After fleeing the giant cannibals, and greatly relieved to still
be alive, Odysseus is eager to return to home. However, in the small island of
Cierce, a feminine God he felt lost and disoriented. He feels the need of help
from outside his normal masculine goal orientation-he needs to meet his
feminine side as ally and Friend. He needs to confront Cierce. The story of
Odysseus and Cierce provide the chemistry of Odysseus's metamorphosis from
arrogant warrior to loving father, tender husband, and awakened seeker.
In this story of the male psyche, females represent what
psychoanalyst Carl Jung called the anima. As the masculine archetype
acts in the outer world of quests and conquests, she moves in the interior,
serving as a guide to his feelings, psychological complexes, and collective
unconscious, like Dante's Beatrice. If the ego is the archetype of the
ambitions, worldly, and action-oriented hero; the anima is the archetype of
life, love, union and inner journey.
In our livelihood men learn tenderness with age. With the decline
of instinctual male drives and waning of ego's importance, we tune into our
feline potential. We become more sensitive, compassionate, care taking,
inclusive, and loving. This is one of the great gifts of age, as competitions
for sex and power dissolve into universal love.
In my childhood I loved playing with dolls. In my adulthood I
love poetry. I love how the words stack one after another to create a beautiful
world. Most often I am laughed at, bullied, ridiculed for my "girly" behaviors.
To this day I remember those days like yesterday. In a study researchers found
that 96 percent of girls and 87 percent of boys had viewed Disney Princess
Media. And while 61 percent of girls played with Princess toys at least once a
week, only four percent boys did the same. Study shows higher Princess
engagement leading to more girly behaviors among girls. This is not surprising.
However, the boys in the study who engaged with Disney Princess media had
better body esteem and exhibited more pro-social behaviors. Those beneficial
effects may suggest that princesses provide a needed counterbalance to the
higher masculine superhero media that's traditionally presented to boys.
Perhaps the most interesting outcome was that neither gender showed signs of
lower self-esteem or negative body image as one might expect from children
immersed in princess culture.
Micheal Morones. 11-year-old boy attempted suicide after
classmates bullied him. Reason? He loves the girly cartoon "My little
pony". He is recovering slowly. You can find his update on his facebook
page. Lauren Sheehan wrote, "Great leaders embody their wisdom. To embody
your wisdom, you must be connected to your core essence. To feel connected to
your core essence you must come home to your womb, your feminine."
Remember, we all come from a Goddess and to Her we shall return. I am proud of
the "feminine presence" in my male body. Are you?
References:
1. What
Aging Man Want: The Odyssey as a Parable of Male Aging: John Robinson
2. philly.com article: Is
Disney Princess culture bad for our kids?
3. Support
and love for Michael Morones: facebook page
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