The masculine acts upon, the feminine is acted upon
Are we applying these terms incorrectly?
Which part of we? I'm meaning something very specific by these terms...and something a bit different than what I think probably most westerners would mean by them.
In American society, not at all. It's expected for the man to make the advances.
That would be consistent with the nature of masculine/feminine that I'm referring to.
Again, I gave the example of a sculpter working on stone. Or a painter working on canvass. It is no different. One acts, one becomes. One gives, one receives. One acts upon, one is acted upon. There is a very primal nature of energy exchange being described here, and biological male and female human beings are not exempt from it. It is simply more complicated with human beings because "biological male or female" does not precisely correspond to "100% yin or yang." As human beings, we have a mixed nature, and the ability to choose.
Nevertheless...it should come as no surprise if a biological female happens to act in harmony with nature of "feminine energy."
If you push on a door, you re acting upon the door. You give it energy which it receives and "becomes" by being open. Whether you ask the door nicely or yell at it angrily while you do so is irrelevant. But if you
only ask nicely without actually pushing the door isn't going to open. "Being nice" is not sufficient to generate a response in the feminine. You must act upon the door.
If you want a woman to respond to you...similarly, you must act upon her. You can't just "be nice" and expect her to open for you. And it's silly to complain if you "be nice" but don't get a response, yet the next guy to come along "acts mean" but
does push open the door, and gets a response.