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A CASE FOR MALE—FEMALE INTEGRATION
It will facilitate this discussion to look at constructive contributions that have put this issue on the road to developing
a vision for the man / woman relationship.
Erich Fromm, in his book, “The Art of Loving”, recognizes a certain harmony existing within nature that is contingent
upon a “male and female principle” that accounts for the seemingly obvious reality we have grown accustomed to.
Fromm then proceeds to elaborate on this concept further as it applies to men and women.
“Sexual polarization leads man to seek union in a specific way, that of union with the other sex. The polarity between
the male and female principles exists also within each man and each woman. Just as physiologically man and woman each have
hormones of the opposite sex, they are bisexual also in the psychological sense. They carry in themselves the principle of
receiving and of penetrating, of matter and of spirit. Man-and woman-finds union within himself only in the union of his female
male polarity. This polarity is the basis for all creativity.”(The Art Of Loving AOL p. 33)
So, not only are men and women, by virtue of having within them an aspect of the other gender, drawn naturally to each other
on a physiological level but on a psychological level, setting the stage for spiritual awareness or consciousness, in other
words, attaining wholeness and completion as a man and a woman.
Fromm goes further in defining the two polar Human aspects.
“There is masculinity and femininity in character as well as in sexual function. The masculine character can be defined
as having the qualities of penetration, guidance, activity, descipline and adventurousness; the feminine character by the
qualities of productive receptiveness protection realism, endurance, motherliness (it must always be kept in mind that in
each individual both characteristics are blended but with the preponderance of those appertaining to not ‘his’
or ‘her’ sex)” (AOL p. 36-37)
These are, essentially, the qualitative differences between the male and female species of the Human Being, which Lee discusses
in Unification Thought. As was mentioned above, both men and women have the yang and yin aspects of intellect, emotion and
will. Both Fromm and Lee come to agreement on each gender’s having a superior proportion of that aspect which is their
own predominant one.
It seems though that there should be something more than merely having these aspects within oneself. In fact, the very presence
of complimentary gender aspects within the man and the woman should suggest a certain affinity that each possesses for each
other. And we can certainly go so far as to assert an ingrained obligation that the two genders have in reciprocation.
According to James Kilmore’s book entitled, “The Intimate Man”:
“Human wholeness is more than the sum of its two complementary parts, male and female. In a unique way a man and woman
can each become more together than they were alone. When male and female join to become one, ideally each is enhanced.”
(The Intimate Man: Intimacy and Masculinity in the 80’s TIM p. 113)
If we indeed accept that Human Beings are created by God, in His image, therefore, they reflect perfectly his own character
and all his attributes. Kilmore’s statement of the union of the Human being within and without can be nothing less than
an assumption of Human Beings as God-incarnate, divinely created beings.
Let’s explore more about what it is in the makeup of a man and a woman that lends them their own inclinations to meet
each other, to seek each other out in search of wholeness. One good source of understanding this is what Carl Jung calls
the Anima and the Animus in a man and a woman respectively. In contrast with the outer personality or the persona responding
to stimuli received by the conscious mind coming from outside the individual, there is the Anima / Animus or the inner personality
responding to the unconsciousness. Within man, the being predominantly masculine, there is a feminine aspect within the subconscious
and within the woman, predominantly feminine, there is a masculine aspect. Jung also refers to the Anima / Animus as the “Soul
Image.” (The Essential Jung TEJ p. 100-103)
Traditionally, that is, in Western society, it has been seen as virtuous for a man to suppress his feminine side, for example,
expressing emotion and for a woman not to disgrace herself by being mannish. If there is not honest congnizance and consciousness
of their natural alter-selves, the anima in a man and the animus within a woman; if these are not integrated there is a good
possibility that these aspects will be projected onto the opposite sex such as a spouse. This usually happens in the phenomenon
of falling in love. The flip side of this can also possibly happen in which the person’s anima / animus is projected
upon oneself resulting in homosexuality. (TEJ p. 106-107)
If, for a moment, we put aside this common distortion of these inner aspects as they are commonly exhibited in the behavior
of men and women and concentrate on how this was originally meant to operate within us, there is something very keenly provacative
that is revealed to us about how we attain our own unique and individual identity, not by any superficial means at our disposal
but through a sincere encounter with God on an individual and personal level. This is the point which Unification Thought
only alludes to but which I would like to address in the main body of this paper.
Resources
1. Fromm,
Eric The Art of Loving Harper and Row NY 1956
2. Kilgore,
James The Intimate Man: Intimacy and Masculinity in the 80’s Abingdon Press Nashville 1984
3. Jung,
Carl: The Essential Jung Princeton University Press 1999
Part 4 of The Integration Of the Male & Female Aspects of Men & Women
Thank you for your appreciation of this article. If you have any comments on this or any of my articles I strongly encourage
you to email me using the "Contact Me" link on the left navigation bar or cut and past the following email address into your
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