Spiny Sowthistle, edge . . . . (Sonchus asper ) Introduced to North America.

OUCH! Spiny Sowthistle takes leaf protection to extremes.

I always think that something similar is taking place between
the genders in Western culture. Whereas as many are predictably
again calling for the rehabilitation of ‘manly men’, in my view the real
problem may not be simply the isolated qualities of isolated individuals,
but rather the lack of complementarity in relationship.

In my view, complementarity is an absolutely vital feature of the
whole of nature. It’s essentially the idea of mutual benefit. But
also balance, and much more of what most people of all culture
consider important.

I’ve often said, when pondering both the loss of femininity and
of masculinity, that the real problem is the complete and utter
loss of basic complementarity. And not just in gender relationships,
but also and equally importantly in, for example, the Arts.
(Think of the incessant pounding bass guitar and drums & 4/4
bars of commercial pop music. That’s a kind of over-the-top,
highly corrupted, one-sided Yang or masculine energy, very
tellingly going unbalanced by any more feminine sound
or movement )

Briefly, I think that, instead of the back and forth balance which
emerges when the sexes balance one another, we now have
mere competition between the genders. That’s tragic.

So in place of working creatively together, doing naturally
what the other cannot or does not wish to do, we now have
"thorns of protection" sprouting up everywhere in great excess,
and in places where they've never before existed. It’s the price
of doing so much battle, I suppose.

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