Hello all.

I've been thinking about how to write about my feminine/masculine traits without resorting to caricatures or stereotypes. One example that comes to mine is the interactions I have with my mom. When it comes to selecting gifts and sending her birthday, Christmas, etc. holiday cards for her, I frequently use a feminine sense of creativity. When I listen to her express her doubts and concerns about not doing enough for others, I utilize a masculine notion of independence. Oftentimes I tell her she should be taking care of herself first before worrying about helping others.

Your thoughts on this topic?

You sound Very Well Balanced IMHO.

Hello all.

I've been thinking about how to write about my feminine/masculine traits without resorting to caricatures or stereotypes. One example that comes to mine is the interactions I have with my mom. When it comes to selecting gifts and sending her birthday, Christmas, etc. holiday cards for her, I frequently use a feminine sense of creativity. When I listen to her express her doubts and concerns about not doing enough for others, I utilize a masculine notion of independence. Oftentimes I tell her she should be taking care of herself first before worrying about helping others.

Your thoughts on this topic?

Why not share others would expect she is as concerned for herself as she is for them.

We ALL have the yin and the yang! It's just that, in some of us, one of them just doesn't step to the fore as often as it should, or when it is truly needed. Dare I say, one good thing about transgenders is that we can easily access both when needed/wanted.

When it comes to selecting gifts and sending her birthday, Christmas, etc. holiday cards for her, I frequently use a feminine sense of creativity. When I listen to her express her doubts and concerns about not doing enough for others, I utilize a masculine notion of independence.

So... you have two... umm... spirits?

I think you might have hit on something here, but what?!

When it comes to selecting gifts and sending her birthday, Christmas, etc. holiday cards for her, I frequently use a feminine sense of creativity. When I listen to her express her doubts and concerns about not doing enough for others, I utilize a masculine notion of independence.

So... you have two... umm... spirits?

I think you might have hit on something here, but what?!

Metaphorically speaking, yes, I would say so. Even though there is a lot of mysteries concerning the human conscience, I think the conscience is a product of the brain and not independent of it if that's what you're asking.

Otherwise I would say I'm just a odd/confusing person who has a great capacity for compartmentalization.

It's from a gender continuum perspective that I say this but if we imagine ourselves on such a sliding scale, it only makes sense that you would draw upon some strengths that are more commonly found at one end of the spectrum at times and at other times, strengths that are traditionally found on the other end of the continuum. Males TEND to be more logical when searching for a solution and females TEND to be more emotional decision makers. If you're in the middle somewhere, either end of the spectrum is not far from reach. It's really a unique quality that only a few of us posses and something you'd think society would recognize and even honor if it had any sense at all.

It's really a unique quality that only a few of us posses and something you'd think society would recognize and even honor if it had any sense at all.

Indeed. But how do you explain sight to a man born blind? (It's even harder to do from a philosophical standpoint than a practical one, that.)

So do we fight for it? The banner of ambiguity will draw few riders... the rallying cry of "We're smack in the middle! Hear us!" will drown out the noise of our battle trum... bassoons (because they're not wholly brass, nor wholly woodwind, of course*)... and when the battle is over, will anyone know there ever was one?


*or is that oboes? I can never remember.

But how do you explain sight to a man born blind? (It's even harder to do from a philosophical standpoint than a practical one, that.)

Perhaps replacing the word explain with restore might be more meaningful (and far more measurable in fact)?

So do we fight for it? The banner of ambiguity will draw few riders... the rallying cry of "We're smack in the middle! Hear us!" will drown out the noise of our battle trum... bassoons (because they're not wholly brass, nor wholly woodwind, of course*)... and when the battle is over, will anyone know there ever was one?

*or is that oboes? I can never remember.

I don't think it's the literal interpretation of being midpoint that is important but instead the implications of it. Maybe instead of using musical instruments as our mascot, I think alloys would be far more relevant. What makes steel useful is its inherent properties that are attained through a mixing of iron and carbon. Or perhaps we could consider the organisms in the animal kingdom that have a dual set of characteristics so to speak. For instance, lungfish can obtain oxygen from both the air and the water. Whales have fins and tails like fish do, but they still breathe oxygen from the air like every other mammal.

Or perhaps we could consider the organisms in the animal kingdom that have a dual set of characteristics so to speak. For instance, lungfish can obtain oxygen from both the air and the water. Whales have fins and tails like fish do, but they still breathe oxygen from the air like every other mammal.

In permaculture, in-between is a useful feature. "Margins" is the term -- the new and vibrant ecosystem that emerges where two differing ecosystems meet, such as shorelines (ocean/land) and savannas (forest/plain). Margins are kinda both, kinda neither, and a whole new thing at the same time.

Knowledge certainly begets metaphor, doesn't it?!