Does your gender influence your liking to certain cards?

[sand dollar]

To overcome the seated-robed-crowned ol' pope man
that has snuck into Tarot under the title Hierophant~
I chose a positive image with a gender nuetral impact.

XX is Female and XY Male, but we ALL start the same.

I asked Solandia for this card for the ACT4 project and
it was mostly because my personal view is ~ Universal.

wonderful hierophant card i like the neutrality of it; very nice.

 

[SunChariot]

How would I know if my gender is influencing me, if I've never experienced being the opposite gender? How would I know if anything was influenced by gender unless I have been both genders and can thus compare?

This was exactly my first thought! I am just who I am and my tastes are just what they are, but I can't imagine being otherwise or how do I know why my tastes are what they are, they just are.

If it is gender based, I would think it would be about different lessons society teaches men and woman not something genetic, or could I be wrong about that.
There does seem to be some debate (even I think amongst the scientific community) on whether men's and women's brains are wired to think differently. Personally I think to an extent they are, but those are fighting words to my sister.

I can tell you that my Soul Card in Tarot is the High Priestess. And it is the card I see myself most as and am most drawn too. I know one of my soul's goals in this lifetime is to develop my intuition more and more. And I am a very intuitive reader. Now it that strictly feminine? Or don't men have intuitions too that they can develop? My feelings is that anyone can develop their intuitions more. And it enriches your life. Although does society does maybe encourage it more in women then in men.

Other than that, I certainly feel more drawn to the Empress than to the Emperor, but more because of their personalities than their sex. I am more into nurturing than strict reinforcing of rules.

I certainly have no trouble seeing myself in the Kings and Pages of the decks...

Certain cards in certain decks maybe though. The Hanged Man in my Wheel of Change deck is completely naked...I suppose I can't help reacting to it differently than most men would. And I suppose there are women in the cards that I identify more with, either think they look like me in some way and that forges a connection, or that I wished I looked more like sometimes.

It's really a very fascinating question.

Babs

 

[SunChariot]

For example the 'Strength' card in the Druidcraft deck. You will see a woman and a boar behind her. My first reaction was curiosity since I could picture (physical) strenght in the boar but what about the woman? Note that I'm not claiming it to be impossible for a woman to be strong, on the contrary, but in many cases the Tarot decks reflect common perceptions. For example in the Druidcraft courts you can see a difference with regards to physice between the men and women (kings / queens & princes / princesses) and (no offense intented) it is common to refer to men as the "stronger sex" and women as the "weaker sex". I know this perception is flawed, or biased at best, but thats not my point here..

Well, I will probably take flack for this. But I am a woman and I would have reacted the same way when it comes to the concept of physical strength. So maybe you are not so influenced by your sex as you thought on that issue. When it comes to physical strength men do have more muscle mass. That's why of a man and a woman the same height a man should weigh more.

Women can of course life weights and get into shape, but so can men. And men are born with a greater muscle mass. That perception as far as I am concerned is not flawed.

The thing is of course that there are many other ways of being strong besides physically (intellectually, strenght of will,....), and maybe the card is stressing those.

And of course physical force is NOT the only way to win a fight, you can also do so through well thought out logic. And even through patience, maintaining your calm and being nurturing and showing the other you care.

Like the story of both the Wind and the Sun trying to bet on who could make a man take off his coat first. The more the Wind blustered and was unpleasant, the tighter the man held onto his coat. Then the Sun came and warmed things up (treated the man warmly) and the man took of his coat all by itself.

These too are strengths. It can take a lot of inner strength in some situations to maintain calm inside. And if you just react angrily then the other person will too and it escalates and nothing can get solved. But if you do keep that control and come out victorious, that shows a lot of strength all the same.

Lets say I don't see that woman fighting off a boar physically. And to tell you the truth, I don't see a man fighting off a boar physically either. They're darn powerful animals. I don't think a man could do it without a weapon either. But I can certainly see the woman as equally likely to a man to invent a weapon with which to defend herself and win out over that boar.

Well those are my views...

Babs