Gender is a gift from God, baked right into the human person. It's a reality, not an idea. It goes beyond just male and female bodies (gender is not a body, the body signifies gender). Gender is something unseeable, but not undetectable, because it's a real thing.
HEADS UP: At the end of this article you’ll find a video from one of my past podcasts, talking about gender being “diverse, but not fluid”
Angels have no gender. Not because it's "missing' But because the type of creature an Angel is is a creature that doesn't need a gender. And dogs aren't lacking wings, they simply don't need them, for the type of creature a dog is.
Angels image God (image = to make visible in another form) by having intellect and will — by being creatures who can know and choose.
Unlike Angels, humans are created in God’s image and likeness. That means each of us is a someone, not a something — capable of knowing, choosing, loving, and giving ourselves to others.
Angels can know and choose, and animals can live and bond, but only human beings can give themselves as persons and form real communion with other persons. Being male or female is not an extra label added onto that dignity; it is one of the ways that dignity becomes visible and livable in the world. In a sense, Gender is how we experience creation—and all reality.
We don’t just exist — we belong to one another, we create, we recognize beauty, and we can say “I give myself to you.” In that, the human person reflects God not as an idea or an instinct, but as a living Someone
Gender isn't a cage. It's a gift worth unwrapping.
VIDEO
This clip is from a prior podcast I used to do. Ignore “Catholic Adventurer” references, as my YouTube handle and website are now different.