Ancient Wisdom is Modern

Feminine Strength

“...I noticed that the most successful leaders—regardless of gender—exhibit what are traditionally considered 'feminine' leadership traits.”

Tina Young (“5 Feminine Traits That All Conscious Leaders Should Cultivate”)

I had a conversation with some friends the other night about the new wave of movies in which the protagonist is a female super-hero. The trailers show a beautiful young woman punching the living daylights out of someone, or kicking them in the head with her giant boots. I'll admit I'm not a fan of movies in which men play these roles either, but I made the mistake of wondering aloud why we are now glorifying violent “gladiator” type women, too. I was told that I had caved to the cultural bias. My friends insisted that our culture wants to keep women passive and helpless and that a strong “kick-ass” woman threatens what the culture values in females. That may be so about our culture, but my argument has to do with the attributes of the deep feminine, and the very real strengths that reside there. The deep feminine, whether in women or men, is not passive, certainly not helpless, but its strength is not found in knocking the brains out of another human being.

Tina Young is CEO and founder of the Dallas-based marketing company, Marketwave. She counsels that there are five traits—traditionally considered feminine—which all conscious leaders should possess if they want to succeed in the modern world. They include:

1. A high level of communication skill that is able to achieve connections.
2. The ability to collaborate with others on a shared purpose and vision.
3. Forward thinking and possession of a long-term view for health and stability.
4. Vulnerability that allows them to show humility when they make a mistake; the courage to simply show up and be seen, which inspires honesty in others.
5. Compassion that values other people as equals and builds strong relationships.

In other words, the real strength of the feminine, whether in a man or a woman, is relational, based in compassion and shared humanity. Certainly, any female will become aggressive, even violent, when someone or something she cares about is threatened—just try coming between a mother bear and her cubs—or a human woman and her child. But violence is not a natural feminine characteristic, and to portray it as such is simply to ignore ancient wisdom, as well as to drain the potency of its true strength.

The strongest thing on this planet is, has always been, and will always be, love. Not violence, however spectacular it may be, but the genuine caring and concern of one human being for another.

                                                          In the Spirit,

                                                             Jane