Last week one of the trending
things on Facebook and other social media was the usage of an image processing
app – FaceApp which produced morphed images of people turning them into the
opposite gender. I could see many of the men in my friend list suddenly turning
into gorgeous women who became divas and got hundreds of likes and comments
including proposals! Well, the app did a pretty decent work of turning the roughest
face into a smooth feminine face along with adding the hairstyle and makeup. I
asked one man who daringly posted the image in his status and stories how he
felt after this. He said he suddenly got liked by more people and felt happy at
the attention he got. Then, I asked the question: “Now that you changed the
facial features to become a woman, would you like to attempt some of her mental
qualities as well? Why not become a bit more feminine?” Well, this friend got
offended as he thought I was teasing him about his gender. Then, I convinced him that to be “feminine”,
a man need not transform into a woman.
Scientifically and psychologically,
the qualities of masculinity and femininity are not specific to a gender. Even
in philosophical, spiritual, and mythological domains, we portray the existence
of duality- the combination of male and female qualities. But in our society,
we still consider a human being’s qualities in connection with their sex.
Gender is a wider concept and the degrees of variances of the qualities of
masculinity and femininity along with the increase or decrease of sex hormones
determine one’s gender orientation.
What I am talking about today is
neither about sex, nor gender. But about qualities. The qualities which are
categorized as “feminine” or “masculine”. Every human being has both sets of
these traits within them.
What if we combine these
qualities to evolve to a better human being thereby a better world? Historically,
the world ran on the systems of male violence – capitalism, patriarchy,
supremacy for over a millennium, and have caused a wreck to the balance of the
earth. Thus, we had the valiant kings and the slave masters who showcased their
power through aggression and abuse. Even the patriarchy that we talk about has
evolved from this aggressive nature of the wild trying to keep one’s territory.
The supportive, loving and caring nature was stereotyped to be meek and
“womanly”. In due course, men became forced to show aggression to be considered
“manly”. A dystopic future lead by sinister mega corporations whose only motive is
profit is an imminent peril derived out of this toxic masculinity.
The image by Miguel dean shows
the need for the balancing of masculinity and femininity to evolve into a
compassionate human being who believes in collective humanity.
(c) Miguel Dean
Feminine qualities like
nurturing, empowering, kindness, intuitiveness, creativity, etc. when combined
with confidence, power, courage, etc make a human being more “human”. For this
to happen, we need more role models of women /feminine leadership and
thankfully COVID brought out blatant differences of victory over the pandemic
in regions /countries led by women. Well, if we look at this closely, we realize
that the innately feminine qualities of women – collaboration, nurturing and
even probably the lower self-esteem leading to over-reliance on experts rather
than the brash arrogance of “I know it all” attitude have probably helped in
the management of the pandemic effectively. This has validated the relevance and
importance of not just improving the number of women in leadership but also the
importance of “feminine leadership style”
At an individual front, I think,
if we shed the wounded masculine qualities of dominance, aggression,
competitiveness qualities to become more of positive feminine qualities like
sensitivity, understanding, and nurturing, we can have better relationships and
better peace. These qualities also will matter much in the “new normal” in the
post COVID era where people realize the difference between essentials and
non-essentials in life. The ever greedy and competitive masculine who has
always fought for power and tried to suppress another shall move aside to the
frugal and futuristic feminine who tries to collaborate and win together.
Now, let’s look at our current
world – the pandemic led uncertainty, the economic downfalls, the disruption of
the existing ways of life, the border unrests, and the aggressions around: All this leads to a transition phase.
Instead of going back to the all
violating, selfish, discriminatory macho capitalism, can we transition to a
feminine world? A world where we nurture and care not just for human
beings but also to ensure that we provide a haven to all living beings. A world where human beings thrive to create a
conducive and a non-violating environment for all beings. A world which offers
non-discriminatory and dignified living to any form of life?
Cheers to that Feminine Future!
CeeVee
