As with all issues that I come across, I wanted to look at this subject from a persecutive other than chauvinistic Christianity, which has been the ruling philosophy in the West literally since the time of Jesus. Now, don't get me wrong. I hold no prejudices towards members of the Christian faith but I do wholeheartedly disagree with them on a lot of moral and political stances. I'm a collectivist, not an individualist. I believe in free thought. I believe that LGBT people should have rights. And lastly, but most importantly, I believe that men and women were created equally. The man is not the only head of the household. The man and woman are both the heads of the household; each doing the tasks that they do best.
But back to the original question: Is there such a thing as a spiritual gender? My answer has always been no. I don't believe that women or men are supposed to act one certain way and God forbid they actually be themselves. Perhaps, it would be easier to explain if I broke this question down into groups. Let's go!
Active & Passive: Masculine & Feminine Energies
Several New Agers believe that active energy is masculine and passive energy is feminine. However, I choose to dismiss this theory since no energy can be considered feminine or masculine. For the same reason God is Father-Mother God, genderless and yet both genders, energy cannot and has never been associated with a physical trait that is in existence only for the physiological purpose of reproduction. Active energy is simply active and passive energy is simply passive. That's it. Why assign a physical trait to a non-physical entity? It doesn't make sense.
Men
Society always seems to expect more of men. Men are supposed to be strong, tough, support their wives, blah blah blah. But when a man shows that he is human; when a man dares to cry, he is chastised. When a man is being bullied or abused he is told to "man up". Why? Men deserve to be treated fairly too. Just because men are built for certain physical tasks does not mean that they should take abuse from others. Society needs to value the feelings of men if the human race ever wishes to grow beyond its primitiveness.
Women
For thousands of years women were treated as second-class citizens. They were not allowed to work, they were not allowed to advance to the same educational level as men, and they were nothing more than baby breeding machines. A woman had to find a man in order to survive. Women who could not find husbands were forced to live with their parents until they married. When they became windowed in old age, they were merely left to die. With no skills and no education; what could they do without a man's help? Nothing. The lucky widows had sons to care for them in old age. The not-so-lucky ones were sent into a terrible death of starvation due to agonizing poverty. Most of them were miserable. I'd like to quote a prominent feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote
"Educated in slavish dependence and enervated by luxury and sloth, women were too often nauseatingly sentimental and foolish. A confined existence also produced the sheer frustration that transformed these angels of the household into tyrants over child and servant. Education held the key to achieving a sense of self-respect and anew self-image that would enable women to put their capacities to good use."
Henry Mackow likes to believe that feminism is what has destroyed the family structure, contributed to female promiscuity, and caused women to be "confused as to their roles". I would like to argue that while some women may be confused; most of us are not slutty, career-obsessed, bimbos.
I am an educated woman with a fulfilling career. I have been supporting myself since a very young age. Yet, I also have a fulfilling long-term relationship with my fiancée. Successful relationships are not dependent upon traditional and oppressive roles; they are dependent upon factors such as love, physical security, and happiness.
To state otherwise is to make a mockery of all of the good-hearted souls who fought for equality between the sexes. Because of them; I do not have to die of starvation as an old widow due to my barren womb. No, I can live a happy and peaceful life with my lover knowing that we will both be okay in our old age. I am eternally grateful for women such as Mary Wollstonecraft who made it possible for me to be a successful, educated, business owner. I could not have done this back in the days of women having to rely solely on men.
LGBT
Sexual orientation seems to have a lot to do with so-called "gender identity". I would actually like to point out that there is no such thing as gender identity. Love is simply love. It is a connection from one soul to another. When you find your other half; you will know. Sometimes that person isn't a different gender than you after all.
If a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman and they choose to carry on a successful, monogamous relationship; they are free to enjoy the same rights that heterosexual couples enjoy everyday.
I am personally disgusted by the religious right. The fact that they would push their draconian, warped views on everyone who doesn't fit in their perfect "white, Christian, middle-class" bracket is despicable. Why are they so obsessed with the way that other people choose to live their lives? Are they truly such control freaks that the happiness of others ticks them off so much that they want to fight it?
For too long, the LGBT community has been oppressed by bible-toting, hate-spewing, racist, right-wing nutjobs who have nothing better to do than butt in to other people's personal affairs. You don't see gay people protesting at straight weddings. So why do they show up and do it to gays? How disrespectful and ignorant these people are!
Conclusion
I may have let my passion get me a tad off subject. These are issues that are very important to me. I believe its important for everyone to know that there really is no such thing as a spiritual gender. Gender is something physical. In spirit, we human beings, look and feel exactly the same. Our souls truly are genderless.
Photo courtesy of gunnisal of Flickr.com
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