‘What is a Woman?’ documentary review: Matt Walsh’s twisted exercise in narcissism

June 12, 2023 02:34 pm | Updated 02:41 pm IST “Humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being,” remarks Simone de Beauvoir in her seminal text The Second Sex. Women as a class have been regarded as inessential throughout history — an anomaly to the male; Aristotle noted, “The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities.” So when there are attempts to define a woman independent of man, there are multiple factions laying claim to the power to define them — Matt Walsh, a self-proclaimed “theocratic fascist”, is one of them. Director: Justin Folk Cast: Matt Walsh Runtime: 94 minutes Storyline: Matt Walsh goes on a journey attempting to question the logic behind the gender ideology movement. The documentary presents some inaccurate facts — like attributing the term ‘gender identity’ to psychologist John Money, infamous for performing involuntary sex reassignment of the child David Reimer — and does not contribute to one’s understanding of the concepts of gender and sex, arguments that it alleges have captured the public’s imagination. The quality of research and the editorial choices of the filmmakers are jarring — one wonders why his team boycotted gender-critical feminists who have risked their careers by speaking on the topic like Kathleen Stock and why they did not invest time and resources in studying the gender ideology movement in the United Kingdom, which is arguably in an advanced stage than the rest of the first world countries.