Identifying with the animus as a woman?

[Artemisia]

For some reason, I seem to have a strong animus and I may over identify with it. I am an academic and deep down I think I see myself spiritually as a wise old man.....or at least that is what I would like to be. I find myself most interested in historical figures who were either philosophers or philosopher kings. Although I am otherwise feminine and also somewhat interested in stereotypical feminine things (beauty, makeup, etc.), nothing feeds my soul more than the wise old man type. Interestingly, I have not been as enamoured of the wise old woman archetype. I find Jung and others like him very intriguing and interesting. It doesn't help that my own father was a professor and he kind of instilled it in me from childhood that I had to become someone, to be independent and not need anyone.

I wonder if this animus type needs to be more integrated within me (I am in my late 30s) and if once the integration occurs I will be less enamored of the wise old man archetype. Any ideas, especially from those of you who are older and wiser?

 

[Roses In The Vineyard]

This will probably be annoying but there are answers as to why though not many bother to go looking let alone consider what they do find being that such isn't what the modern western mind values being outside the immediate material. All in all this doesn't surprise me at all and is pretty natural to be feeling that other side of yourself.

 

[Sandie33]

I wonder if this animus type needs to be more integrated within me (I am in my late 30s) and if once the integration occurs I will be less enamored of the wise old man archetype. Any ideas, especially from those of you who are older and wiser?

From an old Crone's vantage point , it's enlightening at best if for no other reason than to notice these archetypal influncers within our self.

I can relate well with the struggle to understand the masculine attributes within our feminine selves.

Social constructs often condition us to believe that in order to be feminine we must do ____. As I've aged, I've noticed this is getting easier to work with as each generation speaks into societal makeup. The same 'rules' just do not apply. Not to drift to another topic, but as each generation grows it implies it's rebellion or how they go against social norms to have a voice and be noticed.

Integration is a valuable path to undertake. I'm still working at it as I creep into my mid-fifties One exercise I've found that works well is the Round Table. (I'll see if I still have the link, it's easily Googled as it's becoming quite popular.)
The idea of the round table exercise is to take a paper, draw a circle, place boxes like chair seats, there should be 12, sort of like a clock face, then place the Archetypes you feel are prominent in those seats. Then, have a look at the Archetypes you've placed in the important time slot. i.e. Noon, midnight, six, three, etc. Think also why these times are significant to you.
The exercise really does open the floodgates to Integration. If you are familiar with mapping as a tool for writing, this exercise works in similar manner.

It definitely worked for me to dust out the corners of my psyche and discover why the Archetypes in my head all seemed to have strong masculine influence, yet I still have the want to be fluffy and fancy in a feminine way.

If you're interested, I can give you a few web links that were grand reads while I was beginning this myself???

 

[Artemisia]

Thank you, Sandie33, this is helpful. I do wonder how things will turn out when I am older and (hopefully) wiser.

 

[Rift Zone]

For some reason, I seem to have a strong animus and I may over identify with it. I am an academic and deep down I think I see myself spiritually as a wise old man.....or at least that is what I would like to be. I find myself most interested in historical figures who were either philosophers or philosopher kings. Although I am otherwise feminine and also somewhat interested in stereotypical feminine things (beauty, makeup, etc.), nothing feeds my soul more than the wise old man type. Interestingly, I have not been as enamoured of the wise old woman archetype. I find Jung and others like him very intriguing and interesting. It doesn't help that my own father was a professor and he kind of instilled it in me from childhood that I had to become someone, to be independent and not need anyone.

I wonder if this animus type needs to be more integrated within me (I am in my late 30s) and if once the integration occurs I will be less enamored of the wise old man archetype. Any ideas, especially from those of you who are older and wiser?

I'd say it's a matter of image. "Wse old woman" more or less means "grandma type", more so than academic. I imagine a long history of academia being shady to women contributes to that. Lise Mietner was the one who figured out fission, Otto Hahn got credit for it. Emmy Noether laid some serious foundations down in physics; the symmetry laden "Noether Theorem" was an easy Nobel Prize for anyone who published it...except for woman. Personally, I'm with Sagan; when I think of the great minds of antiquity, Hypatia ranks high among them. Dont think you need to adjust much, save prevailing impression.

I wonder if this animus type needs to be more integrated within me (I am in my late 30s) and if once the integration occurs I will be less enamored of the wise old man archetype.

Meh, doubt it. Might be other things at play that have been hardwired to our brains for like the last 500 million years or so...silverbacks attract attention for, reasons.

 

[Asa]

@Artemisia – This is relatable. Though, like @Rift Zone stated the power has been ripped from the crone, so the crone is no longer an archetype many modern cultures revere. It's our job to reshape what "wise old crone" means.

 

[Sandie33]

Thank you, Sandie33, this is helpful. I do wonder how things will turn out when I am older and (hopefully) wiser.

you're welcome

Flow and open mindedness are great tools while you're pursuing your wisdom.

 

[Olfacta]

The idea of the round table exercise is to take a paper, draw a circle, place boxes like chair seats, there should be 12, sort of like a clock face, then place the Archetypes you feel are prominent in those seats. Then, have a look at the Archetypes you've placed in the important time slot. i.e. Noon, midnight, six, three, etc. Think also why these times are significant to you.
The exercise really does open the floodgates to Integration. If you are familiar with mapping as a tool for writing, this exercise works in similar manner.

It definitely worked for me to dust out the corners of my psyche and discover why the Archetypes in my head all seemed to have strong masculine influence, yet I still have the want to be fluffy and fancy in a feminine way.

If you're interested, I can give you a few web links that were grand reads while I was beginning this myself???

Hi Sandie33, as a woman strongly influenced by male archetypes, I would love some links to the round table exercise. So far, since I wanted to be a comedy actress, I named my own exercise "the inner stage", where different characters come forward now and then.