Arlo, this is an excellent post. I think it takes the 'mystic' approach out of the language.
I'll save the mystical notions of the male and female energies for my art & sexuality. As for the Allende post - I agreed with all of it, I just questioned her use of the terminology that we need to bring back the feminine energy. I just thought - we need to solve a social problem of injustice. mm > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Arlo Bensinger > Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 1:57 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [MD] A Passionate Woman > > > [Margaret] > So I'm curious...what is meant by feminine energy/male energy? > > [Arlo] > As far as I understand it, the terminology "masculine" and "feminine" > as applied to "spirit" or "energy" is derivative of the Euro-pagan > traditions which framed specific emotive-behavioral norms towards > each gender, and then professed that for humanity to evolve, these > forces had to be kept in balance. This has since been overlayed upon > the Yin-Yang of the Orient, but as far as I am aware, true Yin-Yang > philosophy lacks specific gender marks. > > The popularity of this "balance" has been brought against a perceived > (and perhaps rightly so) "imbalance" created and sustained within the > Occidental traditions (or at least, the popular, exoteric varieties > of Occidental thought) that places the "traditional" role of the male > as dominant, better and in fact "closer to God" than the subservient, > weaker, less important female gender. > > Recently, the language has been adopted to counter feminism, which > according to some, has committed the same devaluation of traditional > female roles as the patriarchy it sought to challenge. In this, the > counter to male-dominant culture is to divorce "gender" and "role" > and promote the adoption of traditional male roles by female gender. > Both male patriarchy and this accused feminism devalue and dismiss > the traditional role of the female (in European derived > cultural histories). > > A new brand of feminism united "role" and "gender" once again, but > this time sought to tip the scales from a patriarchal- to a > matriarchal- based appraisal of worth. The traditional role of the > female was again tied to gender, however the new understanding > elevated the female role above the male role. Men became merely > aggressive sperm donors to the female's nurturing and > life-sustaining energies. > > The rekindling of European pagan thought has brought voices from both > sides to seek understanding and accept the positives and negatives > that occur when either of the gender roles becomes elevated above the > other. Books such as "Iron John" sought to re-establish the > traditional male "energy" with a nobility and heroism that feminism > had torn away, while modern feminists continue to strive to keep > nurturing and caregiving as values as important as those of the males. > > Popular culture has parodied much of this dialogue, from the Brady > Bunch episode where Mike and Carol exchange roles and then fail > horribly, evidencing the notion that traditional gender roles are > innately tied to gender. Other films like Mr. Mom tried to show that > while it would be clumsy for a male to appropriate the traditional > female role, it was possible, making it a socially-constructed role > not a gender-based one. > > Largely I think many who use these terms see the "traditional" roles > as one historically assigned to gender, but not gender-innate. And > for a matter of convenience they talk about "gender roles" only > because of their long history of being gender-distinct. But many > continue to relate the specific gender roles to specific biology. > "Women are nurturing by nature," they might say, "and have only been > distracted by a society that forces them to adopt male habits". Men, > on the other hand, some say, "are aggressive and warrior-like by > nature and have been distracted by an emasculating dialogue that > refuses to accept any value in these roles". > > Where this division does parallel the Yin-Yang, I think, is that a > deeper (esoteric) reading of the pagan myths places both forms on > these energies in each person. That is, no one person is strictly > male or strictly female in energy. And balance is not something we > seek in the larger cultural aggregate, but inside us as we balance > the hunter-nurturer roles within ourselves. At its core, however, it > should never be forgotten that this is simply, as Pirsig would say, > "just an analogy". > > That's my take on it, anyways. > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.2/1223 - Release > Date: 1/13/2008 8:23 PM > > No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.2/1224 - Release Date: 1/14/2008 5:39 PM Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
