How do Men and Women Compare?

Men and Women are Both Important and Vital

Society seems to indicate that it is “women vs. men”; that there is some sort of better/worse comparison or competition between them.  However, men and women are not enemies.  We are all on the same team.  We simply have different roles that overlap somewhat.  Both are crucial for healthy children and a healthy society.
Too often, the attributes of either manhood or womanhood are used to measure people of both sexes.  People think men should be like women, or that women should be like men.  This sentiment causes major confusion, frustration, and an enormous amount of suffering all around.  My hope is that by understanding more clearly the different attributes of men and women, we can have greater respect for one another, and work together with love to do great things for our children, for each other, for society, for our posterity, and for the world.

Masculine and Feminine Energy

There is a concept of masculine energy and feminine energy.  The person who introduced this to me explained that men are in typically balance when they manifest more (e.g. 60%) masculine energy and less feminine energy.  Women are typically in balance when they manifest more (e.g. 60%) feminine energy and less masculine energy.  When they are not whatever the right balance is for them (which can vary by person), they feel out of character, unsettled, or even frustrated.  For more information about each of these energies, see the sections on each below.

From The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

The Proclamation on the Family says “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”  Our spirit is either male or female and always has been.  David A. Bednar taught “The natures of male and female spirits complete and perfect each other, and therefore men and women are intended to progress together toward exaltation.”

Manhood

From the Art of Manliness:

Manliness includes protecting, providing, and procreating.  These are all part of showing love.  

Masculine Energy (present in men and women, but typically more in men)

From WheelOfWellBeing.com:

“Masculine energy: It’s all about taking action; loves to build; and, loves to fix things. Masculine sees a problem and immediately wants to fix it.  It’s protective. Most women are looking for a partner to protect them, they want to feel safe, and they are looking for the energy of protection.

“Masculine energy is strong and stable; it’s self-confident.

“Masculine energy likes to make decisions fast. It’s decisive. Knows what it wants and goes after getting it.

“Masculine energy loves direction and a purpose. It’s competitive and likes to win and break through barriers. It’s logical.

“Masculine energy uses words more than emotions, and doesn’t hold on to things…whether emotion or tangible things, it can let go very quickly.

“Seeks freedom- Masculine energy love to be free. It Loves acknowledgment. Masculine energy craves importance; they love it when they are given a compliment. They want to be heroes.

“Masculine energy is independent and analytical, representing our left brain. When masculine energy is appropriately used, it is creative, practical, and visionary. When masculine energy is misused, it can end in ego, anger, resentment, and have inner conflict.”

From the Christian movie Courageous:

A father should:

• Provide for his family.
  • Work diligently t provide for the needs of my family.
• Protect his family.
  • Confront evil.
  • Pursue justice and love mercy.
• Be there for his children [and wife]:
  • Love them.
  • Serve them.
  • Be involved in their lives.  Walk with them through their lives.
  • Seek to win their hearts.
  • Be a visual representation of the character of God, their father in heaven.
• Be an example:
  • Treat others with kindness, respect, and compassion.
  • Learn from his mistakes, repent of his sins, walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.
  • Forgive those who have wronged him and reconcile with those he has wronged
  • Whenever possible, love and mentor others who have no father in their lives but who desperately need help and direction.
• Discipline his children:
  • Train his children to honor authority and live responsibly.
  • Call out his children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity.
• Be the spiritual leader in his home:
  • Teach his family about God.
  • Teach his children to follow Christ.
  • Pray for and bless his children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do.
  • Give the strength of his arms and the rest of his days to loving God with all that he is and to teach his children to do the same.

From The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

A priesthood-holder (beyond being a baptized disciple of Christ) should:

• Live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.
• Magnify his priesthood callings.
  • By learning one’s duty and executing it fully.
  • By giving one’s best effort in assigned fields of labor.
  • By consecrating one’s time, talents, and means to the Lord’s work as called upon by our leaders and the whisperings of the Spirit.
  • By teaching and exemplifying truth.
• Instead of influencing by unrighteous dominion or compulsion, influence: 
  • by persuasion
  • by long-suffering
  • by gentleness
  • by meekness
  • by love unfeigned
  • by kindness
  • by pure knowledge that greatly enlarges the soul
  • reproving with precision when inspired then showing forth an increase of love
  • with bowels full of charity
  • always have virtuous thoughts

Womanhood

Note: Anyone is welcome to contribute more to add here.

Feminine Energy (present in men and women, but typically more in women)

From WheelOfWellBeing.com:

“Feminine energy, on the other hand, is vastly different.

“Different doesn’t mean good or bad; it simply means different!

“Feminine energy is creative and inspiring- It’s the energy that creates life. It loves beauty, and it stimulates creativity. It’s nurturing, it’s supportive, it desires love and craves to receive love to feel fulfilled. Masculine energy loves for her feminine to be receptive of his love.

“The feminine energy is intuitive and empathic. The feminine energy is fluid, stormy, emotional, passionate, and it flows from moment to moment like the waters of a river. Feminine energy craves adoration, they love to be admired and appreciated. Nothing lights up feminine energy more than to give her a compliment.

“Feminine energy is intelligent and loving energy that contains the quality of our compassion, emotion, empathy, and truth. When you are strong in your feminine, you have a strong connection to your body and intuition, and you can make decisions based on what you feel in your heart. Feminine energy is receptive, right-brained energy. Yet, if we are too much in our feminine, we can come across as weak and lose our personal power.

“Masculine and Feminine energies are both equally important and necessary.  To be balanced, to get things done, and to have a healthy relationship, both of the masculine and the feminine need to be present. We just need to realize when and how much of each energy is necessary. The key is BALANCE, a dance between the two and knowing where and when to use each.”

From The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: 

Based on The Joy of Womanhood by Margaret Nadauld:

• Femininity includes
  • Nurturing Nature
  • Great Capacity to Love
  • Gentleness
  • Delicacy / Tenderness
  • Sensitivity
  • Bright Mind
  • Radiance
  • Charm
  • Innate Spirituality
  • Graciousness
  • Dignity
  • Creativity
  • Quiet Strength
  • Well-Spring of Life
• A woman should seek to be:
  • Kind
  • On the Errand of Angels
  • Capable, having Great Strength
  • Wise, having Good Judgment
  • Intelligent & Seeking Education
  • Skilled in How to Serve Others
  • Teaching
  • Refined
  • have Faith, Goodness, Virtue, and Purity

Conclusion

Men and women are different in many of their attributes and in the ways they want to be in order to have balance.  Every person is unique and can have different amounts of masculine and feminine energy.  It’s important to understand that both manhood and womanhood are crucially important.  One only seems superior if measured against the other’s attributes.  They complement each other in many ways.  They are simply different, and that is how it was always intended to be.

Image credit: “Male/Female In the Garden” by sonstroem is licensed under CC BY 2.0