More on male and female in TCM

I think one of the potentially damaging aspects of modern life and culture is the notion of the the sexes being the same. Please mind that I did not say "equal". The disacknowledgement of differences between the sexes takes a toll on us, and obliges us to act out of character with our nature, regardless of what that nature is.

In TCM this tends to manifest in the liver, with men failing to express shao yang/spring energy leading to depressed qi, internal heat, and eventual blood stasis, etc. In women this seems to manifest as a Xiao Yao San pattern, with liver depression and blood vacuity, or vacuity heat.

In both these cases people can be assisted by allowing themselves to assert a more positive sexual identity. In Jungian psychotherapy there is the idea of the shadow, which is the manifestation of that which is inside and not allowed to express through other means. It seems that through basically disallowing positive sexual roles and stereotypes we have created a whole panoply of shadow stereotypes. In talking with patients who strongly dislike a parent, what I often find is that they are manifesting the shadow that they dislike in the parent. Through dialog with the shadow aspect, and an acceptance of hereditary nature, we can integrate the energetic nature that been stymied and allow them to be the best of what they are, as opposed to looking away from what will always be a part of themselves.

In treatment the paths to manifesting these positive aspects is not always very clear. Many people seem to want to "normalize" themselves, while, from a Chinese medical perspective this would go against their nature. Say you are treating an introvert (which would be on the yin side, so metal or water natured) who feels this is getting in the way of his life. However, regardless of treatment this person's metal or water nature is going to remain, and create a stress in day to day situations. It is easier, and more productive in the long run to assist the patient in manifesting their nature by nourishing it through meditation, and other inward practices. Usually this will allow them to build the strength they require to open up more. I find that treating the lung is also often useful, as people seem to store the stories that they have about their lives in their lungs and the po. This is doubly true for patients who have a very distinctive breathing or speech cadence that speaks to one element or another; like a laughing speech, a sobbing speech, a groaning speech, etc. If a patient is very insistent about being the way they are because of this or that thing that happened and you hear the story at least once per treatment really go after the lung diagnostically and see what you can find.

I think there is a bias that Chinese culture was relatively repressive to women, and I think in some regards that is born out historically, but in creating the yin yang paradigm the Chinese created a very firm acknowledgment of feminine power and importance. While the manifestation of this philosophical outlook was very uneven, in the present we can choose to use it as a positive tool to accentuate what is useful and incorporate what has been cut off. When we fail to acknowledge the positive masculine we end up creating the shadow masculine, with its anger and frustration.