Being Feminine is Your Most Powerful Asset

Nature has blessed you with your femininity.  That’s your first asset.  The mere fact that you were born a woman makes you something special.  Be proud of your femininity and make the most of it.  -John Roberts Powers, Secrets of Poise, Personality, and Model Beauty, 1961.

Dear Friends,

True confession time:  I love being a feminine woman.  I love all of the pots of potions that sit on my dresser.  I love wearing perfume, makeup, and pretty clothes.  All of the accoutrements of being a feminine woman make me feel special.  And, I wholeheartedly agree when Mr. Powers says, above, that being feminine is your most powerful asset.  Unfortunately, too many women don’t understand how to draw power from their femininity.

The Rise of the Fake Man

A major misconception of our modern culture is mistaking femininity with weakness.  Masculinity is considered strong while people often equate femininity as powerlessness.  As a result, women are encouraged to adopt masculine styles and behaviors.  And, in their desire to be successful, women follow the advice to be a fake man.  But, being a fake man is kryptonite for feminine women like me because we cannot be authentic to ourselves.   I’m guessing that I’m not alone.

How Being Feminine is Your Most Powerful Asset

In my own life, embracing my ultra-feminine self gives me the confidence to achieve my personal and professional goals.  Here are some of the ways we can draw on our feminine powers:

• Recognize our innate creative abilities.   Women excel in areas of creativity because we are, literally and figuratively speaking, the creators.  I mean, think about it.  Women are able to create another human within them!  How awesome is that?  When we surrender to our innate creative power, we are able to find unique solutions to all sorts of problems.
• Rely on our intuition.  I don’t know if women have been the primary caregivers because of our refined “spidey senses” or if being the primary caregivers has honed our intuition.  Either way, how many of us have said, “I wish I had trusted my intuition!”  We knew something was off but decided that we were being irrational.  The psychological lowdown:  Intuition is developed over time.  It is in constant surveillance mode looking for how new information matches up with previously stored information. It then sends “advice” to our conscious about how to think and/or react.  Relying on our intuition is taking advantage of all of the mental tools in our sewing basket.
• Value relationships over independence.  One of the great American myths is the “rugged individualist” who succeeds on his own.  It pervades our culture and can be seen in our fascination of the lone cowboy and the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” kinds of government policies.  But women know better.  We’re the ones who gather for sewing circles and coffee klatches.  Before the sad state of online mommy wars, older women mentored younger women.  Casserole dishes were delivered to each others’ homes in times of need.  All the women in the village raised the children.  Let men be their rugged individualist selves.  Women know that if they join together in a common cause, they are unstoppable.

Be Audacious!

Despite the pressure to conform to the male definition of success, let’s be audacious by relying on our feminine power.  Let’s celebrate our differences while also affirming that feminine success should be as equally valued as men’s success.  Our feminine power is a perfect complement to male power.  We don’t have to compete.  And we don’t have to go by the men rules, either.

After all, being a woman is our most powerful asset.

Your Turn

In the comments, share other ways that women can tap into their feminine power.

To your fabulous Technicolor life!

Dr. Julie-Ann

Image credit: Illustration derived from The New Models advertisement by Coby Whitmore courtesy of Colleen O’Eris on Flickr.com

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