Whether recognized or not, there is a battle of the sexes going on right now in the western world. It doesn't get mainstream media attention per se, primarily because of its polarizing qualities and the modern social pressures to be politically correct. It is the war being fought between Feminists (more specifically, the second wave of feminism) and Men's Rights Activists (MRAs). This battle began in the late 1960's as Feminists became more political, more vocal, more powerful, and more aggressive. While Feminism began to dethrone the "Mighty White Male" from his patriarchal perch, a growing chasm started to surface. With major influences like The S.C.U.M Manifesto by Solanis, and the outspoken Gloria Allred's making a name for herself by suing drugstores for having separate sections for boys and girls toys, society began to see that the face of gender relations was forever being changed.

Today, some 50 years later, there is still great confusion about how men and women should live together in equality, and if it's even possible. With the advent of social media and public outlets for private opinions, the term "Feminism" has been turned into a hashtag, a meme, and a 140-character attitude. Looking through Tumblr pages, YouTube videos, and Instagram images, you get the idea that there is some hyper-mythic energy bound up in the very word itself. And, based on the vitriolic nature of some of the words and ideas being spewed forth from behind the cover of a secure WIFI connection, there is a war-like quality advancing this movement forward. Rationality has gone out the window for many individuals caught up in the Feminism Force, and one would expect the archetypal drive to be Feminine at its core. One can picture Aphrodite, playing her seductive games, getting her way, and doing it all for love. But this is not necessarily the case.

Instead, it seems the warpath that Feminism has chosen is driven by a god of war; Ares himself.  With militant precision, battle lust, and courageous aggression, Ares fights for the rights of the women he loves, and against the men he is jealous of. He killed Adonis, his rival for Aphrodite, by becoming a boar. He murdered Hallirhothios to avenge the rape of his daughter. He supported the Amazones, his warrior daughters, and bestowed on them the fighting spirit. Yes, the second-wave feminists sound very much like they are being girded by Ares.

Ares has a brother, Hephaestus, with whom he doesn't get along very well. There has always been sibling rivalry here. Hephaestus, Ares's older half-brother, the god of metalworking, volcanoes, fire, and craftsmanship, is not your average "pretty" god. He's lame from birth, and his mother Hera wanted nothing to do with him because of it. So she cast him out of Olympus. He was raised by a sea nymph who taught him how to work metals. He sends a gift to the gods, to Hera--a beautiful throne. But when she sits upon it, the throne traps her onto it and lifts her high in the air. This was Hephaestus's retribution against his mother who had abandoned him. When Zeus wants someone to go fetch Hephaestus and force him to release Hera, Ares volunteers to go. Unfortunately for Ares, he loses that battle and is overpowered by Hephaestian fire. I'd imagine it bothered Ares ever since. Hephaestus is a blue-collar god, working hard daily, creating beautifully designed artisanal pieces for both gods and mortals (the shield of Achilles is a perfect example as to his creative genius). But he is often an overlooked god. Not glorious or glamorous or overly aggressive. He is in the background, working and toiling and sweating, choosing not to be in the spotlight.

In an act of (possible) retribution, Ares seduces Aphrodite, the wife of Hephaestus. Hephaestus catches Ares and Aphrodite together in his bed, and traps them there with a web of his own making. When he called the other gods to come and look at their indiscretion, Hephaestus is laughed at. They joke about how they'd bed Aphrodite if given the chance, too. It seems Ares had his revenge.

And here we come to the strange bedfellows that Ares and Aphrodite make when together. He fights for her, and he exalts her. He steals her away from her husband, and parades her around as the goddess she is. Ares and Aphrodite are always connected. And here, writhing together in the gender battle sheets, we see War and Sex intricately entwined. And all the other gods look on, and laugh, and celebrate… except Hephaestus, the smithy. Hephaestus continues to burn with a subterranean fire, and can be vengeful, if need be. He's becoming tired of being a laughing-stock. And his fire is starting to rise, and the Hephaestians are beginning to fight back.

Here is where I plan to enter into the myth.  As the battle cry gets louder and louder from each camp, it's going to take objectivity and an understanding of deep myth to see /recognize these archetypal powers at work. If we allow Ares and Aphrodite to continue on as they are, then Hephaestus will never be respected or valued for who he is. I have attended meetings of Men's Rights Activists and there is a seething, gurgling, boiling rage that's beginning to fester within them, like a pressure cooker. They want justice! And I cannot blame them.

Many of these men who call themselves members of the MRA have been deeply wounded (like Hephaestus) and are just trying to make something beautiful in this world while at the same time trying to keep their dignity. He is also not the oppressor, the patriarch, or the persecutor that many associate with the denying of women their rights and opportunities, even though he is treated as such.  Because of this, the rage is growing. If these men don't understand the archetypal powers at play, they will ended up more wounded and humiliated if they let it go too far.

Similarly with the Ares and Aphrodite driving the Feminist movement. There seems to be a 'vindictive' spirit behind many of those leading the charge. A disgruntled ex-wife? A revenge-driven family member? Sex is a powerful weapon of War. Couple that between the sheets (or under the net) of the oppression of patriarchy and you've got an unstoppable trifecta.

My goal is to bring myth back to these individuals, and help them to see that there's more at stake than "women's rights" or "men's rights." The tit-for-tat game that's being played out in public forums (both online and on-ground) isn't advancing the causes of either party. They are becoming blinded with rage, anger, pain, retribution, and power… all because of the archetypal lenses they are seeing through.  The cycle will continue on unless it's disrupted – perhaps by the incarnation of another god(dess).

While Athena has been seen as a champion specifically for women (and Feminists would agree) there is something very contrasexual about this goddess. She, like Hephaestus, was born parthogenetically, but from Zeus's head. She represents wisdom, but also supports men in battle. She is feminine, virginal, yet mighty and powerful. It seems this Athenian archetype would be a much better lens through which to reach for equality among the sexes, as she does not seek to manipulate men for power, but rather help men attain power, but not at the expense of herself. Athena, as the bringer of wisdom, also allows us to cut through all the emotional baggage associated with these gender wars.

My goal, in using applied myth to this very touchy issue, is to bring enlightenment and a new way of understanding the plights of both men and women, through the archetypal lens of Hephaestus, Ares and Aphrodite, and Athena. This issue is not either/or, it is both/and.  I believe our culture, and the world, is tired of this gender war, and ready to move on. We want to quit playing the blame game and start healing what has been so deeply hurt – in both men and women.  Once we can begin to see the archetypal differences in gender as something that unites us (a heiros gamos, if you will), and the similarities between us, I would think we'd be able to move into a deeper realm. No longer would we be so fixated on that which divides and differentiates us, but move into a more sacred space, celebrating where we have come from, and the journeys/stories that each of us bring to the table, regardless of sex and gender roles.