Abigail Favale, The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory (Ignatius Press, 2022)
Abigail Favale is better placed than most to write ‘a Christian theory’ of gender. Her experience of discomfort with her gender, of feminism and teaching gender studies, of being a woman, and her Christian faith combine to make this a quite unique and exceptional book.
After an opening chapter which offers some autobiographical background on Favale’s journey through various perspectives on gender and on faith, the second chapter (‘Cosmos’) is where Favale outlines what she describes as ‘the Genesis paradigm’. This becomes the foundation for the critique of ‘the gender paradigm’ offered in the rest of the book.
A strength of Favale’s work is that she doesn’t overread Scripture on the topic of gender.
While an excellent treatment of gender in Genesis 1-3, this chapter is the only substantive and sustained engagement with Scripture in the book, and that does leave the overall tenor of the book as critique rather than constructive theology, which perhaps renders the subtitle a little overstated. However, that may be an unfair comment, as a strength of Favale’s work is that she doesn’t overread Scripture on the topic of gender. The reality is, while the Bible has things to say on the topic, especially in the opening chapters of Genesis, Gender is not a prominent theme in Scripture. Favale does well not to try and fill in the gaps or too greatly stretch out what Scripture does say.
From this foundation, Favale sets out on her critique of the gender paradigm. The critique is sharp – Favale doesn’t hold back – and yet it is somehow also expressed with evident deep care for people and with an anchor in real-life stories, both Favale’s own and those of others.
The chapter titled ‘Waves’ offers an excellent, accessible introduction to the history of feminism and its intellectual background. ‘Control’ then considers the role that accessible and effective contraception has played in shaping understandings of bodies, sex and what it means to be a woman. Here Favale’s Catholic convictions on contraception are clear, but she makes a compelling case for the part that contraception has played in getting us to where we are today.
The following two chapters – ‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’ – offer excellent accounts of these two terms and concepts. Favale gives clear and compelling critiques of the many confusing and unhelpful ideas in contemporary culture and also helps us to see their roots in both intellectual movements and technological developments (i.e. contraception). She outlines an understanding of both that fits with what she has already outlined as the Genesis paradigm: an approach that is intellectually robust, practically helpful, and consistent with Scripture.
Favale gives clear and compelling critiques of the many confusing and unhelpful ideas in contemporary culture.
‘Artifice’ offers an excellent engagement with the current reality of trans-identification among young people. Favale focusses on why so many girls are wanting to escape womanhood – an understandable focus given trans-identification is more common among girls. She explores the ways that hypersexualisation and the internet seem to be fuelling the phenomenon, providing an excellent, if depressing, insight into what it can be like to be a teenage girl today. She also offers a rightly scathing critique of the idea of medical transition for young people.
The final two chapters – ‘Wholeness’ and ‘Gift’ – return to the more positive, constructive task. Favale proposes that what we long for and what we should seek is wholeness. Here she takes the controversial position that gender dysphoria should be understood and treated as a psychological illness (p.197), but she does so in a way that is sensitive and well-explained. Throughout these two chapters she displays genuine willingness to engage with trans-identified people, including those who have very different views to her own, and a genuine desire for them to be loved and cared for well. She also draws out the positive outworkings of the Christian theory of gender she is proposing, including its recognition of our bodies as gifts to us.
The Genesis of Gender manages to make complex concepts, thinkers and intellectual movements intelligible. The writing is engaging and full of life, helped greatly by the way that personal stories, Favale’s own story and those of a few others, are weaved in. Reading the book was both enjoyable and hugely helpful. Favale’s Catholicism has clearly influenced the book in a few ways, but not in any way that should be a hindrance to readers from different Christian traditions. In fact, the Catholic tradition provides Favale with much deep reflection on what it means to be human, tradition which she employs well.
If you want to understand our current cultural preoccupation with gender, where it has come from, why it’s not the good news some claim it is, and how we as Christians have a better, more life-giving perspective on gender, this book is a great starting point.
