James Dobson

===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 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}}