Identity is not necessarily reality

(A mini rant against Intersectionality)

Let’s imagine that I treat others terribly and am generally known as an awful person who no one wants to be around. However, I don’t know what they’re talking about or what they’re problem is; after all, I identify as a lovely person, so why don’t they treat me this way?

Clearly, it’s a ‘them’ problem, and if they refuse to acknowledge my identity then I’m going tocrack a tanty and call them biggots, or racist, or misogynist, or ablest, or whatever will make them think twice about denying me my rights as an awful lovely person!

I’m thinking that tomorrow I’ll also identify as 11 years old so that I can buy a kids meal at Fasta Pasta and get a free icecream and drink. ‘Cause lying and ripping people off is what lovely people do. At least, it is now.

‘I identify as’

Do you find this phrase just as confusing as I do? I’ve been rolling my eyes at identify politics for a while now, but this morning I came across a new one which made them roll so far back that it hurt. I discovered an advertisement for a hospitality course which welcomes application from those who are ‘aged between 15 and 35 years of age and identify as living with a disability.’

Let me repeat that: ‘Identify as living with a disability’.

Seriously?

Does anyone else see the absolute stupidity in that sentence?

‘Why, hello there, Disability, I didn’t see you hanging out in the corner.’

‘Everyone, I want you to meet Autism who I identify as my house mate (unlike Depression moping in the corner over there, who I refuse to acknowledge). Autism, this is everyone.’

How does someone ‘identify as living with a disability’? Isn’t it an either/or scenario: you either have a disability or you don’t? You are disabled or you’re not? My husband doesn’t have a disability but can he identify as someone who does? Or perhaps because I’m disabled he can thus identify living with one? That last idea was a bit silly, but you get my point.

What do you mean, ‘identify’?

By now you no doubt will have noticed that the world is trying desperately to categorise us into little boxes according to our looks, beliefs, ancestry, preferences, ethnicity, etc. etc. There’s even a word for it: intersectionality.

In a nutshell, it has been decided (but not by God) that there is a hierarchy of sovereignty in this world, which means that if you’re a black transwoman with a disability then you’re at the tippity-top, and if you’re a heterosexual ‘cisgender’* white man then you’re essentially the devil reincarnate. Sorry about that. Unless you’re a disabled heterosexual ‘cisgender’ white man then you will rank a smidge higher.

And why wouldn’t you want to rank higher? Higher ranking means greater power in this world, and thus we have people scrambling to identify something about themselves that might make all the difference between being accepted and being ‘cancelled’.

For example: ‘While I was assigned male at birth, I identify/I am female’. Top marks for this fella, he has won the prize!

‘I identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander’. If you have even a whiff of either ancestry then this is your golden ticket in Australia. Of course, your white skin and predominantly European family tree will undoubtedly cause scepticism, but don’t worry, it’s practically illegal to question you because that’s RACIST.

‘I’m bi-sexual’. This is the easiest one, because you don’t have to change anything at all and just claim it. However, be careful as it is slightly controversial for it undermines gender ideology by claiming that sex is real.

Recognising a person’s identity

A person with black skin is a black person, and a person with white skin is evil a white person. A person with a diagnosed disability is disabled, and a person born in Japan is Asian.

Simple, right?

But what if someone identifies as something they’re not?

Blasphemy!!! How dare you even think that someone who says they’re something is not what they say they are! You might hurt their feelings, and then they’ll feel bad and kill themselves.

Or so we’re told.

I’m not saying that there aren’t people who genuinely, 100%, believe that they are the things that they say they are, though I question their mental well being and how much they’ve been lied to/brainwashed. The fact is that there is this thing called ‘reality’ and they’re not living in it.

The only reliable source concerning reality is the Bible, and God Himself is the one who defines our identity. We are all created in His image (Gen 1:26), and in Christ there are no separate boxes for us to be placed in (Gal 3: 28, Col 3:11). Thus your skin colour or sex or health or age or nationality may be different to the next person but none of these give you more or less power, or bestows upon you more or less worth as a human being.

‘Apply if you’re aged between 15 and 35 years of age and identify as living with a disability.’

Can I apply? While I’m not interested at all in this job, the question still intrigues me. It depends on whether this company accept people who actually have a disability or just people who identify as ‘living’ with one (I’m still confused about what this means!). Regarding the age bracket, I’m clearly too old at 40, but I could easily get around this by identifying as 10 years younger.

*Note: I use this term because it’s a part of their argument and will now take a moment to perform some kind of cleansing ritual because I feel kinda dirty. I suggest you do the same.