The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory

by Abigail Favale

Publisher:

Ignatius

, 2022

Overview

The question of gender—who we are as men and women—has never been more pressing, or more misunderstood.

Weaving personal experience with expert knowledge, Dr. Abigail Favale provides an in-depth yet accessible account of the gender paradigm: a framework for understanding reality and identity that has recently risen to prominence. Favale traces the genealogy of gender to its origins in feminism and postmodern thought, describing how gender has come to eclipse sex, and how that shift is reshaping language, law, medicine, sexuality, and our own self-perceptions.

With substance, clarity, and compassion, Favale teases out the hidden assumptions of the gender paradigm and exposes its effects. Yet this book is not merely an exposé—it is also a powerful, moving articulation of a Christian understanding of reality: a holistic paradigm that proclaims the dignity of the body, the sacramental meaning of sexual difference, and the interconnectedness of all creation. The Genesis of Gender is a vital, timely resource for anyone seeking to better understand the gender paradigm—and how to live beyond it.

Key Features

• Traces the genealogy of gender to its origins in feminism and postmodern thought
• Exposes the effects of the gender paradigm on language, law, medicine, and self-perceptions
• Articulates a Christian understanding of reality, emphasizing the dignity of the body and the meaning of sexual difference

Contents

• Acknowledgments
• 1 Heretic
• 2 Cosmos
• 3 Waves
• 4 Control
• 5 Sex
• 6 Gender
• 7 Artifice
• 8 Wholeness
• 9 Gift
• Index

Praise for The Genesis of Gender

Favale’s book is one I will share with my daughters. She begins with the premise that our bodies are for us, in both their blessings and their crosses, and explores how gender helps us know who God has made us to be. Her analysis is sharp, clear, and spoken in love—the right answer to a turbulent age.

—Leah Libresco, Author, Building the Benedict Option

Abigail Favale has written a beautiful and profound reflection on the gift of our embodiment as male and female. The Genesis of Gender is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we arrived at such a confused state and how we can lovingly promote the truth about human nature.

—Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center; Author, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment

This book is ‘Catholic’ in all my favorite senses. It addresses itself to all people of good will. It is intelligent, factually honest, respectful of every human being, and unafraid of where reason and dialogue and empirics lead it. Not to mention that it is a timely, balanced, and brilliant, unpacking of one of the hottest contemporary debates.

—Helen M. Alvare, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School

Product Details

• Title: The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory
• Author: Abigail Favale
• Publisher: Ignatius
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 248
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Gender identity › Religious aspects--Christianity
• ISBNs: 9781642292176, 1642292176
• Resource ID: LLS:GNSSGNDRCHRTHRY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-24T17:01:23Z

About Abigail Favale

Abigail Favale, Ph.D., is a writer and professor in the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. A Catholic convert with an academic background in gender studies, Abigail writes and speaks regularly on topics related to women and gender from a Catholic perspective.

Abigail's memoir, Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion, traces her journey from evangelicalism to postmodern feminism to Catholicism. Her essays and short stories have appeared in print and online for publications such as First Things, Public Discourse, The Atlantic, Church Life, and Potomac Review. She was awarded the J.F. Powers Prize for short fiction in 2017.

Favale lives with her husband and four children in South Bend, Indiana.