Perry L. Glanzer on the gender identity movement

Although we have discarded the old gendered moral tradition associated with gentlemen and ladies, and even Microsoft Word suggests that one stop using those terms, the identity wars look to continue even more with a coming clash of older feminism and the new gender fluid movement.  More likely, as has happened with LGBTQ+, certain moral tribes will spring up around each of the different identity groups. 

What is different about these movements, however, is that they do not involve discussions about what it means to be a good “fill in the blank with the sexual identity of choice.”  The new gender identity movements focus on obtaining power, respect, and rights, rather than achieving a particular moral ideal of identity excellence.  Every gender and sexual identity now simply fights for an equitable distribution of power and privilege.  Other virtues beyond social justice are dropped by the wayside.  In this respect, perhaps one could argue that these new movements have largely taken the old fallen approach to moral gender identity development that focuses on obtaining power and status.  Calling men to be gentlemen at least called them to bear one Christian virtue (gentleness) and often others as well (e.g., self-control). 

~ Perry L. Glanzer, "Why Men Are Giving Up on College: The Death of Gentlemen," Christian Scholar's Review, September 14, 2021