the godness of female gender
Apologies for female gender reference to words like “democracy” as “she” may stem from a penchant for our patriarchal society; males and their defining genitalia have divine reference, which of course runs counter to my thinking. My thinking was shaped by my life experience sailing the world’s oceans.
The male-dominated merchant marine industry still refers to ships, storms and more as female, as well did the US military up to and including the 20th century. I always thought that particular gender assignment elevated women to an almost supernatural status because–as romantic literature has been recording for centuries–the oceans remain a most powerful force of nature, and yet the vessel that a sailor’s life literally depends on is referred to in the female.
This is a beautiful thought to me and relates to my reverence of the divine nature of the oceans. Sailing from Hawaii to drydocks on the US Atlantic coast, for example, I remember seeing the islands fade into the horizon the day we departed and sailed full speed into the Pacific. I remember the feeling of leaving safety as I understood it in tangible terms of food, water and shelter and also as I understood it in equally important intellectual and psychological terms. Seeing nothing but the unknown depths of water and the infinite heights of sky above and realizing that my life was entirely at their mercy brought about in me a profound sense of humility; at that moment I realized my very modest space in this world and beyond it and I felt more aware of that space as a result. I felt alive and in communion with the elements that were everything I came from and all to which I would return.
My relationship to this divine was nourished at sea and so the association of naval traditions has deeply personal relevance to me. From my experience at sea, gender is applied to icons of extraordinary power that express or imply respect for the female, so a female gender assignment evokes thoughts and feelings of something meriting extraordinarily powerful respect.
To me, there’s no problem of a “man’s world” that likens women to the exclusive safe havens of the vast and universally respected power of the oceans. Unfortunately, our current model disconnects us from the natural world and devolves women to the status of dogs and their puppies by maintaining religious models of male superiority. Our “man’s world” is a literal one; after all and for some reason, God has a penis, and that claim is enough to allow males exclusive authority to interpret and enforce the moral codes of people who existed when the world was tremendously more ignorant than it is today.
Today’s world–she is more than can be defined by any man, and gender reference always reminds me of that.
:)rickymay