As we mark International Women’s Day today, it's a moment for deep reflection rather than celebration.
In 2024, it's disheartening to witness the persistence of gender inequality and violence against women across the globe. While statistics can shed light on the issue, it's the individual stories of suffering and resilience that truly underscore the urgency of our collective action.
Sexual violence continues to be used as a weapon of war, leaving countless lives shattered. Shockingly, 1 in 9 girls under the age of 18 has experienced child sexual abuse, highlighting the vulnerability of our youngest and most defenseless. Additionally, the staggering statistic that one in three women worldwide experience domestic violence is a stark reminder of the pervasive nature of gender-based violence.
These grim realities are in my opinion symptomatic of a deeper issue: the loss of feminine qualities and energy in our attitudes, both individually and collectively.
In our pursuit of external achievements, we have neglected the richness of our inner worlds, favoring doing over being and the outer over the inner. This imbalance has left our societies materially affluent but emotionally impoverished.
Feminine qualities are so less well regarded than traditional masculine qualities. So much so, even women lose their own sense of femininity, and yet this is exactly what is needed.
This has come at too high of a cost - the lack of connection to the qualities of warmth, nurturing, feeling, contentment and peace.
We need men who are able to be in touch with their emotions, who are able to articulate that their moods arise from a lack of connection to their inner realm. A man can only really be in touch with his Self, when he considers how he relates to his own inner feminine.
We need women who can reclaim their femininity, and the only way to do so is to consciously examine our own relationship to the masculine. How we unconsciously act in ways that prevent us from expressing our true feminine essence. What from the masculine did we take on as ours, and what did we reject and yet that continues to shape a world dominated by the masculine qualities?
Femininity is NOT just a women's issue.
It starts with every single one of us.
And so I encourage all of your readers to start getting curious about how you deny your own femininity. What have you unconsciously absorbed about the masculine and feminine that is contributing to the world we’re creating out there? Because I believe this is the only way to make this world a better place.
So instead of making it International Women’s Day - let’s make it a celebration to reclaim the Feminine.
