Leaving Behind the World of WOMAN

I have started and stopped Fire in the Belly numerous times over the past few years, but I finally feel ready to complete it. I just started it again and I already have questions and thoughts worth exploring. This should remain a personal exploration, with personal opinions, fears, doubts and revelations. Journey...now!

Sam Keen dismantles the notion that we currently live in a man's world. Yes, we tend to make more money than women, we tend to hold far greater and more influential positions of power, yet, as Sam Keen suggests, we are desperately trying to create our own identity, our own separate existence from that of WOMAN (WOMAN is in all caps because Keen believes it is the best way to convey a more spiritual, intangible power presented by the female sex that men are unconsciously saturated with. Even regular women are unaware of this awe inducing power).

WOMAN as Goddess and Creatrix:
" As creatrix, WOMAN addresses an inescapable challenge to a man to justify his existence. She gives birth to meaning out of her body. Biology alone assures her of a destiny, of making a significant contribution to the ongoing drama of life.p18" This, I feel, is very true but not often realized by either men or women. Many women that I know of hate the very idea of childbirth. I look at a natural birth and have feelings and visions of deep beauty and connectedness, some people see a hospital bend, IV's, a screaming bloody mess etc.

I think, perhaps, the best idealization of childbirth is described by Ohiyesa in The Wisdom of the Native Americans, "She meets the ordeal of childbirth alone, where no curious or pitying eyes might embarrass her; where all nature says to her spirit: 'It is love! It is love! The fulfilling of life!p.99'" As a man, that is truly awe inspiring and I certainly feel some level of envy! How amazing would it be not only to witness creation out of your own body, but to walk around with the deep understanding that life-giving is inherently your capability? That simply because of your existence as a female, you literally give birth to life, the most prized and thought about thing in all the universe. As a man, how do I rationalize my own existence against that? What meaning can I possibly embody that will equal hers? Should that be my goal, to have as deep a meaning as hers? This is where Keen essentially acknowledges that the journey to find your manhood, to feel fire in the belly, begins.

I agree to a certain extent with Keen as he explains that men, when confronted with the awe inspiring creation of birth, come face to face with their existence/meaning and are stumped for an answer. " In response to the power of the goddess, man creates himself in the image of a god he imagines has fabricated the world like a craftsman working with a blueprint to shape matter into meaningful objects. Much of the meaning men attribute to their work is a response to the question posed to us by WOMAN's capacity to give life.p18" Damn! That's awesome, scary and everything in between!

I have often pondered the meaning of life and one of the conclusions that I have come to is that there isn't any. I don't believe that life happened for a reason, I am unsure of whether we have all been created by some omnipotent power, but I'm strongly leaning towards the "no, we have not" side. It is far more amazing to ponder the possibility that life just popped up out of numerous physical processes and has given rise to a wondrous diversity of life full of beauty and mystery! More interesting, my species, humans, has an incredibly advanced brain and we have the capacity to create the mere concept of meaning and exist with it!

Yes, women can give childbirth, possibly one of the most beautiful things in the universe. It gives me satisfaction to realize that I am an important member of a species that can create life at will through love, compassion and other means. The key here being that I believe that I am an important member, I can choose to partake in creating life, or abstain and behold...the choice is mine. This, obviously, is not the answer to the question posed by WOMAN, but now that question is wide open for me to explore as a man!