Hey there, faithful readers,
I’ve got a post on Engaged Marriage today about thinking about time from a more feminine perspective. I discuss the idea that while we are generally encouraged in Western society to be productive – to accomplish as much as we can, to achieve great things, to be efficient – I want to considering the value of being fruitful instead.
Before sending the post to Dustin, I had my husband look over it. When he finished reading, he asked me, “But what exactly is feminine about this way of thinking?”
I’ve been trying to answer that question for both of us. Mostly, I think the answer comes from our instincts: we intuitively know that productivity is a masculine virtue, whereas fruitfulness is a feminine one.* But I thought I’d expand a little on the connections between fruitfulness and femininity.
I was first introduced to the idea of fruitfulness versus productivity when I started looking into New Feminism. I wrote a post on New Feminism, outlining some of the main tenets of the movement. The idea of fruitfulness struck me the most, which was described as a process that requires patience and collaboration. Fruitfulness cannot be measured, only appreciated.
I imagine that fruitfulness involves things like fostering relationships and deepening empathy and understanding. While productivity is concerned with manufacturing artifacts that can be quantified, fruitfulness is like childbirth and pregnancy: it’s organic, slow, painful, mysterious, and immeasurably beautiful. You can’t measure the worth of a new life. You just appreciate it.
I am starting to think that all art is the result of fruitfulness. The creation of art is always feminine – it’s always a kind of birth. I think there’s a reason the Greek muses were female: there’s something inherently feminine about the creation of music, poetry, literature, sculpture, and dance.
I know that I am hopelessly under-qualified to talk about these things, and I hope smarter readers will forgive me for my ignorance. These are all new ideas to me, but I’m excited to explore them some more. I intend to think and write more on the subject in the future, and hope to learn from you guys and from further reading.
Well, how about you check out my post on Engaged Marriage and let us know what you think? What are your thoughts?
*To clarify: I’m not saying that men automatically are or ought to be productive, only that a male-dominated society is naturally going to lean towards productivity instead of fruitfulness.
Image courtesy of Silkegb.
{ 0 comments }
I was immediately reminded of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. (Confession: I read all of the Twilight books. More accurately, I devoured all of the Twilight books. I ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yum. Delectable. Yes, I am one of Those Girls). And since of course you didn’t read them because you’re way too sophisticated for that, you might not be aware that in the first book, Bella is described as Edward’s “personal brand of crack.” Despite his better judgment and concern for her safety, Edward can’t stay away from Bella. Edward knows he’s putting her life in danger by entangling her in the world of vampires, but he can’t help himself: he’s desperately addicted. He can’t stay away. Romantic, right? Substance abuse makes for such charming metaphors.
