[Tension & Renewal - XXI]
From home and through media we learn a lopsided version of the feminine and masculine.
At home our parents are disconnected from genuine community and village elders. Rarely do they maturely and soulfully embody feminine and masculine energy in balance. (It takes a lifetime to learn!) And the socio-cultural norms have twisted our worst tendencies into codified “roles” that only further distort what’s healthy.
On the screen, disharmony and conflict are more entertaining than grounded-ness, harmony, and balance. And so we are inundated with unhealthy, lopsided, non-integrated ideas of the masculine and feminine.
Consequently, the feminine is associated with nagging, manipulation, engulfing pressure, and codependency. We rarely learn to trust, accept love, and radiate with self confidence under that pressure. The masculine is associated with remoteness, aggression and abuse, and a lack of depth. We grow up suspicious of strength and drive and masculine emotions.
I’ve learned that true spiritual renewal manifests NOT in accepting our gender roles without complaint BUT INSTEAD in discovering that both the masculine and feminine “energy” is necessary for self-giving, loving, intimate relationships. (In other words, true renewal bucks the stereotypes and seeks sage mentors.)
