Strengths and Weaknesses: Lessons learned from The Island

I started thinking about this after my jaunt to Manchester the other weekend. My friend Abbie (who I like to think of as Abbie the Artist even though she has renounced art for the timebeing) knows a lot of about feminism and culture, and told me that nearly all aspects of our lives are viewed through the male eye, regardless of whether we are male or female.

This is reflected in what we consider to be strengths and weaknesses. Being the leader and being assertive make you a strong person. Making decisions, taking risks, being independent. Being physically strong and emotionally strong.

If anyone watched the most recent series of The Island with Bear Grylls you might have seen a lot of this stuff in action. This was the first year when the men and women were put on the same island and had to survive together, and it was something of a social experiment.

What interested me was that the Islanders learned that characteristics they considered to be assets weren’t quite so important, whilst those they might have overlooked became lifelines.

Physical strength for example; the larger, stronger members of the group suffered more towards the end because they needed more food thus becoming a burden on everyone else. Risk taking also caused problems; those who took risks often ended up putting themselves out of action. And when some members of the group asserted themselves as leaders they drowned out the voices of quieter members and missed out on their skills and ideas, a mistake which could have proved dangerous on more than one occasion.

I’ve realised that I think like this too. I value some skills above others, I downplay characteristics which are considered to be ‘weak’ or ‘feminine’.

How many people describe themselves as gentle? That’s like describing yourself as a pushover, it is, at best, associated with babies and kittens. But intentional gentleness has so much power; it’s hard to trust or work with a forceful person. Jesus was often described as gentle, and he was the most controversial, politically provocative figure in history.

Kindness is another good one. Dumbledore said to Harry “Just like your mother, you're unfailingly kind. A trait people never fail to undervalue, I'm afraid.” Bang on the money, Dumbledore. We’re taught to be kind from when we’re little kids, and so kindness is for children: you can’t afford to be kind in the adult world. But Bear Grylls reminded the men and women before they went on the island to be kind and they realised that it was vital to look out for another, keep everyones spirits up and boost each others self-confidence.

So I suppose my point is that maybe we should rethink which characteristics we consider to be ‘strong’ and which ones are ‘weak’, we should stop ranking some strengths as more important than others, and we should try not to associate particular characteristics as masculine or feminine. Men can be gentle; women can be leaders. After all, we are all unique and cannot be put into a category or a box.

Those parts of the body that seem to be the weaker are really necessary. And the parts which we think are less deserving are the parts to which we give the most honour... together you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of that body. 1 Corinthians 12:22-27

Any responses/thoughts/ideas are welcome as usual :)

Also, if you've got time to kill (and if you're reading this then, lets be honest, you probably do) here's an extremely interesting article about some research which might just throw all our ideas about gender out the window.

http://www.joshuakennon.com/the-six-common-biological-sexes-in-humans/