I am a psychologist and professionally involved in research and systemic therapy. For a few years now I have been researching female sexuality; this work has made me increasingly aware that I want to share with others my insights and thoughts about the current state of research in this field, but also ancient knowledge, so as to empower and strengthen women, to heal and honour the “feminine”.
In our predominantly patriarchal world we have lost our sense of proper balance. In the Western world we honour Yang, the masculine principle: being productive, rational, supposedly guided by reason, domineering. It is so common that we have stopped noticing. Patriarchy oppresses both women and men, and everyone in between.
The “masculine”, like the “feminine”, needs to be healed from patriarchy. My focus is on strengthening the feminine. Healing the masculine is in itself an immense mission, but that is a task for others to tackle.
I don’t want to tell anyone what to do, let alone prescribe how to be a woman. But everyone has their “feminine” and “masculine” sides. These terms are admittedly not ideal as they are heavily loaded with a range of different meanings. Nonetheless, for lack of better words, I will use them anyway. But I want you to know that I’m not keen on “women-are-from-Venus”-types of definitions and prefer to avoid them. I am quite aware that with some of the content I discuss I am treading a fine line. Some things I say might be interpreted as prescriptive and sometimes I have deliberately exaggerated a little. The patriarchal boat is clearly tipping over and I occasionally lean out over the edge of the boat to make sure its tipping motion can be properly felt.
If you feel you have achieved a good balance between the “feminine” and “masculine” within you, if you are satisfied with life and society in our current world, then my content might not be relevant to you right now. Which is perfectly fine.
You are free to decide whether or not you want to take any of this on board. Maybe you’ll get an aha moment or inspiration from this blog. Maybe not. Maybe some things annoy you, or you don’t even feel like talking about them. Also good. Maybe you close this webpage rolling your eyes: that’s fine too, just turn to what makes your heart sing. But if something you read here upsets or unsettles you, maybe you’ll stop and listen to yourself, and seek out what on a deeper level is concealed behind this rejection. I would find that exciting.
In short, my purpose in writing this blog is that I wish to live in a world where the “feminine” is honoured and in harmony with the “masculine”. A world in which we meet on an equal footing and stand up for all living beings.
Dr. Katharina Weitkamp
