[LeonardoLestat]

Let me first get more clear on what I mean by masculine and feminine energy... It has come up again and again in books about men/women and about relationships.

Masculine energy:
-control
-focus
-grows by challenge
-is about "more", and better
-wants to break through, conquer something
-focus more on work and mission
-toughness

Feminine energy:
-not having to control, just letting things "be"
-more flowing, with emotion
-more soft
-focus more on relationships
-grows with praise, compliments
-caring, loving

Also in relationships, for there to be passion, there needs to be "polarity". So if you are a more masculine man, a feminine woman attracts you naturally (sexually). If you are a very feminine woman, a feminine man does not really attract you, not sexually at least.

Note that you can be a woman with a masculine essence, or a man with a more feminine essence. David Deida (author of "the way of the Superior Man) says that 90% of people he worked with have a definite preference, and that about 10% have a more balanced essence.

Me personally, I do have strong values and try to find and live my true mission, but also have this strong feeling side. So I'm more balanced, I think. Maybe that's why I am not that easily attracted to women that I meet.

What do you think is your own essence, more masculine or feminine? I'm just wondering what other ISFP's essence is, I've been thinking about this. And what preference have your (previous) relationship partners been?

EDIT: Well peoples, how could this be stereotypical? Isn't it so obvious that people have a natural preference? That there is a difference between Arnold Schwarzenegger and the hippie guy spreading love and hugging people? I'm not talking about what society thinks you "should" be, how you are "supposed" to act and be; I'm talking about REAL masculine and feminine ENERGY, your natural essence. Most men are naturally very masculine (Barack Obama, Muhammed Ali, as random examples) and some more feminine. It's like MBTI, it's not stereotypical, it juts is. Like, you can behave in a "stereotypical" male manner when you are a man, but on the inside really be naturally more feminine.

Like, my naturally very feminine friend who is just a flow of emotions and moods is very different from my Stoic, authoritative, strong, leading, black belt karate Sensei. There IS a natural difference, not just a "societal" difference.

@NekoNinja: "The only thing that I might be curious about is whether ISFPs are more dominant or submissive" -- Well that IS a masculine / feminine energy difference. That is what I'm talking about. It's not that a feminine woman can't be dominant. It is just that if she is in her natural state, she doesn't need to control or dominate anything, if she's got a strong man who can lead her. Also, a masculine male naturally will want be dominant, want to lead. Not from a society "I should be dominant because I am a man"-thing, but from his natural desire to lead and be dominant.

"ISFPs are generally too independent to really care if they are acting like what they are "supposed" to act like. Or thats my view anyways." - well... I don't care also how you "should" behave. But you're gonna behave in SOME way. How do you REALLY behave, because it is somewhere on the spectrum of masculine / feminine ENERGY (not masculine / feminine "what society thinks you should").



Alright... I am just a bit bothered people think I am trying to stereotype or box. You know, I am an ISFP also, I don't give much of a fuck what society thinks. I am just asking what is REAL within you. Those qualities aren't ALL feminine / masculine qualities, it was just to paint a clearer picture for you to answer my question with.

I relate more to the T/F: men are T, women are F.
Following that, I consider myself to be more feminine than most men.

[IndyGhost2010]

I feel as though I have more of an androgynous energy. A nice balance of masculine and feminine energy. I can be soft or firm, depending on what the moment calls for. I've also never been overly girly nor a tom-boy. I'm just me.

I also tend to attract softer males... or rather androgynous energied males.

The overly masculine or overly feminine personalities tend to turn me off in friendship and love, as well.

[Functianalyst]

Let me first get more clear on what I mean by masculine and feminine energy... It has come up again and again in books about men/women and about relationships.

Masculine energy:
-control
-focus
-grows by challenge
-is about "more", and better
-wants to break through, conquer something
-focus more on work and mission
-toughness

Feminine energy:
-not having to control, just letting things "be"
-more flowing, with emotion
-more soft
-focus more on relationships
-grows with praise, compliments
-caring, loving

Take a look at your statements again and consider this. You.... do know your masculine describes the general behavior of someone using an extraverted judging function (Te/Fe) and your feminine describes someone using extraverted perceiving (Se/Ne)? Emotions are not part of the make-up of type, since it's all about cognition, hence cognitive functions. I would have no doubt that male ISFPs are as masculine as any other male type.

[Outcode]

If going by your definitions, then I'd have to say I'm more-so feminine, in regards to all that.

[Calisex]

Bleh, I took tests and I came out ISFP. Thread's like this make me feel like i'm something else. Most of the guys here seem very feminine, or lean towards it. I'm very dominant, if i'm not in control then i'll go out of my way to gain control if I feel the need to have it. In relationship's I pick out what we're doing, eating, even though I am nice and will ask her if she wants to do something else some days.

Definitely while having sex I am very aggressive, and like pounding the shit out of girls, I restrain their hands above them, I dirty talk to them, and give them extremely intense eyes. Every girl that i've met have told me they love how manly I am... even though I am a caring guy, and really care about people I am just pretty naturally dominant. I feel like I have an extreme amount of dignity, and the only way I can grow further is to always challenge myself every day.

[Nayru]

Yeah I would say I am also more balanced. Except that in my life with people, especially being quite small for my age growing up, I lived more out of masculine energy. Probably also more because of friends and expectations. Skateboarding, taking risks, standing up to others, lighting things on fire... It took a while before I could see that I'm just more sensitive than many of my friends, and began living true to how I really was.

I also think it's a nice mix. I feel like I am more the observer of them in a way. Like I don't mind not having control, and am OK with taking control, fine with both.

[uncreative_name]

I don't really fit either stereotype. I don't posses the typical masculine characteristics, but I don't really act feminine either. It's hard to explain in words.

[Starflakes]

Let me first get more clear on what I mean by masculine and feminine energy... It has come up again and again in books about men/women and about relationships.

Masculine energy:
-control
-focus
-grows by challenge
-is about "more", and better
-wants to break through, conquer something
-focus more on work and mission
-toughness

Feminine energy:
-not having to control, just letting things "be"
-more flowing, with emotion
-more soft
-focus more on relationships
-grows with praise, compliments
-caring, loving

I think I'm going to go with feminine. Heh.

But I like softer guys. Feelers are generally way more attractive to me than thinkers. ENFPs are hot.

[ReuBurn]

I see myself in both actually. I feel that I'm more masculine when relating to myself, and more feminine when relating to others, if that makes any sense. I like to challenge myself, have a lot of focus and am very independent, and yet I don't like to control others, am flexible and sensitive.

[LeonardoLestat]

Bleh, I took tests and I came out ISFP. Thread's like this make me feel like i'm something else. Most of the guys here seem very feminine, or lean towards it. I'm very dominant, if i'm not in control then i'll go out of my way to gain control if I feel the need to have it. In relationship's I pick out what we're doing, eating, even though I am nice and will ask her if she wants to do something else some days.

Definitely while having sex I am very aggressive, and like pounding the shit out of girls, I restrain their hands above them, I dirty talk to them, and give them extremely intense eyes. Every girl that i've met have told me they love how manly I am... even though I am a caring guy, and really care about people I am just pretty naturally dominant. I feel like I have an extreme amount of dignity, and the only way I can grow further is to always challenge myself every day.

I agree on that one, I share the same experience. Dunnos. Female ISFPs are often misunderstood (I think) for being more masculine than is the norm, because ISFPs are/can be pretty aggressive+dominant... I used to mistype for ESTJ, man.
Except that uhm, a feeler is a feeler, and being a feeler is feminine I think.
What do you talk about, what do you miss in a bad relationship, etc... for me, it's feelings and intimacy and all that stuff. Even when I'm the distant dude in a relationship, it's because I feel the relationship is not intense enough, not because I like it that way.

I feel though that male feelers and female feelers (same goes for male thinkers and female thinkers; best example is ISTP, ISTP females are very feminine and way different from male ISTPs); what is the difference exactly, next to F/T ?