The Parable of The Table and The Chair
Let's say you're in a room with a contractor and an essentialist. The contractor brought you a pile of wood, staples, a staple gun, elbows, wood screws, rotating saw, a square measure, a leveling stick, a hammer, etc. and he's says he's paying you good money to build a long table with this material. He and the essentialist, who otherwise don't know each other, leave. So you get to work and after a while, you finish the table.
The contractor comes by and pinches his nose and then facepalms. He says “oh, did I tell you to build a table? I'm so absent minded. I was actually having someone else build that. I actually wanted you to build a nice sturdy chair to go along with it. I'll throw in an extra $100 for your troubles. Oh, and no need to go buy more materials for the chair. Just break down the table and repurpose the materials to make the chair. I'll be back later to see the finished product.” He then leaves, and you get to work cutting apart the table into pieces of the proper dimensions to make a chair with.
While you're doing so, the essentialist comes by and sees you. “What are you doing to that table!” he yells. “You're mutilating it! The contractor is going to be infuriated!” “Actually, he came by and said he was mistaken and that he actually wanted a chair, so I'm making him a chair”, you inform him. “Impossible!” the essentialist snaps. “Once a table, always a table. No matter how hard you try, you cannot turn a table into a chair! It's a table!” “What table? Where?” you say, the bewilderment in your face all too apparent. He vaguely motions to the pile of scrap wood on the floor. “This table right here. You seem confused, but rest assured we can always tell it's a table” the essentialist remarks. A look of concern for this guy's mental health appears on your face, but you shrug and then attempt to hold back your laughter before nodding in disbelief of the absurdity and getting back to work. The essentialist, angered by your reaction, storms off and leaves, spouting something about “repurposed wood insanity” and “sexual degenerates who sit on tables.”
After a while, you finish the chair and the contractor comes by and is quite pleased with his chair and gives you your monetary reward. The essentialist comes back and glances at the chair, noticing only its platform and legs, but seemingly oblivious of the backrest. “Ah!” he said with a delighted smile. “That's a small end table, but it's still a table.” “Actually, it's a chair...”, the contractor says. “...and I'm quite pleased with it.” “It'll never be a real chair!!!” the essentialist mocks the contractor. “It started out as a table, and what it started out as is immutable!” “I have no idea what's going on here”, says the puzzled contractor, who looks as if he's staring down a madman. “but I have my chair and I'm quite pleased, so I'll be on my way.” He grabs the chair and leaves. “It started out as a pile of building materials” you correct the essentialist. “Yes, table building materials, not chair building materials.” the essentialist retorts. “It goes against nature to call it a chair!”
This is what it sounds like to me when I hear the arguments of a bioessentialist, gender critical and transphobe.
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