Editing James Dobson (section)

===Views on gender===

Dobson views the [[gender binary]] as fundamental to humanity; he believes God created men and women to differ "in every cell of their bodies."{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=82}}  These [[Complementarianism|complementary]] differences make them well-suited to [[traditional gender roles]].{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=96–98}} "Males and females differ biochemically, anatomically, and emotionally" according to Dobson. Men like to "hunt and fish and hike in the wilderness" while women prefer to "stay at home and wait for them." Because men have a fragile ego and women are emotionally vulnerable, "men derive self-esteem by being respected; women feel worthy when they are loved." Men and women are obligated to adhere to the "time-honored roles of protector and protected."{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=82–83}}

Though created for traditional gender roles, people are not born following these roles. The roles must be taught, Dobson says, and must be defended from anyone who questions them.  Dobson argues that confused gender relationships in a household result in homosexuality if a child displaces their sexual feelings onto the same-sex parent. Hence, parents should model a romance-like relationship with their opposite-sex child, according to Dobson, with the ultimate goal of steering the child toward heterosexual marriage as an adult.{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=96–98}}

Dobson encourages "daddy-daughter dating" in which fathers and daughters set aside time for special activities together. Because he believes heterosexuality must be cultivated, Dobson intended these romanticized attachments to model proper heterosexual partnership to girls age six or younger.{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=98}} An employee of Dobson's created the first [[purity ball]] {{mdash}} a father-daughter dance event promoting female chastity {{mdash}} in 1998. Dobson promoted the purity balls on his radio show.{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=184}} Along with other fundamentalist figures such as [[Billy Graham]], Dobson is considered a founder of [[purity culture]], a Christian subculture in which sexual immorality by women or LGBT people is considered a national threat.{{sfn|Moslener|2015|p=167}}

Dobson considers [[transgender]] people a threat, writing in 2016 that "a married man with any gumption" would defend his wife's privacy in the bathroom from "a strange-looking man, dressed like a woman." He seemed to romanticize a time in the past in when men were masculine enough to shoot trans women.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/6/01/james-dobson-be-man-shoot-transgender-woman-bathroom |title=James Dobson: Be a Man, Shoot a Trans Woman in the Bathroom |work=The Advocate |date=June 1, 2016 |first=Trudy |last=Ring }}</ref> He also considers feminists a threat because they question the natural leadership of men. In his 1975 book ''What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women'' he denounces the "feminist propaganda" of [[strong female character]]s in movies, complaining when men are shown as inferior to a "confident superchick."{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=83}}<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Dobson |year=1975 |title=What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women |location=Wheaton, Illinois |publisher=Tyndale House |pages=140–141 |url=https://archive.org/details/whatwiveswishthe0000dobs/ }}</ref> This is dangerous, he says, because the true role of women is to harness the superior energy of men.{{sfn|Du Mez|2020|p=84}}

====Gendered language in the Bible====
In response to a 1997 article in ''[[World (magazine)|World]]'' magazine claiming that the ''[[New International Version]]'' of the Bible was going to be printed with [[gender-neutral language]], Dobson called a meeting at Focus on the Family headquarters of influential men in the religious publishing business.<ref name=Olasky2021>{{cite magazine |first=Susan |last=Olasky |magazine=World |date=July 2021 |title=Translation manipulation: In 1997 WORLD uncovered a plan to reshape the most popular English translation of the Bible |url=https://wng.org/articles/translation-manipulation-1624941058 }}</ref> The group drafted the "Colorado Springs Guidelines" which require Bible translations to use [[Male as norm|male-default language]] such as [[Man (word)|the word "man"]] to designate the human race.<ref>{{cite web |website=Bible Research |title=Colorado Springs Guidelines |url=https://www.bible-researcher.com/csguidelines.html }}</ref> As a result, plans for the gender-neutral Bible version were halted. When Dobson discovered his own ''Odyssey Bible'' used gender-neutral language, he discontinued it and offered refunds.<ref name=Olasky2021 /> According to ''World'', Dobson's 1997 meeting eventually led to the publication of the ''[[English Standard Version]]'' in 2001, which avoids gender-neutral language.<ref>{{cite web |website=Bible Research |title=English Standard Version |url=https://www.bible-researcher.com/esv.html }}</ref> He opposed publication of ''[[Today's New International Version]]'' in 2002 because of the "[[political correctness]]" of the translation and the publisher's rejection of the Colorado Springs Guidelines.<ref>{{citation |title=James Dobson joins critics of gender-neutral NIV revision |first=Art |last=Toalston |date=February 6, 2002 |work=Baptist Press |url=https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/james-dobson-joins-critics-of-gender-neutral-niv-revision/ }}</ref>