Feminine Power as a Tripartite System of Relatedness: A Theoretical Exploration

This study explores a feminine system of power conceived of as a tripartite system of relatedness, comprised of three power centers: sourced through a generative relationship with ourselves, Life, and others. This theoretical dissertation describes feminine power’s roots as developed for and with women over the past decade. I begin by situating the research within our present moment: the paradoxical situation of the rise of women, and decline in female happiness. I then examine various forms of power before describing the feminine power course. Next, I examine the feminine and relatedness (especially relational selves), followed by an exploration of disconnection, what holds us back culturally—individualism and the Western mind, cosmological lack, and shame (toxic anxiety) at the personal level. I then describe the theoretical foundations of feminine power, by first focusing on the experiences and scholarship that directly informed my work including Self-Relations psychotherapy, Swimme and Spretnak’s ecological postmodernism course, the GDOC process, and collective intelligence. And finally I focus on transformative learning theory to explore the parallels between feminine power principles and methodologies and ways in which feminine power is informed by transformative learning, and can inform transformative learning. This study endeavours to explicate the importance of relatedness as power and the transformative benefits of envisioning power in this way, especially as it relates to women who are seeking to self-actualize and participate in social transformation. Results will benefit women who want to realize these higher possibilities and also higher human potential in general. As well it will be of interest to educators and participants in the field of transformative learning and change as well as others who seek to understand and embrace the power of relatedness