The Critic Magazine

Gender gymnastics

“Female” role models now include the former Olympic men’s decathlon champion Caitlyn Jenner, awarded Glamour’s Woman of the Year award in 2015

“THE FUTURE IS FEMALE.” Cohorts of corporate t-shirts and signs have displayed that progressive motto for a while. It didn’t age very well.

Today, what counts as a “female” leader is subject to ideological scrutiny. A variety of qualifying labels — such as “queer” and “gender fluid” — are attached. Intersectional theorists and activists promote “uterus-havers” on an equal footing with gender “diverse” people.

“Female” role models include, for example, Philip Bunce, a male Credit Suisse director and occasional cross-dressing fashionista who was included in Britain’s top 100 female executives for the 2018 Champions of Women in Business awards.

It also embraces the former Olympic Games men’s Woman of the Year Award in 2015. In sports, it leaves the field open to male athletes competing against women, as seen with swimmer Will “Lia” Thomas, cyclist Zach “Emily” Bridges, or MMA fighter Boyd “Fallon Fox” Burton.

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