Description
All information you need it’s in the attached below.And be aware my professor use AI check.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Discussion
Discussion 250 to 400 words
This week’s course material presented information on sacred feminine and sacred
masculine energies (i.e., characteristics), suggesting these energies are embodied within the
individual and the collective. Further is the suggestion that the symbiotic interaction
between the individual and the collective impact the overall balance in the collective –
creating balance, imbalance, etc. Additionally, several of the readings provided example of
the impact these energies, when out of balance, have on families — mothers, fathers,
children, parents…
For this discussion, I invite you to address several areas associated with the sacred feminine
and sacred masculine energies within the collective. First, reflect on and discuss examples of
the symbiotic interaction of these energies – healthy/unhealthy, balanced/unbalanced. For
example, individuals in leadership/power positions, certain types of social, economic, or
political policies, to name just a few. Second, identify and discuss examples of criminal
justice and crime policies associated with these energies – healthy/unhealthy,
balanced/unbalanced — with a particular focus on the impact of these policies on our
families.
As always, I understand the challenges associated with these types of discussions and invite
you to do the best you can and provide information you comfortable sharing.
Part you need to reply- 100 to 250 words.
It’s other people discussion
Part 1
I thought the first reading about the Kingdom of women in Lugu Lake was pretty
interesting. In a way it is nice to see not everybody is conforming to the same way of life.
There were no hardships or struggles brought up about the way they live, and seemed to
have a successful system by their means. I think the Kingdom of women article shows the
strong sacred feminine characteristics. The third article talks about how there is fluidity,
unity, and a flow of energy when the masculine and feminine energies are balanced. This
article describes the feminine as receptive, connecting, and holding things in relationship to
each other. The masculine is seeking extension and expansion. This includes mind and
intellect. The article includes a good example of this, saying the greatest flaw in patriarchal
civilization is the over emphasis on masculine and devaluation of feminine. Going along with
this, another good example is involving leadership in today’s society. We tend to value more
masculine traits in leadership such as dominance and assertiveness. While we value those,
we undervalue empathy and intuition, female traits.
An example of crime policies associated with these energies Is the 0-tolerance policy.
In one of my other classes we spoke about this policy briefly, saying it emphasizes punitive
measures and harsh enforcement of laws and does not focus on the underlying cause of that
crime. I would say this policy aligns pretty well with masculine energy as it focuses on
punishment and control. The impact this policy would have on families I think would mainly
lie with minority communities. With this policy there is a lack of rehabilitation and support
services which in turn just create higher rates of incarceration and a higher likelihood to
offend again. Another example I read about was the mandatory minimum sentencing policy.
I would put this under the unhealthy/ unbalanced interaction. This policy is just mandating a
minimum sentence for certain offenses which sometimes results in disproportionately harsh
punishments. For example, nonviolent drug offenses. Again, this would be masculine as it
prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation. The impact on families this would have, just as an
example, would be children experiencing instability or emotional trauma due to the absence
of a parent that has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for a minor offense.
Part 2
When looking at how the actions of individuals and how they affect the
society as whole I think we often naturally jump to conclusions about the
group as whole. For example TV shows like COPS have had a negative
impact on minorities because it perpetuated stereotypes like “black
people are all criminals” and many others. Additionally, I think that the
actions of a few with negative intentions can have an overall toxic impact
on a community. I think people like Andrew Tate are an example of this
where they spread a toxic world view that negatively impact the
communities that these boys and young men exist in. To use the example
of Andrew Tate again he has stated that he moved to Eastern Europe to
take advantage of the even greater imbalance of masculine and feminine
energy less developed country’s criminal justice systems and by
extension victimize people there easier. Given this I hope to see greater
balance between these energies so those who wish to do harm will be
less able to.
Part3
Looking at the difference between feminine and masculine energy is quite interesting given
the fact that there tends to be a balance between the two. Reading the various articles for
this week has allowed me to see a view that I had never thought of before. In the “Kingdom
of Women” article, the author mentions that there is more of a feminine energy present
within the tribal community called the Mosuo. I found it interesting that they live in a mainly
feminist world and men are only responsible for providing strength within the community.
They do all the building, slaughtering of animals, and repairs around the house, however, big
decisions are still left to the grandmother. Meanwhile, the females can own and inherit
property, grow crops, run the household, clean, and take care of the children. The men have
no responsibilities over the children, and it is common for them to only be there for the
purpose of love and enjoying each other’s company. There is no marriage involved or longterm commitment. This is very different from the norms that are present in our society when
it comes to masculine and feminine energy. It was a common belief in the 1950s that men
would work and provide for the household while women were to stay home and care for the
children and the house. However, today we have created more of a balance when it comes
to masculine and feminine energy. Both men and women are capable of working and
providing for the family as it is almost necessary given the cost of things in today’s world.
When it comes to the criminal justice system, there tends to be a lot of unbalances when
you dive deep into the issues present. However, when I think about masculine and feminine
energy, I tend to think about the imbalance between men and women in the criminal justice
system. We see a lot of gender bias take place when it comes to police officers not believing
females in cases of rape, sexual assault, domestic cases, and more. Women are also more
likely to suffer from abuse, sexual violence, or mental issues when in jail due to officers
taking advantage of strip searches and solitary confinement. Men on the other hand tend to
face longer jail sentences than women and are often stereotyped more often. While men do
commit more crimes than females, they are heavily taken advantage of and face harsher
punishment.
The kingdom of women: the society where a man is never the boss | Life and style | The Guardian
9/25/17, 7)45 PM
The kingdom of women: the society where a
man is never the boss
It’s a place where women rule, marriage doesn’t exist and everything follows the maternal
bloodline. But is it as good for women as it sounds – and how long can it last?
A Mosuo woman weaves with a loom at her shop in Lijiang, China. Photograph: Chien-min Chung/Getty Images
Hannah Booth
Saturday 1 April 2017 01.00 EDT
I
magine a society without fathers; without marriage (or divorce); one in which nuclear
families don’t exist. Grandmother sits at the head of the table; her sons and daughters live
with her, along with the children of those daughters, following the maternal bloodline.
Men are little more than studs, sperm donors who inseminate women but have, more often
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/01/the-kingdom-of-women-the-tibetan-tribe-where-a-man-is-never-the-boss
Page 1 of 6
The kingdom of women: the society where a man is never the boss | Life and style | The Guardian
9/25/17, 7)45 PM
than not, little involvement in their children’s upbringing.
This progressive, feminist world – or anachronistic matriarchy, as skewed as any patriarchal
society, depending on your viewpoint – exists in a lush valley in Yunnan, south-west China, in
the far eastern foothills of the Himalayas. An ancient tribal community of Tibetan Buddhists
called the Mosuo, they live in a surprisingly modern way: women are treated as equal, if not
superior, to men; both have as many, or as few, sexual partners as they like, free from
judgment; and extended families bring up the children and care for the elderly. But is it as
utopian as it seems? And how much longer can it survive?
Choo Waihong set about finding out. A successful corporate lawyer from Singapore, she left her
job in 2006 to travel. Having trained and worked in Canada, the US and London, she felt drawn
to visit China, the country of her ancestors. After reading about the Mosuo, she decided to take
a trip to their picturesque community – a series of villages dotted around a mountain and Lugu
Lake – as many tourists do. But something beyond the views and clean air grabbed her.
“I grew up in a world where men are the bosses,” she says. “My father and I fought a lot – he
was the quintessential male in an extremely patriarchal Chinese community in Singapore. And
I never really belonged at work; the rules were geared towards men, and intuitively understood
by them, but not me. I’ve been a feminist all my life, and the Mosuo seemed to place the female
at the centre of their society. It was inspiring.”
Choo Waihong … ‘The Mosuo seemed to place the female at the
centre of their society. It was inspiring.’ Photograph: Teri Pengilley
for the Guardian
Warm, curious and quick-witted, Waihong made friends quickly. She discovered that Mosuo
children “belong” only to their mothers – their biological fathers live in their own matriarchal
family home. Young Mosuo are brought up by their mothers, grandmothers, aunts and uncles.
From the perspective of an outsider – particularly one from China, from where the majority of
tourists come – the Mosuo are “condemned” as a society of single mothers, says Waihong.
“Children are born out of wedlock, which in China is still unusual. But this isn’t how the Mosuo
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/01/the-kingdom-of-women-the-tibetan-tribe-where-a-man-is-never-the-boss
Page 2 of 6
The kingdom of women: the society where a man is never the boss | Life and style | The Guardian
9/25/17, 7)45 PM
see it – to them, marriage is an inconceivable concept, and a child is ‘fatherless’ simply because
their society pays no heed to fatherhood. The nuclear family as we understand it exists, just in
a different form.”
Men and women practise what is known as a “walking marriage” – an elegant term for what are
essentially furtive, nocturnal hook-ups with lovers known as “axia”. A man’s hat hung on the
door handle of a woman’s quarters is a sign to other men not to enter. These range from onenight stands to regular encounters that deepen into exclusive, life-long partnerships – and may
or may not end in pregnancy. But couples never live together, and no one says, “I do”.
“For Mosuo women, an axia is often a pleasurable digression from the drudgery of everyday
life, as well as a potential sperm donor,” says Waihong.
Women own and inherit property, sow crops in this agrarian society, and run the households –
cooking, cleaning and child-rearing. The men provide strength, ploughing, building, repairing
homes, slaughtering animals and helping with big familial decisions, although the final say is
always with Grandmother. Although men have no paternal responsibilities – it is common for
women not to know who the father of their children is, and there is no stigma attached to this –
they have considerable responsibility as uncles to their sisters’ children. In fact, along with
elderly maternal great-uncles, who are often the households’ second-in-charge, younger uncles
are the pivotal male influence on children.
“Mosuo men are feminists by any standards,” says Waihong. “Boys think nothing of looking
after their baby sisters, or taking their toddler brothers by the hand everywhere. I was once
made to wait before talking business with an elderly Mosuo man until he had bathed his
family’s twin baby girls and changed their nappies.”
A few months after her first trip, Waihong returned to Lugu Lake. A teenage girl, Ladzu, had
offered to teach her the Mosuo language, which is passed down orally, and introduce her to her
family. Her visits grew longer and more frequent. She became godmother to Ladzu and her
brother, Nongbu. Ladzu’s uncle, Zhaxi, a local character and successful entrepreneur, offered
to build her a house. Thus she began to put down roots.
“I grew accustomed to shuttling between Singapore and Lugu Lake, navigating a hectic city life
and a different rural rhythm in the mountains,” she says. Her longer stays – she now lives with
the Mosuo for a few months, three or four times a year – gave her the chance to discover more
about this private, often misunderstood community.
In the absence of marriage as a goal, the only reason for men and women to have anything
resembling a relationship is for love, or enjoyment of each other’s company. If it runs its
course, the usual reasons for staying together – for the children, societal or financial reasons –
don’t apply. As an unmarried woman in a community where marriage is non-existent, Waihong
felt at home.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/01/the-kingdom-of-women-the-tibetan-tribe-where-a-man-is-never-the-boss
Page 3 of 6
The kingdom of women: the society where a man is never the boss | Life and style | The Guardian
9/25/17, 7)45 PM
“All Mosuo women are, essentially, single,” she says. “But I think I’m seen as an oddity because
I’m not from here, and I live alone, rather than with a family. I get a lot of dinner invitations,
and my friends are always egging me on to find a nice Mosuo lover.” Has she? “That would be
telling.”
With life centred on the maternal family, motherhood is, unsurprisingly, revered. For a young
Mosuo woman, it is life’s goal. “I’ve had to advise many young women on ovulation, so keen
are they to get pregnant,” she says. “You are seen as complete once you become a mother.” In
this respect, Waihong, who doesn’t have children, is regarded more keenly. “My sense is that
I’m pitied,” she says, “but people are too polite to tell me.”
What happens if a woman doesn’t want children? “That’s simply not one of their choices. To
even ask that question is to see the Mosuo through our eyes, our way of doing things. The
question is not pertinent,” she says.
And what if they can’t have children, or produce only boys? “They will formally adopt a child,
either from an unrelated Mosuo family or, more commonly, from one of their maternal
cousins,” she says. “A few generations ago, before China’s one-child policy – which extends to
two in rural areas – families were huge. There are a lot of cousins around.”
To western eyes, this is the less progressive side of the Mosuo way of life. Is a society that, in
many ways, emancipates women from marriage, and gives them sexual freedom, actually
producing glorified 1950s housewives who have no choices other than motherhood? It’s a
frustration that Waihong feels with her goddaughter Ladzu, now 22. “She is a mother, and
leads a very domestic life,” says Waihong. “For a young Mosuo woman, that’s not unusual. But
I wish it were different. For me, it’s a waste.”
Choo Waihong with a Mosuo matriarch.
But things are changing. Since (mostly) Chinese tourists began arriving in the early 1990s,
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/01/the-kingdom-of-women-the-tibetan-tribe-where-a-man-is-never-the-boss
Page 4 of 6
The kingdom of women: the society where a man is never the boss | Life and style | The Guardian
9/25/17, 7)45 PM
bringing paved roads, an airport and jobs for Mosuo people, their traditional way of life has
started to feel outdated to its young inhabitants. Ladzu and her friends may still be living for
motherhood, but she is part of a pioneering generation in transition: she is married, and to a
Han Chinese man. She still lives at Lugu Lake, but in her own house, with her husband and son,
who was born in February. She is not alone: although her grandmother’s generation, in their
60s and 70s, still practise “walking marriage”, as do many women in their 40s, about half of
women in their 30s live with their “partners” – the fathers of their young children. A minority
of men and women marry outside the community and move away.
“I know one Mosuo man who is living in [the nearest Chinese city of] Lijiang, married with two
children,” says Waihong. “Equally, I know a young Mosuo woman, working as a tour bus driver,
who has a child on her own and lives in her mother’s household.”
Education often makes the difference: there is a junior high school at Lugu Lake, but the
nearest senior school is 100km away, and few children attend. Even fewer head on to further
education. “I know a handful of men and women who have become civil servants or college
lecturers,” says Waihong. “But most only have their junior school certificate.”
In many ways, it doesn’t matter to young Mosuo: tourism is providing careers – from waiter to
guesthouse owner, tourist guide to taxi driver – until now, a foreign concept. This new rising
class has money and the chance to meet people outside the Mosuo community; many families
are renting out land for hotels to be built on. Subsistence farming is on the way out, slowly
being replaced by the commercial farming of prized local crops. Where land is still farmed for
the family, mostly in more rural parts, children head home to help with the harvest. “And they
know there will always be food on the table for them, back home with Mum,” says Waihong.
It is a society in transition, in a country that is changing fast. Feminist activism is on the rise in
China, battling ongoing discrimination; China still describes unmarried women over 27 as
“leftover”. Can these naturally emancipated Mosuo women – and men – show Chinese society
a different approach to family life? “Yes,” says Waihong, “to wear their singlehood with pride.”
Young Mosuo are carving out a different path from their parents, embracing “western”
marriage and family life with gusto. Zhaxi, who built Waihong’s house, says there will be no
Mosuo culture left in 30 years. She is less sure. “I think their traditional family structure may
come to be seen as halcyon, once they see what the alternative is,” she says. “They were the
original trendsetters, 2,000 years ago; they don’t know how good they have it.
The Kingdom of Women by Choo Waihong is published by IB Tauris, £17.99. To order a copy
for £15.29, go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call on 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p on orders of
more than £10, online only. Phone orders minimum p&p of £1.99.
•
The headline on this article was amended on 5 April 2017. An earlier version referred to the
Mosuo as a “Tibetan tribe”; they practise Tibetan Buddhism, but are not Tibetan.
•
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/01/the-kingdom-of-women-the-tibetan-tribe-where-a-man-is-never-the-boss
Page 5 of 6
The kingdom of women: the society where a man is never the boss | Life and style | The Guardian
9/25/17, 7)45 PM
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but
advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we
haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see
why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a
lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective
matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.
I appreciate there not being a paywall: it is more democratic for the media to be available for all
and not a commodity to be purchased by a few. I’m happy to make a contribution so others
with less means still have access to information. Thomasine F-R.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to support it, our future would be
much more secure.
Become a supporter
Make a contribution
Topics
Family
Women
Parents and parenting
China
Asia Pacific
features
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/01/the-kingdom-of-women-the-tibetan-tribe-where-a-man-is-never-the-boss
Page 6 of 6
Rebalancing The Masculine & The Feminine – Collective Evolution
) We’re creating viewer supported news. Become a member!
9/25/17, 7)23 PM
I’m in! (http://bit.ly/ceexplorers)
When the masculine and the feminine are in balance, there is fluidity, relationship, a flow of energy, unity, totality. This fluidity and
balance is perhaps best illustrated by the Taoist image of the indissoluble relationship and complementarity of Yin and Yang. In
the broadest terms, the feminine is a containing pattern of energy: receptive, connecting, holding things in relationship to each
other; the masculine is an expanding pattern of energy: seeking extension, expansion towards what is beyond. More specifically,
the feminine reflects the instinctual matrix and the feeling (heart) values of consciousness; the masculine reflects the questing,
goal-defining, ordering, discriminating qualities of consciousness, generally associated with mind or intellect. For millennia women
have lived closer to the first pattern; men to the second. But now, there is a deep impulse to balance these within ourselves and in
our culture. There is an urgent need to temper the present over-emphasis on the masculine value with a conscious effort to
integrate the feminine one.
In the ancient world the feminine principle in the image of the goddess stood for relationship – the hidden connection of all things
to each other. Secondly, it stood for justice, wisdom and compassion. Thirdly, and most importantly, it was identified with the
unseen dimension beyond the known world – a dimension that may be imagined as a matrix connecting invisible spirit with visible
nature. The word used then to name this matrix was goddess; later it was soul. The feminine principle offered an image of the
oneness, sacredness and inviolability of all life; the phenomenal world (nature, matter, body) was regarded as sacred because it
was a theopany or manifestation of invisible spirit.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/11/10/rebalancing-the-masculine-the-feminine/
Page 2 of 19
Rebalancing The Masculine & The Feminine – Collective Evolution
9/25/17, 7)23 PM
The greatest flaw in patriarchal civilisation has been the overemphasis on the masculine archetype (identified with spirit) and
the devaluation of the feminine one (identified with nature). This
has been reflected in the fact that the god-head has no feminine
dimension, in the consistent neglect of feeling values and in the
misogyny responsible for the repression and suffering of women.
The history of the last 4000 years has been forged by men,
determined by male perspectives and directed towards goals
defined by men – principally the goals of conquest and control.
(this is no sense intended as a criticism; in the context of
* advertisement – learn more (http://www.collective-evolution.com/our-ad-commitment/)
prevailing belief systems and general level of consciousness,
things could not have been different).
However, religion and science – all our cultural ideas and patterns of behaviour – have developed from this unbalanced
foundation. Throughout this time, everything designated as “feminine” (nature, body, woman) was devalued and repressed,
including the rich diversity of the Pagan legacy of the ancient world. In the domain of religion, heretics were eliminated; diverse
ways of relating directly to the transcendent were lost. Naturally, this has created a deep imbalance in the culture and in the
human psyche. It has led finally to the tyrannies of this century where the lives of some 200 million people have been sacrificed to
totalitarian regimes. We can see the brutal legacy of this imbalance in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Russia and now Kosovo. But we can
also see it in the ethos that dominates Western culture. The modern tyrant is the extreme reflection of a deeply-rooted pathology
derived from a long-standing cultural imbalance between the masculine and feminine archetypes and, at the human level,
between men and women. I would like to read you this extract from a recent article:
“This is a world of monstrous tyranny. Everywhere there are governments which by design or neglect are starving
people, wrecking their livelihoods, breaking up their families. Everywhere there is the oppression of women, of
o t h e r r a c e s , o f w a y s o f l i f e w h i c h a r e d e a r t o p e o p l e . P r o p e r t y i s c o n fis c a t e d , v i l l a g e s a r e s e t o n fir e , d i s e a s e a n d
malnutrition left to rage unchecked. And what all these victims, tens of millions of them, have in common – what
b r i n g s t h e i r s u ffe r i n g t o t h e f o r e f r o n t o f m y i n d i g n a t i o n – i s t h i s : t h e y d i d n o t a s k f o r t h i s ; t h e y c a n n o t a v o i d t h i s ;
there is nothing they can do to change this; they have no choice.” (Matthew Parris, The Times, London 6/9/98)
Where there is no relationship and balance between the masculine and feminine principles, the masculine principle becomes
pathologically exaggerated, inflated; the feminine pathologically diminished, inarticulate, ineffective. The symptoms of a
pathological masculine are rigidity, dogmatic inflexibility, omnipotence, and an obsession with or addiction to power and control.
There will be a clear definition of goals but no receptivity to ideas and values that conflict with these goals. The horizon of the
human imagination will be restricted by an overt or subtle censorship. We can see this pathology reflected today in the ruthless
values that govern the media, politics, and the technological drive of the modern world. We can see the predatory impulse to
acquire or to conquer new territory in the drive for global control of world markets, in the ideology of growth, in new technologies
such as the genetic modification of food. We see exaggerated competitiveness – the drive to go further, grow faster, achieve more,
acquire more, elevated to the status of a cult. There is contempt for the feeling values grounded in the experience of relationship
with others and with the environment. There is a predatory and compulsive sexuality in both men and women who increasingly
lose the capacity for relationship. There is continuous expansion in a linear sense but no expansion in depth, in insight. The
pressure of things to do constantly accelerates.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/11/10/rebalancing-the-masculine-the-feminine/
Page 3 of 19
Rebalancing The Masculine & The Feminine – Collective Evolution
9/25/17, 7)23 PM
See Who Is Working On What.
Visualize Projects w/ Projectplace
Agile Kanban & Gantt Charts
Ad
Projectplace
Learn More
* advertisement – learn more (http://www.collective-evolution.com/our-ad-commitment/)
What is the result? Exhaustion, anxiety, depression, illness which afflict more and more people. There is no time or place for
human relationships. Above all, there is no time for relationship with the dimension of spirit. The water of life no longer flows.
Men and women and, above all, children, become the victims of this harsh, competitive, uncaring ethos: women, in their
disorientation, and because the feminine value has no clear definition or recognition in our culture, are drawn to copy the
pathological image of the masculine which itself incorporates fear of the feminine.
Because to a large extent, this whole situation arises unconsciously, not much can be done about it until catastrophe intervenes.
Reflecting on this, I remembered the following story:
Once, not long ago, there was a great drought in a province of China. The situation was catastrophic. The Catholics made
processions, the Protestants made prayers, and the Chinese burned joss-sticks and shot off guns to frighten away the demons of
the drought; but to no avail. Finally the people said: “We will fetch the rain-maker.” And from another province a dried up old man
appeared. The only thing he asked for was a quiet little house somewhere, and there he locked himself in for three days. On the
fourth day the clouds gathered and there was a great snow-storm at the time of year when no snow was expected – an unusual
amount – and the town was filled with rumours about the wonderful rain-maker. Asked what he had been doing during the three
days that had caused the snow to fall on the fourth he said: “I come from another country where things are in order. Here they are
out of order; they are not as they should be by the ordinance of heaven. Therefore the whole country is not in Tao, and I also am
not in the natural order of things because I am in a disordered country. So I had to wait three days until I was back in Tao and then
naturally, the rain came.”
The rain-maker did not do anything. He waited until he was in balance. Then, his quality of being rectified the state of imbalance
that existed around him. Perhaps we need to become rain-makers…
I feel we are living in a time of kairos – a mythic time of choice – a time of stupendous scientific discoveries which are enlarging
our vision of the universe, shattering the vessel of our old concepts about the nature of reality. Yet the delicate organism of life on
our planet and the survival of our species are threatened as never before by technologies driven by an ethos of the conquest and
control of nature, technologies which are applied with an utter disregard of the perils of our interference with the complex web of
relationships upon which the life of our planet depends. The choice is between clinging to an outworn and unbalanced ethos and
maturing beyond it towards a more responsible and sensitive capacity for relationship. If we are unable to develop this empathic
capacity to relate, we will surely destroy ourselves and the environment that sustains our life.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/11/10/rebalancing-the-masculine-the-feminine/
Page 4 of 19
Masculine and feminine—in balance | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
9/25/17, 7)36 PM
Search
ROUNDTABLE: WOMEN AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY (/WOMEN-AND-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-POLICY7165)
10 JUNE 2014
Masculine and feminine—in balance
Polina Sinovets (/bio/polina-sinovets)
In a seminar that I recently led on the current political situation in Ukraine, a male and a female student became engaged in heated debate. The
male student argued that Ukraine should respond to Russia’s aggression in Crimea and elsewhere by seeking to join NATO. The female student
argued that Moscow’s aggression could easily have been deterred in the first place—if only Ukraine possessed nuclear weapons.
This represents a sort of gender inversion that is not unusual in Ukraine. Indeed, one can argue that a “feminine” style dominates Ukrainian
politics and decision making, even if the majority of decision makers are actually men. The Russian political analyst Andrei Okara has argued that
Ukraine lacks the “father cult” that characterizes most societies—that, due to strong matriarchal influence received from the Cuman (or
Polovtsian) people who once populated eastern Ukraine (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/146369/Cuman) and from the
Scythians who populated the southern part of the country, Ukrainian folklore and traditions have tended to glorify women more than men. As a
result, the policies pursued by Ukraine since its independence have tended to be passive and reactive. One has seen little evidence of traditionally
“male” qualities such as decisiveness, a clear sense of identity, and the ability to defend one’s interests.
Some good has come of this—after the breakup of the Soviet Union, under pressure from great powers, Ukraine quickly rid itself of its inherited
nuclear weapons. But at the same time, Ukraine has exhibited conspicuous national weakness, an inability to stake out clear policy positions, and a
high level of dependence on external actors. Thus Russia has managed with little trouble to annex Crimea, create an atmosphere of violence in
eastern Ukraine, and tra
