Mark's Lecture on The Gender War

There are many differences between feminine and masculine energy.  We even tease one another about the stereotypes.  In this class feminine does not mean all women, some men would be considered feminine.  This goes for masculinity as well.  

Universality of gender, everything has either a masculine or feminine energy pushing into eachother but in a harmonious way.  Why is gender so important?  It is at the core of our personal identity, and our roles in society.  We need to manage this balance, society is off balance right now.  The yin yang religious symbol of balance suggests that we should incorporate a touch of the other's energy into our own.

Divine Roles of Men

Men are heros.  Men are strong, unyeilding, willing to die for a good cause. Men are tenacious, hard-workers willing to strain thier bodies.  They have the ability to turn off thier feelings and get the hard work done.   Men need to be engaged in battle for a good cause, if not he is losing a part of this sacred role.  He could fall prey to self-centeredness.  When we are around a hero, he makes us want to be a better person.  Men, ask yourselves, "what are you fighting for?"

We should honor the tough, strong men and women who can get up early, work physically hard all day and abuse thier bodies in the process.  When they wake up with aching muscles they take a handful of ibuprofen and get going.  When they cut themselves, they slap on some duct tape on the wound and keep going.  Even the symbolism of the male body is bony, angular, squared.  Testosterone makes them aggressive and stressed with a need to conquer.  To this end men are addicted to sex.  They need to be in battle.  They should also stay away from temptations, porn is stronger than heroine, it is powerfully addicting.  Our modern generation has quick access to many comforts.  Men don't have to fight for or earn thier comfort.  Men are often too proud to admit they need help with things, or to work out feelings. Most arguements between men and women are because women are being too sensitive and men are being insensitive.

Divine Roles of Women.

Women are nurturing, sensitive and beautify the world.  Women make the world worth fighting for. She heals him from battle and prepares him for the next battle.  She inspires him.  A woman is the perfect symbol of comfort.  Women's culture is more mature.  She is always sorting feelings.  They are relational being and love to serve and it helps them to grow. 

The symbolism of the woman's body is feminine.  Her body is softer, rounder, her voice is sweeter.  She is emotional, sensitive and has natural empathy.  The secret of women is that they have the ability to feel what others are feeling, in a genuine way.  She can share spiritual energy with others down to the heart level.  Women should know that for men sex is a matter of psychic survival.  This actually gives women more power.  Men are usually interested in sex anytime, but for women, they like to test the men giving them an interview of sorts to see if she is respected by him and if she respects him.  If he is living his life as a hero, she will respect him.

Women have extra keen senses.  Women can't turn thier brains off.....EVER!  She worries all the time.  She can manage many things at once.  Women hold a lot of psychic energy.

Let's solve the tension between genders and resolve the mistrust,

In order to optimize our potential let's see both the good and the bad in masculine and feminine traits/roles.  Let's see the good and the bad in traditional and modern roles.  Traditional man was the respected head of the household, and a manager protecting everyone's rights which is a system that can work well.  Modern is that everyone has equal value and rights, who is the leader? Let's see the good and the bad in being extreme vs moderation.  Let's see the good and the bad in conformity and definance.  To conform is the peace-keeper, law abider, keeping everything running smoothly and the deviant keeps us open-minded.  We need to stop finger-pointing.  We need to find the beauty in all sides.  We can make fun of both genders equally, be moderate.  It would seem that over the years in times of war we respect masculinity more, and in times of peace we respect femininity more. 

Power and Beauty

One way to look at this energy working together is the view of the HERO and his HEALER.  Another way to see this are the roles are THE KEEPER OF THE SACRED and her PROTECTOR.

A word of caution;

How we've made a mess of things;  men abuse and women enable.  There is a saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Women should remind thier family that your service is a gift, not a right.  Women can toughen up.  Don't save the man and the children from every amount of suffering.  A moderate amount of suffering is fine.  If there is a high amount of suffering then we serve one another.  A low amount of suffering (ie the man tired on the couch asks the woman to fix him a sandwich, although she is still working on cleaning the kitchen) let him suffer, it's OK.  Tell him he has two hands and can make himself a sandwich. If the woman is the garbage can for all the pain and suffering in the home, she will not be valued or respected and she will hold all the negative energy. A man too arrogant to appologize is addicted to putting his stress and anxiety into someone else.  A man should feel pride in meeting her emotional needs.