A Rose by Any Other Name
May 26, 2011
Anthony Esolen
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/05/a-rose-by-any-other-nameWhen he, or she, confronts a girl who thinks she's a he, then he, or she, knows just what to do. It seems a young woman who plays basketball for George Washington University has declared herself to be a man. Well, she isn't. She's a girl with those narrow shoulders girls have, and slender arms, and a kind of triangular face, and hair that would be nice if she didn't shave it down to the scalp. She's a girl. My dog Jasper, who knows "ring the bell" and "jump through the hoop," would know that she's a girl. But the journalist doesn't.
The story here is that she, who is called he, and who must be obeyed in matters pronominal, is still waiting for his surgery and hormonal treatment, having delayed it a year so that he who is really she could play on the women's basketball team. But next year he or she will have his or her amputation, followed by what is called asinocaudal surgery, meaning, roughly, "Pin the Tail on the Donkey."
