Despite this being a long post, it only barely touches the tip of the iceberg on this controversial (and make no mistake -- David deliberately chose something controversial because those who are easily and highly offended by his essay currently have no chance what so ever of becoming wise, for they have too much self-importance, and so his essay is controversial and edgy on purpose so as to weed out those unfit for wisdom school) and complicated issue. Nonetheless, one must start somewhere. All quotes in this post are from David Quinn's
WOMAN: An Exposition for the Advanced Mind.
When I use the terms "man" and "woman", I refer first and foremost to the masculine and feminine minds. Men generally possess masculine minds and women generally possess feminine minds. It is a generalisation, yes, and I am open to the possibility that there could be exceptions, but I think that the exceptions are in reality so rare that the generalisation can be thought of as a solid truth. The female, especially, embodies the feminine to a very high degree and so I have no qualms about interchanging the terms "woman" and "feminine mind" freely. I am fully aware that this type of thinking clashes with the ethos of our times. Our age no longer believes in cut and dried truths. It assumes things are too complex for most generalizations to work and our knowledge too limited to establish anything of certainty. While this is perfectly true in most worldly issues, wherein the finite mind has to cope with an infinite number of factors, it nevertheless breaks down in matters of the spirit. As far as wisdom is concerned, everything is black and white. For example, a person either understands ultimate reality or he does not. He either has an ego or he does not. He either has potential for spirituality or he does not. I put it to you that everything a woman does obstructs the growth of wisdom. This is no exaggeration. Truth and femininity are poles apart with an infinite space between them. For a woman to cast her gaze in the direction of truth requires her to turn away from everything that is womanly, and this is impossible for her. She cannot even conceive of doing it. This is a harsh fact for women to face, especially for those few who have within themselves the genuine seeds of idealism. Nature has dealt a hard blow to the weaker sex. She has discriminated unfairly against women and there seems to be nothing at present we can do about it. By all accounts, women are destined to remain the happy, charming, mindless creatures they are.
Here David is saying that, since wisdom is an ultimate thing (one does not think they are wise, one must KNOW it), there are things which ultimately lead toward or away from it. Being egotistical and self-satisfied and valued for no reason other than you being alive ultimately always leads away from wisdom. Being unselfish and unsatisfied and valued not merely for being a warm body but for what you become ultimately always leads toward wisdom. Dissatisfaction need not actually reach wisdom, and indeed, most of the time it never does, but it does go to it more than self-satisfaction does.
The biological females of our species embody WOMAN to a high degree.
Once again, David is acknowledging that biological females do not embody woman fully, just mostly, and that not all biological females are womanly, just most.
Women, to the degree they conform to WOMAN, need not do anything at all. They are secure and passive. They need not think, struggle, strive, and despair after this profound psychological peace. But for men it is a matter of life or death! It is for this reason that the woman's mind is highly undeveloped compared with the man's. For no matter where she is or what she is doing in the world, a woman knows first and foremost that she is in fact - a woman. She lives and breathes in the knowledge that her prime asset in life lies precisely in her being this magical creature. Anything else is almost superfluous, a luxury, an added bonus to an otherwise perfect state of affairs. Man, on the other hand, is completely bereft of such a magnificent power. He must fend for himself, relying upon his wits to etch his way in the world. Thus, out of necessity, man is continually looking at the broader picture, assessing the implications of each situation, thinking out the consequences of his actions, developing a consistent philosophy, and reflecting upon what is actually true. Out of his deluded struggle for acceptance into WOMAN, the priceless treasure of conscience is born. Though he begins by seeking WOMAN, he ends by rejecting HER, and it is here that his relationship to Truth begins.
In other words, women don't feel they need to accomplish or achieve or become anything in their life, while men feel they must accomplish or achieve or become something in their life. A woman is automatically a woman, but a man has to prove he is a man. It is very important to understand this point.
It is a terrible thing to have to say it, and yet it must be said over and over again: there is no possibility of a woman ever coming to understand the Infinite. She simply lacks what it takes to attain it. If, however, she were to be reborn as a man that would be another matter. In other words, if she could develop the masculine within herself and at the same time eliminate the feminine, then she has a chance. Then some good might actually come into the world.
Once again, David is saying that it is possible for biological females to become wise, as long as they first give up their femininity or womanliness. Why must they give it up? Because let's once again look at what it means to be a woman: it means to be valued for no reason other than being yourself, regardless if you are wise or not. Whereas to be a man means to be valued not for just being yourself, but for becoming something and being that thing. In other words, women, because they are so valued, feel no need to improve themselves, feel no need to seek Truth. Men, on the other hand, feel like complete losers, and need to convince others that they are not, so as to help convince themselves, and thus, they set out to become something, to make their mark, to show that they are not worthless like most people assume they are, but that they do indeed have a worth, a readily tangible worth at that. They want to be valued as much as women are by default. They thus need to do things to gain value, whereas, again, women do not, since women are already valued. Men attempt to become skilled, they attempt to become needed technicians, managers, and so forth.
Now, one might say that many women, especially modern women, are required to provide some utility, some function, outside of their mere womanliness. They need to be industrious and handle domestic work. Furthermore, they can start their own careers and work in the marketplace. This much is true. But the thing is, these working women still have something to fall back on, just in case: their womanhood! If a man loses his job, his life is most likely ruined. He needs to work very, very hard to regain a sense of purpose and to find some new job. But if a woman loses her job, no matter, for she can just be a woman. This is not to say that women who lose their jobs don't care, or that they don't feel like their lives are ruined. What is being said here is that if all else fails, women have a safety net of just being women. They are valued simply for being women. Men, on the other hand, have no safety net. They are not valued simply for being men. Indeed, they are not even considered men just because they are men. Again, they must prove it. Women need not prove anything. And so that is why the vast, vast majority of homeless people are men. It is also true that some men can get by without a job and just on their looks or personality alone. The point is that men who do this are not considered men by other men. To be clear, men do not consider unemployed or stay at home dads to be worthless -- so long as they are doing something productive, like raising the children, or writing a book. Yet women can be unemployed and do nothing productive what so ever, and will still be of worth, simply because they are the sweet and sexy creature that is woman!
But again, one must look beyond the outer social and economic roles and see the inner psychology these produce. Man's is dissatisfaction with himself, whereas woman's is self-satisfaction. And a self-satisfied person can never, ever become wise.