Thursday 20 November 2014

Scone College

'Have you at any time been detained in a mental home or similar institution? If so, give particulars.'
'I was at Scone College, Oxford, for two years,' said Paul.

Evelyn WaughDecline and Fall

And that is almost all I have to say about the idiocies emanating from Oxford's Student Union Women's Campaign and their friends.

The only other comment I have to offer is about language.

Language matters. And the language used in this instance has been very revealing of what passes for thought in some quarters. Consider the ugly circumlocution 'people with uteruses.' Consider  'cis-gendered.'

What these terms are for is to break down the normal understanding of human sexes. By normal, I mean the understanding that has been prevalent for centuries, and is still near universal today, except in small communities of a particular type of enlightened liberal, and is grounded both in a humane anthropology and biological reality.

So while it may seem like a courtesy to those who feel affronted by the fact that they are abnormal to use such terms, (and I include both 'heterosexual' and 'gay' in this list), I think it colludes with a set of assumptions about human nature that are, to say the least, unproven; and are in my view inimical to civilised society, which is founded on the normal family.

It is, in fact, the idea of normality that is under attack - and we cede that at great cost.

2 comments:

Sig Sønnesyn said...

Iam pridem equidem nos uera uocabula rerum amisimus... I don't like this any more than Cato did.

Ben Trovato said...

Yes, there's nothing new under the sun (except for made up words, of course!)