Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00291)

Thoa Tran writes-->
That's right.  I think it's about time that we change from the patriarchal
mode of hierarchy and power to the feminine mode of community and
cooperation.
<snip>
Of course, community is considered a feminine term.  The key is feminine
spirit and not feminist group. 

Richard Ihle writes-->
I need a clarification.  As a result of a previous series of postings, I came
away with the distinct impression that it was the general opinion of Kym and
the majority of the other women on the list that making broad gender
associations was not such a good thing.  The reason for this, I thought Kym
was pointing out, was because these associations are often just
historical/cultural/social/mythological etc. overlays which are not really
based on any valid, fundamental differences between men and women.   For
example, Kym objected strongly and immediately when she mistakenly thought I
subscribed to the old notion that the principle of "pattern-following" could
somehow be associated with the feminine.

Thus, I was somewhat surprised to see no objection from Kym or anyone else
when  ~community~ and ~cooperation~ suddenly showed up as "feminine" terms.
 (Also, I was sort of thinking that ~masculine~ rather than ~patriarchal~ was
the intended association with ~hierarchy~ and ~power~, since ~matriarchal~
and not ~feminine~ would have been the conventional pairing).

What's the story here?  I can easily see why women would object to someone
asserting that ~initiative~, for example, is one of the "masculine
principles"; however, I do not understand why the same objection is not made
about ~cooperation~ being naturally associated with the feminine.

Tell me how I should be thinking about these things and I will undoubtedly
cooperate (I've been married). . . .

Godspeed,

Richard Ihle