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Analysis
“Divine feminine energy,” “goddess energy,” or the spiritual idea that the feminine part of some greater power’s energy source exists in all of us is not a new idea. Believers of the concept say that it was present in many ancient societies, as shown in sculptures from those time periods.
In the 21st century, the idea of divine feminine has flourished on TikTok.
TikToks about divine feminine energy describe it as the antidote to “masculine energy” that “values power, success, and money,” and offer tips to “connect” with one’s goddess energy, like thinking, planning, and strategizing less and following your heart more; and healing one’s inner trauma.
And the ways in which many TikTokers say they honor their divine feminine energy seem to indicate that they have chosen to be more subservient to men: One TikToker said that her fiancé “takes on the leader role” in their relationship, plans their outings and vacations, makes “major financial decisions” and even walks her to her car and opens the driver side door for her every time she leaves the house. Another TikToker says that “to ensure you’re staying in your feminine energy” while dating, “the masculine leads and feminine receives.”
Some facets of harnessing one’s divine feminine energy also stress womens’ appearance, like always overdress and to look “classy,” ensuring you look like a “high value woman.”
Why it matters
While the idea of divine feminine energy isn’t entirely bad—healing one’s trauma is always a good idea—many of the ways in which it is being applied are misogynistic. The idea that women should take a backseat in their relationships robs them of their agency and plays into separate sphere ideology, and the whole business about dressing classy to show that you’re a high value woman feels like slut-shaming.
Plus, zooming out, a majority of TikToks about divine feminine energy pertain only to heterosexual relationships, making the concept seem pretty exclusive to heterosexual women.
TikToker Neha Chandrachud went viral last month when she posted a takedown of divine feminine energy, saying that it is “regressive BS” and “repackaged Christine doctrine.”
“Divine femininity encourages women to live a ‘soft life,’” Chandrachud says in her video. “It also encourages us girls to just tap out of the things that are more in line with the masculine, like working a 9-5 job, or paying for things, or making major decisions.”
And she says that these separate spheres are “coming from the bible” and “the mainstreaming of Christian values into day-to-day American society.”
One divine feminine TikToker posted a response to Chandrachud’s video, saying that what’s great about divine feminine energy is that men can have a 9-5 job and “be the leader of all the things [women] don’t want to do,” further proving Chandrachud’s point: that divine feminine energy wants women in the home, not out in the world having careers.
There’s nothing divine about divine feminine energy, it’s just the same tenets as the patriarchy.