Skip to content

Ms Greening’s gender bandwagon.

By MICHAEL BLACKBURN.

I SUSPECT MS. GREENING, Minister for Women and Equalities, is not a member of the Anglican communion or a practising member of any denomination but nevertheless she feels qualified enough to demand the church “keeps up” and be “part of a modern country” with regard to the latest liberal crusade on gay marriage and the transgender issue. The current wheeze is to introduce legislation to make it easier for people to change their sex officially, without medical input.


Given that only 44% of the population now describe themselves as Christian you may wonder why Ms Greening thinks it necessary to use government influence to interfere in the theological concerns of a minority. Since I am long past the time when I would give politicians the benefit of any doubt concerning their grasp of real world issues I will assume she’s just jumping on the gender bandwagon for her own aggrandisement. This allows her to promote her own fashionably branded virtue (with an added gold star for being LGBTQ+ herself), pose as a moderniser, bash a perceived foe that is already of decreasing relevance to the lives of the majority and has no real clout, and look like she’s doing a real job in the process.

It’s also another means of chipping away at the traditional foundations of British culture. Ms Greening is hardly likely to put such open pressure on the mosques now, is she? She knows the reluctant clergy of the Anglican church will eventually roll over in submission, whereas the adherents of a truly minority religion (5%) will scream Islamophobia and resist at even the slightest hint of criticism.

Most of us could do with a long rest from all this sexuality brouhaha but it all seems to gathering speed.

Most of us could do with a long rest from all this sexuality brouhaha but it all seems to gathering speed. Even the official broadcasting unit of the liberal left, the BBC, has become embroiled in it, having fallen foul of its own dogma that all genders are equal but women is best. Except when it comes to paying their male stars, who get more than the women. Press the outrage button. Letter to the Beeb by a group of disgruntled female employees. Cue Corbyn and his “count me in the outraged” crowd plus threats of legislation after the revolution. You can rely on Jeremy; he’s as predictable as gas after a Jerusalem Artichoke.

The pay gap fiasco rather squashed the other media flap involving the BBC, that is, its (again utterly predictable) decision to make the next Dr Who a woman. The programme over the last six or seven years has become a tedious preachfest about universal love and pansexual multiculturalism, made more irritating by some incomprehensible plots. It has now successfully transitioned from entertainment to agitprop. Or should that be agitpoop?

I’m sure Ms Greening thinks this is all very marvellous and modern. She’s a thoroughly modern Conservative, which means she’s barely distinguishable from all the other thoroughly modern MPs of all parties. We have a Conservative Party that has abandoned nearly every conservative principle it ever had; a Liberal Democrat Party that is very much as Voltaire described the Holy Roman Empire, ie, neither liberal nor democratic and barely a party; and a Labour Party that no longer represents the interests of the labouring classes but actively dislikes them.

One thing that has obstinately not changed, however, is those awful men and their urges. The writers at Red magazine have been tut-tutting about the fact that a scientific study shows men prefer one specific female body shape to others (the slim one – but you guessed that already). The headline to the article is both touching and revealing:

“Men Still Prefer Women To Be Young And Skinny, Says Unhelpful New Study”.

It’s unhelpful, you see, because it confirms what every sensible person knows, ie, that human mating behaviour is shaped by millions of years of evolution. This gives the lie to the left wing agenda that everything is socially “constructed” and can be radically changed by flipping the modernity switch. Despite all the propaganda about how they’ve been programmed by the patriarchy to look at women in certain ways, men “still” can’t resist those pesky hormones. But it’s touching the way the ladies think a flick of the switch can change the world.

Grievance runs through the whole of the article and the language is so neatly skewed, the author could be writing for the Guardian or working for the BBC. The most attractive body shape has a BMI of 19, which the writer describes as “borderline underweight and associated with youth”. The lower limit of the official “Healthy Weight” range is 18.5, so calling it borderline is stretching the point a bit. And yes, it’s associated with youth because most women are likely to fit that category when they’re young.

Too obvious, so far? It continues: “Apparently there’s an evolutionary reason for this preference, because younger people are seen as fitter and therefore have a better ability to reproduce.” That’s because younger people generally are fitter and do have  a better ability to reproduce. Saying “apparently” in that passive-aggressive way does nothing to discount the facts, unpalatable as they are.

Some people are obviously engaged in a futile war against reality. Life is hard. It’s unfair. It doesn’t conform to what the profs and intellectuals are always preaching. Hormones don’t obey fashionable dogmas. “Evolution,” as Hayek said, “cannot be just.” Get used to it, sisters, and adapt, otherwise the rest of your days will be filled with rage and loneliness.


suxcoverCurrente Calamo columnist, poet, writer and lecturer Michael Blackburn lives in Lincolnshire . From 2005–2008 he was the Royal Literary Fund fellow at the University of Lincoln where he now teaches English Literature and Creative Writing. His poetry has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies over the years, including Being Alive (Bloodaxe) and Something Happens, Sometimes Here (Five Leaves Press). His most recent collection is Spyglass Over The Lagoon. A selection of his Fortnightly Currente Calamo columns, Sucks To Your Revolution: Annoying The Politically Correct (US), is available as a Kindle ebook.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x