Balancing the Feminine and Masculine

I write a lot, and talk a lot, about feminine energy. Being a woman, I am invested in understanding what feminine energy is about, and the importance of embracing that energy in myself.  The more I open to the beauty and the power of the feminine, the louder the message becomes within. l feel compelled to write about it, talk about it and live it. I want everyone to understand that the power of feminine energy is embodied in a human's ability to nurture and care for others. I also want everyone to understand that the power of feminine energy embodies all of humanity, not just females. By the same token, masculine energy embodies all of humanity, not just males.   

Male and female have both a masculine and a feminine side. It is called yin and yang, with yin being feminine and yang being masculine.  Because we are all a combination of both masculine and feminine energy, I believe we all have the nurturing gene. I have had quite a few people, both male and female, tell me that men do not have a nurturing gene. I beg to differ. Both male and female have the ability to nurture, just as both male and female have the ability to fight and be aggressive and to be a conqueror. 

Due to societal and family norms, most men are raised to be strong, the conqueror, the one who does not cry and who does not talk about feelings. This does not mean men do not have the capacity for nurturing and softness; they just, for the most part, are not encouraged to develop that side of their being. Conversely, most women are raised to be nurturing, feeling, enveloping and holding. Basically, in most homes, boys and girls are unwittingly raised to be out of balance.  

Let's be clear that there are a lot of women whose masculine side is more developed than their feminine . It is not just men who have not developed both sides of their being.

It is my sense that women are progressing a little quicker than men in the process of balancing our masculine and feminine energies. Many women are learning how to be more assertive, occupy positions of power and be in charge of their finances, while remaining true to their inherent feminine nature of being nurturing.  We are finding out that we can financially support, or at least contribute to, the home and still be nurturing, caring mothers and grandmothers. We do not have to sacrifice one for the other.

Even when boys are raised to know it is okay to have feelings, and to talk about and express them, society still makes it difficult for them to find that balance. I believe women in our society can help in that process by raising their boys to be nurturing souls, by encouraging the men in our lives to talk about how they feel, and by giving them space to express whatever they are feeling. 

It is time to give up the unreasonable belief that men are supposed to be the strong ones, the conquerors, and that they are supposed to be the man of the house (whatever that might mean), without being nurturing and feeling. Men do have feelings; they do cry and hurt within. They do care.  Just because so many men have been raised to stuff their feelings does not mean they don't feel.

It is time for society to allow and support all humans in developing our masculine and feminine energies.  Why limit anyone to that closed in, small place where we are not free to be a whole, authentic being?  We all need to be in harmony with each other and with our yin and yang, and that is hard to do when we live in a society/world that promotes imbalance. 

We all contain a combination of both masculine and feminine energy, and my desire is to see an exponential rise in both male and female, opening up to being all of who we are here to be.