On Gender, Energy, and the Sacred Task of Synthesis

It’s been disheartening to witness the unfolding situation surrounding the recent UK Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman. The decision has reignited a complex and emotionally charged conversation about gender identity, rights, and belonging.

Having grown up in a country that recognises a third gender, I often find myself uncomfortable with the rigidity of binary gender structures. The lived experience of gender, in my view, resists such narrow definitions. It's not only that people are more diverse than these binaries allow; it's that reality itself seems more fluid, more nuanced, more alive than any rigid classification.

What I find particularly disappointing is the polarity of the debate. Conversations have hardened into entrenched positions, leaving little room for curiosity, complexity, or genuine discourse. When we lose the ability to engage with nuance, we also lose an opportunity for deeper connection and understanding.

Perhaps a psycho-spiritual perspective might offer a different way forward—one that doesn’t deny the real struggles and political stakes involved but offers a wider lens through which to view them.
Across multiple psychological and spiritual traditions, there is a recurring recognition of two fundamental energies that shape our inner and outer worlds.

Carl Jung, for instance, described the anima and animus as inner contrasexual archetypes—the anima representing the inner feminine in a man, and the animus representing the inner masculine in a woman. These concepts invite us to develop a relationship with the "other" within us, fostering a kind of inner balance or integration. [Jung, C.G. (1959). Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self.]

Tantric philosophy speaks similarly of the interplay between Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is consciousness, stillness, and pure awareness, while Shakti is energy, movement, and manifestation. The union of these forces—what some call the divine marriage—is considered essential for spiritual wholeness. [Feuerstein, G. (1998). Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy.]

One modern psychological model that avoids gendered language entirely is Psychosynthesis, developed by Roberto Assagioli. He spoke of two core energies--love and will—as foundational forces in our psyche. Love is the impulse toward unity and connection, while will provides direction, strength, and focus. Assagioli emphasized the importance of synthesizing these energies within ourselves to become whole human beings. [Assagioli, R. (1973). The Act of Will.]

This synthesis has multiple fascinating and beautiful ways of manifesting. For some, it might take the form of transitioning or stepping away from the gender binary altogether. These are not acts of confusion or rebellion, but deeply personal ways of seeking harmony between these archetypal energies—of embodying love and will, Shiva and Shakti, anima and animus—in a way that feels authentic and integrated.

From what I’ve read and understood, what most women, trans and non-binary activists are asking for is quite simple: safety. To be honest, safety is something everyone should have. If we can hold a psycho-spiritual lens and see the other not as a threat but as a divine being on their own journey toward inner synthesis, perhaps this awareness can lead us to meet each other with profound respect.

Surely respect is the soil in which safety grows. And safety, in turn, allows each of us to unfold, to explore, and to express the particular shape that these sacred energies take within us.
In the end, perhaps the most important question isn’t about which category someone fits into, but how we can help one another in the shared task of becoming whole.