Great article and amen for every day being Valentine’s Day! :)

I never understood why society is so insistant in sticking with what are considered expected gender roles. All of my life, I have been a very independent woman and not many men could handle being with someone like me. I have been in situations where I would have to dumb myself down or not voice my ambitions out of fear of making the man uncomfortable.

Eventually, I got over that and accepted the fact that not many men want a woman who can shine or even worse, outshine them. So I resigned myself to the fact that I would forever be single. Then a few months later, I met a man who was secure in being himself, he did not care if I was more educated than him or out-earned him. He was simply happy with me being me.

For the record, I think what made him different was that he was raised by a single mother who was self-sufficient and independent. To him, my way of being was normal.

I think we need to re-formulate what a healthy relationship is and look beyond the traditional roles. Each person should be allowed to be who they are without fear. We have to engage more in unconditional love as opposed to a marriage that is like a business transaction.

As for the message here, I applaud Cyndi for stepping outside of the usual socio-political boundary lines, and telling it like it is, in terms of the damage that conventional male/female roles and relations have had on BOTH genders, and humanity as a whole. Although I consider myself a feminist, I have been frustrated at times with the tendency to think that the goal is simply to change men, or to change society to allow women the same opportunities as men. For me, the real issue is much broader, and from an energy perspective it is about the imbalance of yin/yang on the individual awareness AND social structure levels. And it harms ALL of us, male and female. The changes need to occur across the board.

Love is wholeness, and love is healing. Thanks Cyndi.

Both sexes have been victims of abuse and the answer that will solve the problems is love. Did I get that right?

I agree that love is the answer. I agree it begins in the hearts of all people.

I used to be angry at men until I became a counselor at an addictions agency for a year and then in a prison. I then was able to see men as victims as well.

For me there are two questions, “What am I suppose to learn from this? What can I do about this?” How I respond are my solutions.