To have all females, you are pivoting over the edge of a feminine balance to something else.

Gizmo, there are certain therapeutic situations that work best with "one gender only". Not sure about the magickal ones as I do 99% of this type of work alone, but as you pointed out, balance IS always vital.

I do know that it usually feels safer and less demanding, at first, to work with only women, until experience proves that ...

Woman also have bad sides, and can be spitefull, vicious, catty and subtley manipulative, before you realise you've been manipulated.

Exactly. And what a let-down this can be, for the uninitiated!   Females are just as capable as men of sexually harrassing and abusing other women too - this is rare, but the ones that do get away with it a lot more often.

In life as well as religion, I beleive we should appreciate the male and female form and energies for what they are, both positives and negatives.   Yes. And the first step is to recognize them, honestly, for what they are.

Thanks for sharing your family experiences here, Gizmo. YOu did a great job of showing how subtle but pervasive sexist conditioning really is, how it is passed down in families. I know people are changing for the better, but change comes very slowly. It will probably take a few more generations before gender equality is really achieved, for most people.

And that's only if there really IS such a thing as "gender equality"!   IMO, the jury is still out on that one.

Your description of your mom is a great example of how people can get stuck in old behavior ruts even when they KNOW better, even when every cell in their bodies is crying out for change. We are creatures of habit, for better or worse. And it takes a lot of time, vigilance, effort and courage to change habits of thought / behaviour as deeply ingrained as gender conditioning.

My own mom was ahead of herself in many ways -- for example, a wife and mother who built up a successful career outside the home was a rare thing back in the 60's. But certain attitudes have been with her all her life, and she refuses to change them. Or maybe, she simply cannot change them.

FOr example, she will not go to a female doctor. Doctors are MEN, after all! And she always chooses men for the executive positions of her foundation - even though that foundation is her creation, her brainchild, the product of her life's work (or, one of them!)

SHe noticed the new wooden coatrack on my wall beside my door the other day, low enough for my little preschoolers to reach when they come for piano lessons.   "That's a nice one!" she said. "Who did you get to hang it for you?"   

"No-one", I told her, "I did it myself with a couple of toggle bolts, tape measure and a screwdriver". Her eyes widened and she said "Oh -- I would NEVER have tried to do that myself!"    (??!!??)

Now, I could go on and on but I think that's enough stories for now!