Male-Female Polarities of the Human Body

Our body operates in 3D via polarity. This means that movement happens in time and space through the relationship of opposites.

Tense, release. Open, close. Up, down. Left, right. Hard, soft. Negative, positive. Male, female. Etc.

In traditional Chinese philosophy, these are referred to as "yin and yang". In modern times, we often say "male-female", "masculine-feminine" in the West.

This wasn't a theory invented from ego, it was based on nature.

Our nervous system itself is set up this way as we see the two hemispheres of the brain. We have the 'linear, logical' side (left), and the 'non-linear, creative' side (right).

The cool thing about that is we are contralateral: meaning that the hemispheres control the OPPOSITE side of the body.

So the right hemisphere manifests on the left side, and the left brain manifests on the right.

In the human body, this polarity appears as top(m)-bottom(f), right(m)-left(f), and back(m)-front(f).

How we relate to these corresponding aspects of masculine and feminine in our minds, manifest in the physical body.

Our relationship with the feminine, our mother, and the intuitive/creative realms show on the yin sides.

Our relationship with the masculine, our father, and the logical/linear realms show on the yang sides.

Understanding this allows us to see how these stories and relationships manifest in our lives, through how they are expressed through our bodies.

These unconscious patterns run our lives, business, and relationships at the deepest levels, and arise from core mythological archetypes of consciousness. Being able to see these dynamics allows you to penetrate the patterns and make new choices of how to move and manage energy.

(Revised Image 1/24/2020)

aloha drew,

   Very interesting; do you know the yi jing?

   Of course, to sustain a dialog there must be some sort of challenge. 

   For one thing, these polarities can be stereotyping, you know: me tarzan, you jane; men bright, women dark.

   For another, the idea that the hemispheres of the brain are male and female is far fetched. Math, music and intuition are not exclusinvely feminine, and dare I say it, women are more reasonable creatures than men most of the time. 

   In the yi jing, all of the derivative feminine trigrams have two masculine lines, and the derivative masculine ones have two feminine lines. It is not the predominance of yin or yang that defines a character, but whether yin or yang leads. Only the progenitors of life, heaven and earth, are solidly yang and yin.

   Can you comment?

   Welcome to the group, and thanks for your input.

terry




from wilhelm/baynes "I Ching":


 Confucius says...:

Things that accord in tone vibrate together. Things that have affinity in their inmost natures seek one another. Water flows to what is wet, fire turns to what is dry. Clouds (the breath of heaven) follow the dragon, wind (the breath of earth) follows the tiger. Thus the sage arises, and all creatures follow him with their eyes. What is born of heaven feels related to what is above. What is born of earth feels related to what is below. Each follows its kind.

Could you provide a discrete, specific example?

Let's say a sensation, a physical bodily feeling manifests somewhere on the front side of my body and I label it as 'feminine'. Is this suitable? Is it beneficial?

Hi Terry, thanks for the input.

The idea is to move beyond stereotyping and work with the archetypes themselves. It's true a lot of people cannot see the qualities of the poles without projecting meanings onto them. So yes, many people get locked up in their cultural notions of macho and girls vs the universal qualities of yin and yang.

What you stated is actually in perfect alignment with this, as you can see in 3D, there are no points on the body that are completely 100% of either, beyond the theoretical bounds of heaven and earth.

Again, it's not that the hemispheres ARE a man or a woman, that is absurd. It's that the hemispheres work together as poles. You can label the poles whatever you'd like, m/f or y/y are just names we give them, could be hoobas/boogas for all it matters. We just get stuck on the male/female labels because of culture and their charge and our society being generally out of relationship with both.

Drew

Sure.

In the movement feedback diagnostics I do with clients, one of the standard exercises is to shake their hands. By observing, we can feel each hand differently, and knowing that the symbolic representation of each is this polarity, we can help move through trauma, integrate the shadow, and understand how the person is approaching life. We can see how the m or f energies are manifesting in their life through the body vs heady theory or guessing - the body shows tangible proof.

So the value isn't in labeling m/f just to label, but to feel into the qualities associated with each and get into better relationship without judgment and without giving meaning to the stories locked up in that specific pattern.

We look at the body as a holographic, holistic being, as above so below.

Drew

    
    I was indeed agreeing with you. To a point. Btw, I notice your androgynous diagram appears completely masculine, if anatomically incorrect.

    I think it is still fair to say that, in bilateral symmetry, left and right are not poles apart. For example, the left thumb is not feminine to the right thumb's masculinity. The thumbs are not opposed to each other. Polarity implies opposition.

   Of course men and women are not necessarily masculine and feminine. I would say, neither are the brain's hemispheres. In actuality, every cell is either xy or xx, so both hemispheres are either feminine or masculine. Are right and left hemispheres the same in women as in men? That would be more to the point.
 
   I suspect the mind has a tendency to see polarities anywhere. Differences may be sharpened by identifying with them.

   The above caveats aside, I agree that seeing polarities is an advance on naive dualistic thinking, which regards male and female, up and down, in and out, as wholly different and unrelated.

   Can you relate any of this to meditation, or spiritual practice generally?

terry



tao te ching, trans feng:


five.

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. 
All can know good as good only because there is evil.

Therefore having and not having arise together. 
Difficult and easy complement each other. 
Long and short contrast each other: 
High and low rest upon each other; 
Voice and sound harmonize each other; 
Front and back follow one another.

Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking. 
The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease, 
Creating, yet not possessing.
Working, yet not taking credit. 
Work is done, then forgotten. 
Therefore it lasts forever.

 

    Looking in polar fashion, the right male could call this "tangible" while the left female calls it "touchy-feely." Or vice versa. (wink)

t

So you are suggesting to clients that each hand has some different attributes,like "Notice the femininity in that hand". Then your clients have a sensation of that attribute, for example feeling an emotion of femininity, maybe seeing the mental image of the color pink, or other associated things. Do I have it right?