Wounded Feminine

                                      The Wounded Feminine - for Erica

 

                                    

                                     

 

 

          "We are all born sexual creatures, thank God, but it's a pity so many people despise and crush this natural gift.”  

 

                                                                            Marilyn Monroe

 

 

I would say one of the biggest sources of suffering in our world is the wounded Feminine archetype. It is a difficult thing to write about in the West because we are so conditioned to equate feminine energy to women, and tend to reference everything feminine to gender issues, feminism, and women in general. In the East, with philosophies and traditions such as Taoism and Chinese healing, Feminine energy is Yin energy, the soft, cooling, receptive, flowing, feeling energy. They recognize Yin and Yang energies in both men and women, and don't make these polarities about gender.

Although the wounded Feminine archetype is clearly played out in oppression of women, I want to expand the archetype to go beyond gender issues. But in order to get there, we have to first recognize some obvious facts that do very much have to do with women. I'll just mention a few of countless examples of oppression of women, but I really want to emphasize that women play a key role in the perpetuation of these examples. Let's mention mythology first of all; we have historic myths from Greek culture such as the rape of Persephone, Leda and the Swan (another rape story), and my favorite Pandora, who was literally seen as bringing all suffering and pain to humanity. The upside of this myth, is that Pandora models for humanity the ability to face evil with optimism. 

We also have the Christian myth of Eve as temptress, and the curse that the male God blesses her with, which is that she shall suffer in child birth, as well as all the stuff about being obedient and subservient to her husband. Not a good start for women in the genesis of creation! Throughout the world, the degradation, devaluing, and continuous wounding of Feminine energy is prevalent. Whether it's female circumcision, human trafficking, or Muslim women literally having to wear a bag over their heads, there is a world wide disregard and disdain for Feminine values, it is much more than just a patriarchal conspiracy.

Human experience requires polarity, we have to have contrast to be able to feel what we feel, see what we see, etc. We have to know hate to experience love, oppression to experience freedom. In sexual experience, there has to be a spark of difference to ignite passion. This is true whether it's hetero, homo, or as Freud wrote “ploymorphously perverse.” This is why couples will play out some form of male/female dance in their relationship, the roles can and do shift, but there's always polarity, it is a friction that ignites passion, and not just sexual passion, it can be emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.

The pathology in the world is an imbalance in Masculine/Yang energy and values, which are; active, conscious, rational, territorial, protective and stewarding, courageous and loyal, goal oriented, having to do with agency, contrasted with Feminine/Yin energy and values which are; receptive, unconscious, caring, nurturing, feeling based, relational, process oriented, and communal. The biggest threat in this pathology is the threat to Mother Nature Herself. The Masculine is disregarding the value and relationship we have to Nature Herself, this is terrorism against humanity and we are the only species in Nature that has been able to come up with this level of self-destruction. The Masculine in the extreme is willing to kill every thing to make it's point, we see this in groups like Nazi's and ISIS.

An example of how oblivious we are, in the West, to the Wounded Feminine, is in the mental health bible of practice which is the Diagnostic Manual of Statistics (DSM), throughout this entire manual there is not one mention of any kind of “condition” or pathology that references man's disconnection and destruction of Nature (the only possible exception to this would be 'bestiality'). We again see some of the seeds of this sown in the Christian tradition of “having dominion” over Nature, and ideas the Puritan's had about “Manifest Destiny,” which meant you had the right and responsibility to rape, pillage, and exploit whatever land, people, and culture because God wants you to “spread his word.”

So we must examine the Wounded Feminine in all Her permutations and expressions, both within ourselves, and our environment. Try to find the ways that your Feminine energy could be better honored, understood, and expressed, see the softer, more relational process happening in each moment, allow yourself to feel your feelings fully, and try to commune with Nature as an active embedded participant vs. a disconnected outsider.