The Female Definition of Power

Recently, an article posted on CNN ran with the headline, "Female Senators Say They'd Already Have the Fiscal Cliff Solved."

There was near unanimity among the female Senators today that they’d be able to broker a deal faster themselves.  “What I find is with all due deference to our male colleagues,is that women’s styles tend to be more collaborative,” Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said.

The group of 20 women, the largest group of women in office in the Senate at the same time in history, is redefining power.  I would also say they are representing power the way it is supposed to be expressed.

Power is not the slow, cloddish, clashing of solid objects that thud together and get very little done or changed.  Power is fluid, rapid transmutation.  Look at nature if you don't believe me.  In nature, "the power of nature" manifests when the elements are volatile, rapidly changing.  Think of water rushing through a dam, wind turning the blades of a windmill, the rapid combustion of various forms of fuel to generate power.

When Senator Collins observes that women are more collaborative, she is referring to the innate ability of women to deal with and exemplify power.  In the case of a fiscal cliff, and one would imagine if pushing for legislation on gun control, women working together will find the fastest and most efficient path to completion, which by definition involves collaboration, fluidity, thinking out of the box of one's own rigidly held belief systems.  

A woman's definition of power is not control, domination, clashing.  It is sharing, democratizing and seeking new solutions.

Women in power will usher in a new era in our government. 

Things Got Switched

Why am I passionate about women’s causes?  I have been taught/have observed that women have an innate ability to deal with power, that it is their birthright to be powerful.  I believe that for women not to become powerful in their chosen field in any given lifetime suppresses the potential of both men and women.  I believe that the history of the suppression of the power of women has led to the current state of warfare, imbalance and poverty on the Earth.

Suppression and misrepresentation of the power of women is still the predominant global situation, but the situation is changing.  Ha!  Men and women should rejoice over this!  It is good news for everyone.
Attitudes change first, and the numbers will change later.  I see the work of talented younger woman focusing on socially responsible causes; the growth of powerful grant-giving groups like the Global Fund for Women; the work of the Pachamama Alliance representing the needs of Mother Earth; Hillary as Secretary of State; women leaders in spiritual communities and much, much more.

Yet we have so far to go.  “Miss Representation.”  All men and women should see this film.  It shows the misrepresentation of women in the media, the powerful negative impact this had on all of us (most visibly  in teenagers).  It touches on history in a striking overview of all-male leaders in the United States and the fight for basic rights for women.   The filmmaker, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, was able to interview many women from divergent backgrounds ranging from Condoleeza Rice to Nanci Pelosi, and a range of women in media.  Men are also filmed, discussing their experience of women’s roles in media and government.
The punchline of the film is absolutely accurate.  “You cannot be what you cannot see.”

Kids today (Generation C — connected) spend 10 hours a day immersed in various forms of media.  If all forms of media, from video games to film to cable, do not honor and acknowledge powerful women for their capability and brains, then what is left?  Brain dead bimbos?  Men who wield power and decision-making and women with insane bodies following along?  This is biologically and energetically wrong.  Untrue and detrimental to both genders.

I have been taught/have observed that men are innately suited for love and humility.  It is their highest and most effortless path.  Women are most innately and ideally suited to handle power.  It is their highest and most effortless path.

Somewhere in the last few thousand years, things got switched.

www.independencering.com

A Violent World

12-14-12

Today 20 schoolchildren and seven school administrators at the  Sandy Hook School in Connecticut were shot to death by a teenage gunman.  A few days ago, a shooting in a mall killed "ONLY" two nice, innocent people because the gunman's gun jammed, thus countless others were saved.  We know of many other violent incidents that are senseless, happening with no apparent reason other than the perpetrator snapped, lost their mind, became consumed in anger and violence, grabbed a massive weapon and took out their delusion and rage in the form of mass killings.

I don't know why this type of horror and tragedy takes place, but I do know this, and I write about it in Independence Ring. There is a core imbalance on our planet today.  Call it the gender gap, gender inequity, gender inequality.  Whatever you call it, solving the imbalance in the roles of men and women as seen by themselves and others is core to achieving national and world peace. 

All beings have an energy body, and a woman's energy body conducts light and energy more rapidly than a man's energy body, which is more fixed and condensed.  Women are naturally suited to handle power, as power by definition involves rapid change and transmutation.  Men are naturally suited to express a deep, rapturous love that is not just for one person but for all of life.

If women's power is repressed, and men's love is repressed, over time the result is toxic.  The gender role switch erupts in violence, depression and the axis of life spinning off its natural track. 

What can we do?  Gun control, yes.  More counseling, yes.  I would add more meditation practice.  That would help a great deal.  But mainly, men need to blossom and express love.  They are suited for it.  Women need to recognize they are vastly more powerful than they realize and find new pathways to express their power economically, politically, socially, .  And as these realizations develop and become part of life, gender equality means accepting infinite love in men and infinite power in women.  That is a balanced planet. 

Hillary and High School

A recent blog article in the esteemed Huffington Post brought this to mind.  Dr. Peggy Drexler tried to guess whether Hillary Clinton had been popular in high school, on the premise that if so, she would be more likely to succeed in leadership.

AARGH.  Forget the fact that in my high school, the popular girls were the first to marry, first to divorce, first to remarry, first to re-divorce, first to marry for a third time, etc.  Forget the fact that many of the popular young women stars of today – Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato – state that they were outcasts, even bullied in high school.

My concern is that dragging the mindset of middle school and high school years into the arena of powerful world politics is just another subtle putdown of women.  In my book, Independence Ring, I state that women exemplify power and men exemplify love and humility.  The roles have been switched to the great detriment of all.  

In middle and high school, powerful young women try to dumb and power themselves down to be less powerful than their boyfriends.  This is a steep downwards slope, as females are the gender that naturally expresses power.  I suspect that the entire rigid hierarchy, mean girls and bullying phenomena that we see in high schools stems from young women not allowing their power to grow and flourish.  They are purposely limiting their power levels to look attractive, focus on clothes, to see and be seen.  The power within them is there, but its natural outlets are being blocked. Repressed power takes the form of pettiness, anger and jealousy.  

Until I read Peggy’s article, I had not thought about high school for years.  I have some advice.  Women, become powerful. No one on the planet cares if you were a dork, dweeb or head cheerleader once you leave your hometown.  There are vast horizons to explore and your great potential to fulfill. 

Do You Really Want to Do This?

Do you really want to do this?  The question flashed on my computer screen.  I’d been deleting old apps off my laptop, but suddenly the question took on a broader meaning.

Did I really want to publish the Independence Ring: Rock the Female Revolution?


I started with the pros:

• I am writing about truth that most people don’t seem to know about.
• The planet is being torn apart and bashed under male rule; we need women leaders in order to survive.
• Even understanding a little part of the Independence Ring would make a big, positive change in most men’s and women’s lives.
• The book will help unravel many of the current gender inequality issues; it will speed up the success of the rising women’s movement.
• I’ll be challenged to learn video and podcast broadcasting
• I care.  I care about people.  This is my selfless giving

Then went on to the cons:

• Some people may get angry.  I’m suggesting that societies learn to tie their shoelaces in a new way.  Anger burns my skin, I don’t like being on the receiving end.
• This is my first book.  Big learning curve lies ahead.
• What if I go on “The View” and they don’t like the book.  Nah, that wouldn’t happen.  They would love the book.
• I’m a quiet person.  If I start doing interviews, podcasts and videos, I’ll become more public.

 PROS outweighed CONS by a longshot.

Tonight I watched a short film of Anita Sarkeesian’s presentation at the Tedx 2012 convention.  For the last several years, Anita has been creating videos to call attention to the overt misogyny and sexism in video games.  As a result of her work, she has received thousands of threats of murder and rape, yet she still persists in educating people about the video game gender problem, in which young children are exposed to violent, demeaning portrayals of women. 

Anita is a heroine.  She exposes a real problem for men and women, boys and girls.  The violence of the attacks against Anita prove her point. There are many people in the women’s movement today doing remarkable work, and each person, I am sure, had to ask themselves, “Do I really want to do this?”

Like me, their answer has been a positive, life-changing and empowering, YES.