Leticia Artiles Visbal

GENDER IDEOLOGY

Gender ideology refers to a strategy or campaign developed by conservative groups and institutions to discredit feminist movements. These groups rely on inaccurate and false information to create confusion and fear about feminist theory and practice. Feminism is not the enemy; it is based on the struggle for women’s rights, recognizing gender inequalities established by patriarchal power relations. Feminist advocacy also includes defending gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and all expressions of sexual diversity within a human rights framework.

Groups promoting gender ideology lack foundation. They deny the biological reality of human beings, claiming feminism indoctrinates children to become homosexual, bisexual, or transgender, ignoring that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent human traits. They violate women’s and girls’ human rights, deny sexual education as a means to prevent early pregnancies often resulting from sexual violence, and oppose abortion, disregarding women’s right to make decisions about their bodies and the high rates of mortality from unsafe abortions.

Feminist movements advocate for States to respect, protect, and guarantee the human right to health, preventing avoidable and unjust deaths that violate women’s human rights. They fight not against life, but against discrimination and gender-based violence, defending autonomy over sexual orientation and gender identity.

Religious fundamentalist currents have incorporated gender ideology into their discourse, using biblical texts as supposed proof of truth. This discourse positions women in unequal relationships with men, limits the female body to reproduction, denies comprehensive sexual education, the right to decide, and recognition of sexual diversity, generating stigma, discrimination, and rights violations. Gender ideology, therefore, expresses rejection of any behavior outside normative standards, constituting gender-based violence and abuse of power by those claiming “sacred discourse.”

Author: L. Artiles Visbal