feynrir
Hi everyone!
How do you feel about the gendering inherent in tarot archetypes?
The High Priestess. The Empress. The Emperor. The Hierophant. The woman usually depicted in The Star card. The Wands and Swords as traditionally "masculine"; the Cups and Pentacles as "feminine." All of these archetypes (and obviously all the others you can think of) can be discussed here.
Are the depictions of these archetypes limiting? Threatening? Empowering? Comforting?
A couple examples of my own personal experiences and observations to get things going:
My mother is a very overtly feminine-presenting woman. Makeup, dresses, what have you. She also truly believes that her greatest purposes lie in the roles she has fulfilled as a wife and mother. Not surprising to me, then, that she is very drawn to The Empress card (she loves the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and its version). I gave her a poster of it and she loves it to bits!
I am a woman whose birth card (and favorite card in general) is The Emperor. It makes me feel stable, strong, and in-control. However, many refer to it as a "phallic" card, and one that is "dominating," "oppressive in its structure" (shadow-side), and "outwardly-acting/organizing" (as opposed to 'intuitively-thinking,' like a High Priestess?). I can gather these traits from some Emperor cards, but it's odd to associate those traits specifically with the gender/sex of male, isn't it? Especially when I am a woman and relate so strongly to the card. So sometimes this card and I have an interesting relationship, depending on an artist's depiction or how I'm feeling that day.
I hope this thread doesn't get too out of hand! I know gender and sexuality can be hot topics for many. I am focusing more on the "gender" aspect of Tarot here, but this is certainly inextricably linked to sexuality as well. Hence the rampant heteronormativity of the tarot. Thank you.
How do you feel about the gendering inherent in tarot archetypes?
The High Priestess. The Empress. The Emperor. The Hierophant. The woman usually depicted in The Star card. The Wands and Swords as traditionally "masculine"; the Cups and Pentacles as "feminine." All of these archetypes (and obviously all the others you can think of) can be discussed here.
Are the depictions of these archetypes limiting? Threatening? Empowering? Comforting?
A couple examples of my own personal experiences and observations to get things going:
My mother is a very overtly feminine-presenting woman. Makeup, dresses, what have you. She also truly believes that her greatest purposes lie in the roles she has fulfilled as a wife and mother. Not surprising to me, then, that she is very drawn to The Empress card (she loves the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and its version). I gave her a poster of it and she loves it to bits!
I am a woman whose birth card (and favorite card in general) is The Emperor. It makes me feel stable, strong, and in-control. However, many refer to it as a "phallic" card, and one that is "dominating," "oppressive in its structure" (shadow-side), and "outwardly-acting/organizing" (as opposed to 'intuitively-thinking,' like a High Priestess?). I can gather these traits from some Emperor cards, but it's odd to associate those traits specifically with the gender/sex of male, isn't it? Especially when I am a woman and relate so strongly to the card. So sometimes this card and I have an interesting relationship, depending on an artist's depiction or how I'm feeling that day.
I hope this thread doesn't get too out of hand! I know gender and sexuality can be hot topics for many. I am focusing more on the "gender" aspect of Tarot here, but this is certainly inextricably linked to sexuality as well. Hence the rampant heteronormativity of the tarot. Thank you.