Journal of Sacred Work

Ai gurus ask, "How much longer will people be needed?" What about the current power shift around gender roles? 

I. 1950's

In the binary world of the 50s I heard no existential questions about gender. Women ran the home. Men ran the world as they always had even though male militancy wrought massive suffering. 

Was that just about physical strength?

The '50s inquiry, "How could we have won WWII (or any war) without men?" begs the question of whether there would have been a war if women had been governing. How much would more feminine presence have improved organized religion? 

II. 21st Century 

Caregiving:

Despite a wildly diverse career, my life has been about two things: caregiving and the arts.

Both have been male dominated. Both must yield to a balance of feminine and masculine energy for both to thrive.  

Excellent leaders know this. They remain rare. Caregiving, founded by women, still chokes in the grip of insensitive male energy including when any female leader allows aggression to destroy compassion. 

Arts:

   Pending a rebalance, I am a feminist advocate, My art reflects that. The goal, however, is humanism.

   My classical figurative art of women hews to early training from Roberta Waddell at the Toledo Museum of Art. Other women, including 35 female subjects, and sculptor Alan LeQuire, have been massively helpful. 

    Abuses by many male predecessors have pushed some feminists to over-correct: "Beauty can only be portrayed by women," they say. Public sentiment is moving their way.

   This problem arose when my 2019 film art show, "The Feminine Divine" debuted at Vanderbilt Divinity School. No viewers complained about nudity. Instead, some complained I had not gone far enough. "Where are transgenders or heavy women?"one feminist asked. 

   "Not my interest or expertise, but did you see my still-animation of a transgendered Jesus?" I asked. "Missed that," she said, generously confessing, "Maybe I was too anxious to criticize a white male."  

   Women can self-portray. Males succeed only in partnership. 

   What if women took charge of healthcare and the arts? Could this correct historic male overreach?

   Absolute answers are nonsense. The question is not whether women need men. We all need each other.

   And our questions must prod us to figure out how to better equalize our culture. Soon!

-Erie Chapman