Our
first personalities were formed by childhood socialization.
And because our sex was
the first fact noted about us:
If we were girls, we were
enculturated to be 'feminine'.
If we were boys, we were
enculturated to be 'masculine'.
These conventional gender-personalities
are so assumed
in some cultures that
they seem natural to everyone.
Girls naturally grow up
with conventional 'feminine' personalities.
Boys naturally grow up
with conventional 'masculine' personalities.
However,
instead of just two possible gender-patterns,
there are actually thousands
of possible gender-personalities.
There are both admirable
and regrettable (as well as neutral)
personality traits within
both 'masculinity' and 'femininity'.
The Gender-Pattern Chart
will help each of us to make explicit
just what personality
characteristics we now have
—and
perhaps what ways we would like to change our selves.
We will
explore how we developed our original gender-personalities
—and
how we might go about changing the selves we discover.
How did we learn our particular
personality responses?
And how much control do
we have over our next phase of development?
If we have children, which
personality traits would we like them to have?
OUTLINE:
I. THE DYNAMICS OF GENDER
II. THE GENDER-PATTERN CHART: WHO ARE WE?
III. FROM CONVENTIONAL
GENDER-PATTERNS
TO FREELY-CHOSEN PERSONALITIES
IV. GENDER TRAITS COME FROM CULTURE
V. 'LOVE' AS A GAME OF GENDER-PERSONALITIES
VI. BECOMING MORE AUTHENTIC
CHANGES OUR GENDER-PERSONALITIES
VII. LOVE BASED ON AUTHENTICITY
TRANSCENDS CONVENTIONAL GENDER-PERSONALITIES
VIII. RAISING ADMIRABLE CHILDREN
James
Park is an existential philosopher.
This presentation and
discussion is based on a chapter called
"Masculinity/Femininity:
Loving Beyond Our Gender-Personalities"
from his most popular
book New
Ways of Loving:
How
Authenticity Transforms Relationships.
If you click that title,
the complete table of contents of the book will appear.
And from that table of
contents you can open the first page of Chapter 8,
"Masculinity/Femininity:
Loving Beyond Our Gender Personalities".
Several other books on
gender will appear if you click Gender
Bibliography.
Return to Top 40 Sermon Subjects by James Park.
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Existential Philosopher's Museum.