In some quarters, there is a tendency these days to do away completely not only with the categories of "male" and "female," but also of "masculine" and "feminine." Here, any attempt at ascribing traits or qualities to these is viewed as the promotion of an oppressive "binary" that is best jettisoned. According to this view, individuals are the only truly existent realities, NOT overarching essences that might express themselves within those individuals. Although this kind of philosophy does allow for an appreciation of the undefinable uniqueness and mystery of each individual, it has some drawbacks as well. Chief among these is a kind of rootless disconnection from any universal essences - a stance that Paul Tillich calls "nominalism" : the belief that archetypal realities exist "in name only." Here, not only is there no masculinity or femininity, but there is also no Ground of Being, no Universal Awareness, no God or Goddess. In this account, all that exist are individuals and collections of individuals. I believe a more adequate philosophy continues to maintain the masculine-feminine polarity, but understands that these combine in an infinite number of different ways within the seven billion members of the human race. All one has to do is look at the 400,000 flowering plant species in the world - most of which contain flowers possessing BOTH male and female parts - to see that masculinity and femininity are capable of combining in a seemingly endless number of ways :)
Photos: (Top) Snow Buttercups and Marsh-marigolds blooming below
Hurricane Pass; (Middle) Moss Campion and Alpine Sunflower, with
Middle and South Tetons looming in the background; (Bottom)
Glacier Lilies and the Grand Teton. All three photos were taken in
Grand Teton National Park, WY, on July 4th -
5th, 2015.
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