Op-ed: how mainstream media perpetuate confusion about gender, race, and Life
This month, media have become head-over-heels obsessed with two figures, both of whom are very confused about who they are. The two, of course, are Bruce Jenner, the former decathlete who believes he is a woman, and Rachel Dolezal, the Caucasian NAACP leader who believes (or at least portrays) that she is black. Both of these figures also did a smashing job of convincing the masses that they actually are what they confusedly believe themselves to be. Both Jenner and Dolezal changed their appearances (Jenner underwent sex reassignment surgery and other cosmetic procedures; Dolezal tweaked her hairstyle and skin tone). But who they are on a chromosomal and genetic level remains the same: Jenner is still chromosomally a man, and Dolezal is still genetically Caucasian.
In Dolezal’s case, media on both sides have been quick to note that psychology has a term for her identity crisis: self-deception. In Jenner’s case, however, media outlets have bizarrely dropped the psychology of gender dysphoria from the discussion, opting instead to praise the uncommon choice as “courageous.” There appears to be an elusive void between cases in which the media will affirm that a delusional person is delusional, and cases where they will instead play along with the delusion. Their portrayal of the preborn fits into the latter category.
That the abortion industry has the media eating out of their hand is no secret. This month’s Washington Post portrait of abortion leader Ilyse Hogue is the latest example in a decades-old love affair between the two industries. And the most notable contribution the media have made to the abortion movement is their role in mainstreaming inaccurate abortion language. Pro-choice; products of conception; ‘it’s my body’ – there is no end to the nomenclatural nonsense that arises from the collusion of abortion zealots and their media accomplices. Scientific accuracy need not apply.
The media’s lack of integrity destroys the possibility of balanced discussions on important topics. But more importantly, excessive and overt bias against accurate terminology renders the humans caught in the crossfire of such distortion collateral damage. Who profits from obfuscating terms like “products of conception”? The abortion industry. Who loses? The preborn children whose lives are unacknowledged by the masses who have been programmed to believe that they are not what science says they are: human. Likewise, when media call Bruce Jenner a “woman” and praise the extreme measures taken to make his delusion appear as a reality, they harm Bruce Jenner and all of the individuals who are likewise struggling with gender identity.
Identities are inextricably rooted in reality, and the words used to describe them have integral meaning. The utopian day when mainstream journalists trade their agenda for a commitment to factual reporting will be a good day for civilization at large—especially those members of society who have been unjustly marginalized and victimized by the media’s rejection of science.
