How Does Gender Affect Spirituality?The topics of homosexuality and transgederism are hot buttons in our society. Both inside and outside the LBGT community there seems to be a lot of confusion out there about the difference between male and female energy and how physical gender affects spiritual gender. When it comes to physical gender, it can't be truely changed. Reproductive systems can be removed and reshaped; hormones can be injected to encourage the growth of gender specific characteristics. DNA, however, will never change and the natural hormone cycle remains the same, it just may not have the sexual organs to affect anymore. Surgery is done only on the body, not on the spirit. Likewise, sexual attraction does not dictate the gender qualities of a spirit anymore than it does the physical ones.
Some say that a person "reads" as male or female, regardless of their physical gender. Others say that "we are spiritual beings trapped in physical bodies" so our energy is neither & both male and female. The way we humans understand the world is by categorizing it - this is blue but that is red, this is small but that is big, etc. We then do the same with how we describe energies - this is aggressive so it's male, this is nurturing so this is female, etc. The truth is we all have male and female qualities; we're all a yin-yang. That is, we are yin or we are yang; we are male with a feminine side or a female with a masculine side. To erase a person's gender identity is to erase the foundation of their identity. Informing someone that they are male or female regardless of their physical gender leads to a lot of confusion and pain. We don't have to deny or alter our gender to embrace ourselves! We also don't have to create stereotypes and force people into them. If you're a femine male, that's fine. If you're a masculine female, that's fine. You don't have to categorize yourself. Lose the labels, they only distract from your beauty. Who wants to see a sticker with a brand name on a beautiful vase? The label doesn't add anything to the vase, it only detracts from its beauty. Sex and sexuality is the core of how we know ourselves and relate to each other. So if someone tells you you "read" more male, so you should be homosexual or have gender reassignment surgery, they have no idea what they're talking about! Maybe you are a female who is more aggressive, protective and in-charge. Those are all wonderful qualities, embrace them! There are many warrior Goddesses who are aggressive, protective and in-charge female deities. They discipline, defend and guide - you don't have to deny your feminine beauty to embrace these characteristics. Categorizing the energy of plants, tools, colors, planets and others as male or female is just a way for us to understand how energies react and interact with one another. It does not mean that only straight males and homosexual females can embrace and work with those energies, nor that a gay male or heterosexual female won't have the attributes of those energies within themselves. Gender is merely a way for us to categorize
and understand the relationship between things. It does not dictate anything about the spirit. Article written by Tiffany Maely. Originally published April 9, 2011. Revised July 15, 2012.
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