Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 20:2 (Fall 2015)
Article: Missing The Target
Author: Grant Castleberry

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JBMW 20:2 (Fall 2015) p. 21

Missing The Target

Grant Castleberry

Executive Director
The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Frankfurt, Kentucky

In August Target became the next corporate power,1 after Amazon,2 to rid themselves of all gender designations and labels for children’s toys and bedding. In the corporate rush to not be the company behind the ever-moving gender eight ball, all it seems to take is a few social-media punches from disgruntled, progressive customers, and companies are swift to jump on the winding, zigzag gender line. The problem is, the line keeps moving and twisting, and in this case, disappearing. Not that it will matter to most boys and girls. Boys will still want to play with Legos and sleep on Superman sheets, and girls will still want Barbie dolls and a Sofia pillow-case. But in a world where the very concept of gender is being neutralized, and in a society where parents themselves are trying to outrun their own gender identities, dragging their children onto their own dark labyrinths (look no further than Bruce Jenner at the ESPY’s),3 this only adds to the problem. Rather than reinforcing maleness and femaleness, this confuses it. Instead of helping guide children towards embracing who they actually are, this blurs reality.

JBMW 20:2 (Fall 2015) p. 22

Gender Has Meaning

There is a jar-headish catch-phrase used in the Marine Corps that says, “Words mean things.” As silly as it sounds, it is eerily true. Lives depend, especially in combat, on speaking accurately and truthfully.

The principle holds true regarding gender. Gender means things. Despite the culture’s belief that we can outrun our gender—and the God of the universe who created it—we are ultimately destined to be as God has intended: male and female.

Sex is an integral part of being an image bearer of God; we are fundamentally at our very core either male or female (Gen 1:27). Furthermore, our sexuality is not merely the product of our parents’ reproductive systems. It is so much more than that. Every person’s sexuality was planned and designed before the foundation of the world by a God who loves each person, as he made him or her to be, male or female.

So What’s The Point Of Gender?

Progressives will say that gender-designated toys only serve to reinforce gender stereotypes. By that they are largely referring to the gender-designated roles lying just beneath the surface of both G.I. Joe and Barbie.

The Bible teach...

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