In the second in series of blog posts about Gender Intelligence we will focus changing perceptions and beliefs and behavior to create diversity and inclusion of both men and women, feminine and masculine values.
To tap into the whole of our intelligence, we need to allow mental and emotional space to relate to the intangible and the unconscious, to integrate what is complex, and to accept the out human nature is playful and instinctual. We also need to address our fear of the unknown and our need for control. If we fail to properly manage these, they can easily and even inadvertently turn into obsession, aggression, and destruction. It takes awareness, focus, and discipline to turn the human instinctual force into creative collaboration. Intuition helps us achieve all of this.
The graphic above shows how Intuitive Intelligence facilitates a synergy between our rational mind and our instinctual aptitudes. Our intellect and instinct work together and feed one another: intellect operates from deductive and inductive reasoning, instinct from direct perception. Intuition bridges the gap between the two and receives information from our feelings, emotions, physical sensation, and direct perception.
The diagram shows a feminine quality and a masculine quality on either side of the figure eight. Feminine energy is receptive and creative, empathic, open, welcoming, intuitive, contemplative, and circular, seeking deeper meaning. It lives in the left part of the body and is traditionally associated with the right hemisphere of the brain. Masculine energy is piercing, penetrating, concrete, logical, linear, willful, and powerful. It lives in the right part of the body and is traditionally associated with the left hemisphere of the brain. Whatever our gender we all partake in dual feminine and masculine energy. When we become aware of these two polarities and develop these two qualities of energy, it helps us understand ourselves more deeply and enables us to improve our relationships with others.
The two hemispheres of the brain are connected by the corpus callosum, which develop earlier in girls than in boys and could explain why young girls are usually more mature than boys at the same age.
But although we culturally see intuition as a quality more developed in women, research actually proves that men and women have an equal ability. I think it is more a question of education, societal representation, ability to trust, and readiness to put intuition to use than a question of innate aptitude. Dr. Gerd Gigerenzer makes a clear statement about it: “We still hear that women have much better intuition than men…. This distinction sustains an old prejudice. Contrary to common belief, however, men and women share the same adaptive toolbox.”
Next week we will present a set of exercises to help you tap into your intuition to improve your ability to move between feminine and masculine energies.