Goddess or Monster: Navigating Your Natural Feminine Power
By Dixie Andelin Forsyth
Think about the women you’ve known that you’ve admired, that you would confidently say “She’s a real lady” about. What were her hallmark characteristics? Chances are, she carried herself with grace and was a generally kind or patient sort of person. She likely valued relationships and knew how to make people feel important. It’s doubtful that she spoke using coarse or hurtful language, sat with her legs wide open or made a habit of spitting on the sidewalk. She might have been famous in her field; a doctor, actress or politician. Or she may have been a next-door neighbor, school teacher or stay at home mother. Whatever she did in life, she did it with dignity and a quiet power that is hard to explain. This is Feminine Power.
We have been called “the weaker sex” because we don’t match the physical power and force of men, yet we are anything but weak if you look at our core strengths. Women simply wield a different sort of hammer than our male counterparts, and humanity has struggled to define this tool until now. Go ahead and Google “feminine power”—you won’t find any satisfactory definitions because the world is completely confused about the idea. The only “power” society seems to be aware of is the kind of power that pulls steam engines or lifts barbells. But don’t worry, I’ll define our female version right here.
Go ahead and Google “feminine power”—you won’t find any satisfactory definitions because the world is completely confused about the idea.
Feminine Power is the unique strength found in females due to their genetic makeup and brain wiring, evidenced in particularly high levels of intuition, emotional endurance, societal influence, relationship interest, agreeableness and the ability to sense the feelings and needs of others. It seeks synergy rather than domination, cooperation rather than competition, and relationships over hierarchy. When a woman develops Feminine Power, she exercises her inherent softness of character to enrich and strengthen the relationships around her. The influence she wields lasts for generations after her death. Her words of righteous anger, even spoken softly, pierce the hardest hearts. When she abuses this Power, she brings devastation and destruction like a tsunami.
We have all seen examples of what a “dangerous woman” can do to people, the catastrophy of a female abusing her Feminine Power. Who among us doesn’t know of a husband who has been broken or traumatized by a grasping or conniving wife? Or children who have grown up emotionally bullied or manipulated by an intelligent but morally corrupt mother? Certainly you have witnessed the influence of a selfish woman on the people around her, especially when such a woman is considered attractive or charming? She gets what she wants not by brute force, but by understanding the nature of humankind as well as her effect on those around her, and then exploiting this knowledge. In the Alfred Hitchcock movie North By Northwest, the main character refers to such a woman as “using sex like some people use a fly swatter”. You have seen these types of women, wielding this power with a smirk on their faces, glorying in it. I have witnessed, on multiple occasions, women who can make fellow employees, children, friends and even their men shrivel with fear simply by giving them The Look, or by speaking to them using The Soft Voice of Fury. I have seen children raised by cold, heartless women and viewed the destruction of souls, the bleakness of their future, as a result. If a woman has this power to devastate, think of the power she has to build up and encourage. It is in a female’s character that we find the goddess, kind and glorious to behold, or the monster that leaves ash and misery in her wake.
It is in a female’s character that we find the goddess, kind and glorious to behold, or the monster that leaves ash and misery in her wake.
What sorts of influence do we hold in our hands as women? Think of the grand matriarchs of large old-world families. Doubtless you’ve heard story upon story of women who held their families together through drought, flood, war, epidemic and upheaval. These women loved with their whole hearts, nursed the sick, encouraged the downcast souls around them, sewed clothing for children and soldiers, and cooked up such delicious food they (and their recipes!) are still spoken of decades after they have left this world. One of my great grandmothers worked hard washing clothes by hand in a wash basin and saved enough money to leave her descendants a stipend—even some of my children have received this money.
Speaking of laundry, another of my great grandmothers chased Billy the Kid off her property with a broom after he used her wash basin for target practice. He could have easily killed her in annoyance, but the legend says he simply laughed because she was so girlish (and the furthest thing from intimidating). Think about what might have happened to a man in similar circumstances. One could say that being a woman made her weaker and endangered her, but in this instance, it saved her life. This is a special kind of power that most people don’t give proper respect to. It’s almost as if we carry a magic shield around with us that protects us simply because we don’t have physical power.
It’s almost as if we carry a magic shield around with us that protects us simply because we don’t have physical power.
And so I put it to you, my fellow women. Will you recognize and nurture your divine instincts as females, or will you fall into the trap with so many others who try to adopt male qualities, who abandon their genetics hoping to dominate, intimidate and confront in order to succeed?
I suspect, if you’ve read this far, that you’d prefer to live the kind of life that leaves a positive legacy with your family and society. If so, work on your character: your honesty, kindness and moral strength. Find your particular skills and use them to build and encourage. Employ your inborn ability to resolve conflict, and help others to do the same by being sensitive to their needs. Express your emotions not to wound, but to teach and support those around you. Be an anchor for those you care about, a shoulder to cry on and a truth-sayer when truth is hard to come by. I implore you to choose this path, which has been very unpopular for decades in modern society; in so choosing this, you will be showing just how brave and powerful a woman can be. What you have in your feminine DNA is pricelessly useful to the human race but also carries great potential for danger if handled carelessly.
Women are the gatekeepers of civilization because we create, sustain, and inspire the human race and teach the majority of them how to live, think and feel. We hold the keys to good relationships, smoothly functioning societies, and the comforts of happy homes. Guard that gate with your life, and don’t let it rust. When we play to our feminine strengths and use our unique natural abilities for the good of others, the good we do will ripple through countless generations, making our world a better place.
