On this Super Tuesday morning, I woke up wondering about the Obama phemomenon. What is ‘it’ about him that so enthuses me, and so many of my fellow Americans? ‘It’ has to do with the heart, and the imagination, and the soul, and yes, love also. ‘It’ has been cruelly absent from American politics for many, many years. ‘It’ was very much a part of the identities of John Kennedy, and Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. ‘It’ belongs to the feminine realm. Oprah did not use the f-word in her LA Rally speech, but I am pretty sure that’s what she meant:
The fact that ‘it’, is absent from Hillary’s package, must be confusing for all the women yearning for a ‘she’ presence. The 100 New York feminist icons, who signed a petition to endorse Obama understand the difference. Same with Maria Shriver, and Caroline Kennedy, and Joan Baez. The feminine is a human value that transcends race, age, gender, occupation, and all the ways that one likes to classify humans. When ‘it’ is present, community, belonging, and harmony are restored. Which brings me to my next point.
In my mind, global warming is the symptom of a much deeper unrest. Nature’s way of telling us that we have gone too far with our dehumanized way of living. This morning the Associated Press released findings from a Nature Conservancy study on ‘Nature Giving Way To Virtual Reality’:
As people spend more time communing with their televisions and computers, the impact is not just on their health, researchers say. Less time spent outdoors means less contact with nature and, eventually, less interest in conservation and parks.
Camping, fishing and per capita visits to parks are all declining in a shift away from nature-based recreation, researchers report in Monday’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Declining nature participation has crucial implications for current conservation efforts,” wrote co-authors Oliver R. W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic. “We think it probable than any major decline in the value placed on natural areas and experiences will greatly reduce the value people place on biodiversity conservation.”
“The replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children,” Pergams said in a statement. “Videophilia has been shown to be a cause of obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance.”
By studying visits to national and state park and the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses the researchers documented declines of between 18 percent and 25 percent in various types of outdoor recreation.
This is no small matter. When people stop relating to each other, and with nature, relatedness and belonging, those two hallmarks of the feminine, start to break down and to create a vacuum. What happens next? Trash on top of Mount Everest, disrespect for nature, excessive focus on the I, at the expense of others, emptiness that no amount of goods can ever fill, logging of entire forests, covering of the earth with vast expenses of concrete, the illusion of man as ruler of the Earth, and last failure to listen to unmistakable signs that the Earth is heating too much, too fast.
There are signs of the feminine making its way back, though. The overwhelming response of the crowds to Obama is one. Let us see tonight, if they really meant it.
Great post, Marguerite.
Yes, the world needs more expression of the qualities you mention, e.g., empathy, care for other humans, care for biological diversity and the environment, care for future generations, “creative imagination”, integrity, and so forth. I say, let it flow, let it flow.
But, of course, don’t leave males out, please (as I can see that you aren’t, as you look deep into the qualities themselves). On average in the overall population, statistically speaking, there may well be a higher propensity, on average (repeated even at the cost of redundancy!), for folks of one gender to have and/or display some of those qualities more so than folks of the other gender. I haven’t studied the matter scientifically, but my sense is that there is some truth to the gender dynamic that you mention, or at least some of it. That said, of course, there is much overlap in the population and in most individuals, and there are probably many males that display such qualities more so than some females, and the other way around. But, on average, you’re probably correct. At least, that’s my guess.
Although Oprah and Joan Baez and many others “get it”, as you mention, it seems that the Grateful Dead get it too, at least to a degree, and they are male. And, of course, one of the people most willing to speak out honestly about some of the “disappointments” associated with what the 60s generations have accomplished, in the way of improving the world, has been Joni Mitchell. But there was also the very empathetic John Lennon.
In any case, I am hopeful about the results today, and I am still male, so that must demonstrate something, I think?
That said, I must say, one of the reasons that I enjoy the blog is that it does represent a very human standpoint, with a lot of “it” in its feel, and I do think that bold leadership, containing the qualities you mention, will need to be a key part of the solution.
Again, great post.
Thanks, Jeff. Some of the people you mention are other great examples of striking human expressions of the feminine.
Femina (the feminine element)versus Animus ( masculine essence) has played a crucial role in recent politics. The very traits which attract us to an individual reach far beyond visible genderdifferences.
After reading “What does IT have to do with..” i realized i had been repelled by the essence of Hillary, she left me to reach for that essential quality we associate with women.
Then i looked at Obama,, and felt the equilibrium necessary to conduct normalized social exchange. I would trust him in a foreign policy situation, because unlike present leaders, he would not put his perceived masculinity into the game.
As for Hillary Clinton, i believe she is strong and animated, she would often put her pride on center table as most western heads of state have. Charm and education alone do not suffice, the sensitivity and empathy of a leader will produce a kinder environment.
Femina will re-establish homeostasis in America. Too long has the IT been absent from governance. We feel the deep divide in the separation of man and nature as you so aptly surmised.
Merci Nadine. As usual you bring your poetic twist and your feminine voice. How appropriate for the subject at hand!