Yin and Yang
This project was an experiment to see how people who identify outside of the gender binary or don't believe in the gender binary would react to a system that is firmly grounded in the gender binary.
In Eastern traditions, there is a Yin &Yang philosophy Yin Yang Left Right Female (Feminine) Male (Masculine) Dark Light Water Fire Passive Active Negative Positive Receiving Giving And so forth; it’s a dichotomy. The idea is that these two forces exist and they are necessary to balance each other out. And also if you know how a Yin Yang symbol looks, you all know that there’s a small circle of black in the white side and a small circle of white in the white side. That’s because these two forces contain a part of the opposing force. That’s why even though I may be a guy there are still feminine qualities to me. Nothing is either all Yin or all Yang.
Falung Gong (sometimes called Falun Dafa) is a set of five qigong exercises. Qigong is a broad term for the Chinese art of mastering, building and controling 'qi.' Qi is an intangible 'life force' that exists inside our bodies.
Falun Gong is very simple and easy to learn and became so populasr in China during the 1990's that it was banned by the government because it was a false practice that was decieving people and jeopradising social stability. Falun Gong consists of five exercise that are meant to be practised daily or as often as possible.
We did the fourth exercise. The fourth exercise involves tracing around the body with your hands to build up Qi. There are specific points where the hands cross and the leading hand is different depending upon your gender.
The Presentation
Picture of the class and I in action.
The humble teacher
Stretching
Warming up
Starting to feel the qi
The results were inconclusive. While a remarkable number of people did claim to feel the qi flowing through their bodies, there was not a significant number of people who felt a difference based on the Yin or Yang side of their body to make a definitive statement in the class.