a friend (Peg Holman) mentioned a book the other day that I haven't had a
chance to look at--but I thought I'd share her "mention" here in as a
response to this ongoing thread. The book is "The Chalice and the Blade"
by Riane Eisler. My impression is that Eisler offers an historical
perspective differentiating men (whose power came by the threat of death)
from women (whose power came from the promise of life). {please realize
I'm remembering this 2nd hand!}
One of the things that intrigued me when Peg told me about the book was
our conversation on this thread. Roxanne has advocated well for the
cooperative . . . several men have advocated for the competitive . . .
and I've been wishy-washy advocating for a balance of both. I've ordered
Eisler's book--but wanted to suggest that we may be seeing a significant
differentiation here between the feminine approach (cooperative) and the
masculine (competitive).
My experience working with competitive women's soccer and softball teams
is that, even when they are competing at a high level, their cooperative
skills and interests come out much more so than boys teams.
If anyone has had a chance to actually read Eisler's book--or has a point
of view on whether this thread reflects differences in approaches based on
gender--I'd be interested in your insight.
regards,
Doc Holloway
-- "Only a life lived for others is worth living." -Albert EinsteinThresholds--developing critical skills for living organizations Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Olympia, WA ICQ# 10849650 Please visit our new website, still at <http://www.thresholds.com/> <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com>
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