Thoughts re: "essential man" & "essential woman."
[Thread].

I had never dated a woman who wasn't either (a) on some form of birth control, or (b) insistent on using artificial contraception during sexual intercourse. Because of this, when I met my wife (who has never been on any form of birth control), I found myself confused about 1/

why she behaved the way she did and why she held some of the beliefs she held, among other things. I realized that her complete disassociation from using birth control was relevant to my confusion, as she behaved and acted in a manner radically different from every 2/

other woman I had been with. But I admired her way of being, much more than any of those other women. Her mannerisms and behavior astounded me in the best way. Nevertheless, seeing her desire and allegiant faith toward me as a man made virtually no sense to me. The other women 3/

I had been with regarded me with ambivalence. In their eyes, it was as if I was only a romantic figure--someone whose identity could only ever amount to what I did for them, with no distinction given about what is essential to being a man. There was no real "essential man" 4/

in those relationships, other than a desire or lust for male or female form. These relationships hinged on preference for this form over another, or, if not only that, some vague idea of personhood that had little or nothing to do with the other as essentially man, or woman. 5/

Now, to bear on a philosophical point: natural law theory is still very relevant and still very much something to be concerned with. Based on, at the very least, honest personal experience, there's an ontological difference between women on birth control and women not 6/

on birth control. "Ontological" here refers generally to the metaphysical implications of the biological/biopsychical change undergone by using birth control. Moreover, by relation, there's a difference between a man in a relationship with a woman on birth control and a man 7/

in a relationship with a woman not on birth control, and this difference is intrinsic to the relationship had, qua ontological difference, with women.

The point: Stop pretending major qualitative changes, if not substantial changes, undergone by individuals have no negative 8/

consequences. They do. And the negative consequences cause serious psychological and emotional harm, for not only men and women, but trans people too. 9/9

[End thread].