First, Steve Pavlina wrote How to Be a Man. Then I wrote How To Be A Woman. Now Robin has written How to be a Man and a Woman Both At The Same Time.
For the purposes of her post, Robin describes intuition as the female energy that is in us all, and taking action as the male energy that is in us all. You might object to this, saying that men do have intuition, and women do take action. Of course they do. But certain characteristics tend to be more pronounced in one gender than the other.
What happens when someone becomes 100% aligned with so-called “male” characteristics, or 100% aligned with so-called “female” characteristics? Like many critical issues, this has been explored on The Simpsons.
In one episode, Principal Skinner makes a sexist comment that causes him to be replaced by a new principal, a woman. As her first act of business, the new principal separates the boys and girls into separate schools, and gender-based stereotypes run amok in each school.
The girls school is completely based on feelings, without any regard for logic. In their math class, the teacher turns on an electronic device that plays soft music and projects colorful mathematical symbols all around the classroom. She asks the class “How do numbers make you feel? What does a plus sign smell like? Is the number 7 odd, or just different?” When Lisa asks if they’re going to do any actual math problems, the teacher says “Problems? That’s how men see math, something to be attacked, something to be figured out.”
The boys school is filled with violence and destruction. We see garbage, graffiti, stray wolves, and flaming cars. There’s always a fight going on for no reason. Nelson is shown drawing “a robot with guns for arms, shooting a plane made out of guns, that shoots guns.”
The result is a complete disaster. In the end, they decide to desegregate the school, because everyone needs the opposite sex to balance them out.
Should we desegregate our minds as well? Is there enough room in each person’s brain to allow maybe 20% of it to think like the opposite sex? It might take some bravery to speak up on this, but if you’re feeling up to it, share your thoughts in the comments.
Hi Hunter,
I find, in business and past careers, I have had to “think like a man” to some degree. By doing so, I was also better able to explain the reasoning behind actions or suggestions, plus learned to “get to the point” without a long dissertation. I checked my emotions at the door.
I think the same holds true for marriage (or relationships). If we can understand how the other sex is processing their thoughts, we’re more apt to have better communication.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Can We Ever Know Too Much About SEO
Hi Hunter
Thanks SO much for mentioning my post!
I love the Simpsons story. We do need each other’s energies, so we can learn from them, I think. And we would most likely find ourselves in the company of people and energies we need to learn from. On that sillyphophical note…
All The Best – Robin
Robin’s last blog post..How to be a Man and a Woman Both At The Same Time
I find that the most interesting people in my life are the ones that have a balance between “female” and “male” characteristics. I love strong, independent women who are not afraid to speak their mind, and I admire men that are not afraid to show feelings or use a moisturizer.
Vered’s last blog post..Blogging: Not All Comments Are Welcome
Hi Hunter, I don’t think it’s at all crazy to suggest that individual people have both masculine and feminine energies. I like to think that men have a “core” of masculine energy and women a “core” of feminine energy, and both genders draw upon the opposite energy to complement that “core.”
Well, as I expected, only the ladies are responding
@ Barbara, those are good examples of how this kind of thinking can be helpful, both in business and relationships.
@ Robin, I pretty much had to mention your post, as it fit in so well with things I’ve been thinking about lately. Sillyphophical? That’s a new one!
@ Vered, OK, no demoisturized guys for you!
@ Amanda, exactly, people need a core, or they would be all over the place. But they can balance their core with complementary energies to use when needed.
Hunter,
It may sound insane but I’m not conscious about my gender when I think or set goals etc. That makes it harder for me to imagine either side of the wall. You are though posing an interesting question. Hmmm…
Shilpan
Shilpan | successsoul.com’s last blog post..Guest Post At AlexShalman
Shilpan, I think it’s perfectly normal not to think about what gender you’re channeling. (It would actually be a little weird if you did!)
But maybe you’ll notice that when your usual mode of behavior isn’t working so well in a particular situation, you sometimes emulate someone who does well in such a situation. And you might notice that the person you’re emulating happens to be a member of the opposite sex!
Ah…an intellectual discussion going on here….LOL!
Most certainly, I do agree that all of us have a mix of both male and feminine characteristics. The mix is not equal in some cases. The intelligent one is the one who can understand this and use the trait that is most suitable to a situation, as you so accurately mentioned in your feedback.
Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map’s last blog post..How To Be IRON WOMAN
Raised with 4 sisters, a strong mother and a successful, but “distant” father, I have way too much female energy. My next family was a wife and all daughters. Only now at 54 am I actively inviting the “male” to be more active in my life. New Warrior Training, bonding with buddies on the soccer field, a beer after work, my wife believes I’m having a “breakdown”. I think it’s a “break through”
Kip de Moll’s last blog post..Mt St Helen’s Day
Hunter, can I just tell you how surprised and AMAZED I am? Last night I was finishing a book by someone I respect highly, someone who gave a speech that blew open my soul, when I read that you had been a student of his.
What a small, freaking world.
I can’t explain why this makes me so happy, but it does. It really does.
Hayden Tompkins’s last blog post..Words of Wisdom – Yoda
I spent the first 15 years of my life as a ‘boy’. I dressed like a boy, hung out with the boys, and acted like a boy – I guess they call that ‘tomboy’. It wasn’t until I was older that I thought I maybe wanted to be ‘feminine’, but by then it was too late. I felt like a pretender. And it felt awkward, like I was trying on someone else’s clothes.
What makes this kind of hysterical, is that I had DDDs. How does a girl with DDDs feel unfeminine?? I don’t know, but somehow I managed to do it.
I always felt like I was holding back. I tried not to be too aggressive, too assertive, too intellgient. I even had one guy dump me because he said I was “too smart”. !!!!! I wish I’d slapped him.
Anyway, it wasn’t until I met my husband that I really felt feminine. And why did I feel feminine? Because I didn’t have to hold any of my ’self back’. He wasn’t threated by my intelligence or assertiveness or badassery, and I could be those things fully with him.
Things that are considered ‘masculine’ are many things which I excel at. Confrontation? Debate? Argument? Aggressiveness? Assertiveness? Certainty? That’s a HELL YES to all of those.
And he thinks that I am adorable when I am chewing someone out. He doesn’t feel threatened by my assertiveness. And, surprisingly, I have become a less aggressive person for having been with him. Like, now that I can, I don’t really want to – or it isn’t necessary.
Hayden Tompkins’s last blog post..Words of Wisdom – Yoda
[...] article on integrating the ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ parts of our mind, Desegregating Our Minds, that I finally got [...]
@ Evelyn, well put, we should use the traits that are most suitable for the situation.
@ Kip, thanks for sharing. That’s an unusual situation, and I’d consider it a breakthrough, not a breakdown. Good luck with the male energy!
@ Hayden, I guess you’re talking about Randy Pausch, right? Yes, it is a small world. Glad you found that amazing. I’m going to check out your blog post now.
[...] most excited that Hunter from Hunter Nutall.com picked up my previous post in his article Desegregating Our Minds, and took the discussion [...]