and that animal? It’s us (homo sapiens). Constructed by the power hungry members of society as a way of segregating the sexes (i.e., men), people born female have certain stereotypes imposed upon them, and vice versa with men. Other animals don’t have the same system in place… Just look at dogs, for example- A male dog and a female dog. Whilst yes, biologically they are different, psychologically and socially, they are not for, their behaviour is the same and, even if their behaviour does differ somewhat, such differences will have nothing to do with their ‘gender’, but everything to do with their personality.
In my opinion then, based on the insignificant (and downright made up) issue of gender, what should happen is that when we are born, our biological sex should be noted on our birth certificate by way of officiating the birth (not as male or female though, because those two words are, to our detriment, already far too label heavy). After leaving the hospital though, I think that we should all be given the freedom of being label free, the freedom to express ourselves in any which way we desire, without feeling limited by any expectations that would otherwise be attached to our sex. If we were to do this, I have no doubt whatsoever that we would all feel freer, as though a weight has been lifted off our shoulders, as we would no longer feel constant fear about what people would think/say if we were to break away from the norms of society. And, with that, I’m sure that the mental health epidemic that we find ourselves in would also be lessened as a direct result.
So, its time for us to embrace the freedom that I speak of, to let people be themselves, to not force them to meet some socially constructed stereotype of what it means to be a man or a woman.
Its time to let people exist and identify in any way they want to identify, whether that is with labels (male, female, non-binary etc.), or without labels (‘me’).
Its time for us to wake up and be enlightened as to what it means to be totally free, as we enter a new chapter of existence, a new chapter of freedom.
And, this change, this enlightenment that I’m painting a picture of, it needs to happen. And, you know what? Slowly but surely, it is. Just look at the amount of people who are now identifying as ‘non-binary’ (just over 1 in 20 young adults, aged 18-29, in America). Its proof that people are waking up to the truth about gender.
Have you woken up yet?
If not, are you willing to? Are you open to the idea of being awakened to your true self? To the idea of being able to live with no expectations of who you should love, what clothes you should wear, what you should do?
Are you willing, are you ready, to experience true freedom?
Please, just open your eyes with a willingness to see. You so deserve it.
Like waking up from a deep sleep, you might feel a bit confused at first, blurry eyed perhaps, a little disoriented, but as you wake up, it will all become clear. For the first time in your life, you will experience true, unparalleled freedom as your return home to yourself, to your soul,
finally (thankfully)…
How exciting.
L x
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