The Gendered Marketing of Energy

When people talk about feminine energy, it’s almost always marketed to women. Softness, intuition, nurturing, and flow are qualities that women are often encouraged to embrace.  When men embrace or embody any of these qualities, they are judged, dismissed, or seen as weak. When people talk about masculine energy, they are often referring to qualities they see as manly qualities that women should not embrace. Logic, ambition, and strength are traditionally seen as manly qualities. Women who embody these qualities are seen as too aggressive, cold, or too hard.

But here’s the question that most of us aren’t asking: Why is feminine energy framed as exclusive to women? Why are women discouraged from embodying masculine qualities?

Reclaiming the True Meaning of Energy

Masculine and feminine energies exist in everyone, regardless of gender. Actually, labeling them as masculine and feminine is a fairly new human construct. Before they were masculine and feminine they were Yin & Yang. This idea is rooted in Taoist philosophy where yin represents receptivity and yang represents action. One cannot exist without the other. There are other names as well, such as Fire & Water, Sky & Earth, Solar & Lunar. Somehow over time, these natural forces were assigned a gender, creating a false expectation of how men and women should behave, and becoming a catalyst for a lack of personal balance.

Feminine and Masculine energies are not about gender, they are archetypal forces present in all individuals, but somehow, we have turned them into something they are not. This distortion has created a cycle of imbalance, reinforcing harmful expectations while discouraging people from embracing their full selves.

The truth? Everyone embodies both energies. Some people lean more into one, some fluctuate between both, and others find their own unique balance that isn’t tied to their gender at all.

How the Marketing Bias Reinforces Gender Roles

Although there is a universal nature of these energies, marketing strategies tend to reinforce “traditional” gender roles:

Women are encouraged to cultivate feminine qualities, aligning themselves with societal expectations of being nurturing, empathetic, and emotional depth. They are told to “tap into their feminine energy” as if it’s their only defining trait.  While men are encouraged to be logical, ambitious, and dominant, and discouraged from exploring emotional depth or intuition.

What’s the result? A cycle where men feel disconnected from their emotions and women feel pressured to soften themselves in spaces that require strength. This messaging is limiting to everyone.

Men who embrace their intuition and emotional expression are seen as weak or unmanly. While women who prioritize logic and structure over emotion are called cold or rigid. But true balance doesn’t look the same for everyone.

The Consequences of Energy Narratives

This balance isn’t just about personal identity, it has real-world consequences.

Women who feel confined to traditional feminine roles may struggle to step into leadership, assert boundaries, or take up space in environments dominated by structure or action. When they do, they experience pushback for “going against the grain” often leading to toxic environments, especially in the workplace.

Men who are taught to suppress emotions may find it difficult to connect with themselves and others, leading to emotional repression, stress, and even mental health struggles that go unhealed.

Neither outcome leads to true wellness, nor individuals standing in their true power.

How Do We Move Beyond Gendered Energy Marketing?

Instead of forcing people into one role or the other, we should encourage a more inclusive understanding of energy where:

• People feel free to embrace both their receptive and active sides without fear of judgment.

• Society recognizes that balance looks different for everyone

• Traditional gender roles in the workplace and at home may not look the way they did in the past.

• Business and wellness brands create content and products that emphasize personal balance over gendered expectations.

This shift isn’t just about marketing, it’s about supporting people in becoming who they truly are instead of forcing them into categories that never fit them to begin with.

Embracing Your Own Energy

Masculine and feminine energy were never meant to be confined to gender. We all have the capacity for softness and strength, intuition and logic, stillness and action. The more we embrace both, and obtain our own version of balance, the more we step into our true, whole authentic selves. It’s time to move beyond gendered narratives and let people find balance in a way that feels right for them while we seek to find balance in a way that’s right for us.