'The ideology of gender does not exist' except for the Catholic Church

Article by Sophie Lebrun published in the Catholic weekly Témoignage Chrétien (France) of 8 March 2012, pag. 20-21, freely translated by Sara S.

As a historian, Anthony Favier* is preparing a thesis on the genre in Catholicism. According to him, the Catholic Church, just touches the complexity, and therefore the wealth, of gender studies.

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Since when did the Catholic Church get up against what she calls "genre theory"?

The Church took a position on the "genre" in 1995, following the Beijing Conference organized by the UN, who survived after a "decade of women's law" that the Vatican followed through the other meetings of the UN and its agency that deals with man-donna equality. In that year, the American feminist movements convinced the UN officials and the assembly to introduce the word "gender" in English) in English) in English) official documents.
The Holy See, then, reacted by explaining that in his eyes this meant trying to change the biological reality with the use of that word and that we also wanted to obtain the gratitude of the alternative life states, such as homosexuality. From that moment, regularly, Rome publishes its positions against what she calls "genre theory" particularly present in papal speeches.

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Later, was there an evolution of the official position?

Roman institutions have no longer moved from their position. The French bishops have long maintained a certain confidentiality, speaking little in this regard. Six years ago, Jacques Arènes, a psychoanalyst, was commissioned by the episcopate to publish what it is, as far as I know, the first French official document of a certain thickness, the problem of the genre. In recent years, the prelates have increasingly taken the word against what they call "such theory", creating a movement that can be interpreted as a campaign to affirm Vatican positions.
If the official line stiffens, I observe that other parts of the Church try to open a dialogue around the genre, stressing that the studies are vast.

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Are gender studies more complex than "gender theory"?

It is important to specify that only Catholics use the expression "genre theory". In the academic world, American "gender theories" are never translated in this way - in French the term "theory" implies an uncertainty - it is therefore said "gender studies" or "studying the gender relationship".
Because "genre theory" does not exist: this research sector, at present, is full of forty years of work, with elements of different value, based on various methods, some applicable to history or social sciences, others to sociology or geography. They are multiple studies with different theoretical options that can logically contradict themselves.

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What is the "theory of the genre" for the Catholic Church?

According to this institution, the "theory of the genre" is to be brought closer to Marxism: a doctrine that has been designed by some radical feminists, with an agenda to impose their ideology through a legislative calendar and a unique actor who would coordinate the action of the groups.

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Is it completely false?

The Church is not wrong when it believes that some American feminist movements have used the term "genre" with a militant intent of man-woman equality or for the decriminalization of homosexual relationships. But in the same breast of these movements, the genre does not necessarily refer to homogeneous realities. There are no "protocols of gender essays" to foment a joint attack.

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What are the people who defend the position of the Church more strenuously?

Those experts, particularly present in the Francone discussions on "Catholic Church and genre", which are summoned to counter the so -called "genre theory". The best known is Mr Tony Anatrella, priest and psychoanalyst. Leaning on the Freudian corpus of the years between the two wars, he explains that those who do not know well what kind they belong to, have such confusion for a lack in their development. First of all, it is surprising to see how after decades spent condemning psychoanalysis, the church now puts on a Sigmund Freud pedestal.
In fact, starting from 1864 - and from the Sillabo of Pius IX which clearly condemns the psychological sciences - until the 1950s, these sciences are perceived as threatening for the soul of the Catholics.
In addition, it is like forgetting that today, contemporary psychologists also no longer use Freudian analyzes in this way. On another register, Father Michel Schooyans has put himself in the lead that the danger of the genre comes from a drift of human rights. The now very ancient Catholic anti -liberal speech is back to configure with him: the so -called "genre theory" would urge a freedom without brakes, to a right to any choice that would end up in a new dictatorship.
Finally, Margaret Peeters, an old American journalist residing in Brussels, believes that the genre is the heir of the French Revolution ... giving a political and secular definition of the individual, the lights would have eliminated his Christian dimension. Progressively, paternity and motherhood, and what she calls masculinity and femininity, would have been emptied of their substance. In his eyes, after the 1950s, liberal ideas would have created "genre theory" bringing to his extreme the dialectical opposition between organic and social.

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One of the topics of the Catholic Church against "genre theory" is the implementation of a "natural order"

In fact, in the Catholic vision, the so -called "genre theory" would put into question a natural conception of man, that is, that the nature that creation has given us must be accepted. The Catholic Church then starts from the purpose of the sexual organs to find a good ethical order of sexuality that would be that of procreation, which implies that sexuality is always heterosexual.
This puts aside a much larger theological aspect: the traditional Catholic enhancement of the action of God above nature. On the other hand, it is found in the rule that imposes celibacy to priests or chastity to religious and religious. In this, the internal laws of the Church are not "natural" according to the same definition of the Vatican ...

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* Anthony Favier has a blog in which he leaves his analysis on gender studies and in particular he wrote seven very rich and complete articles on “The question on new biology manuals in elementary school (in France). Penser-le-Genre-catholique.over-blog.com

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Original text: Anthony Favier: "The Théorie du genre n'exista pas"