You’ve probably seen the think pieces. Maybe you were scrolling through the New York Times on a Sunday morning and hit a column about "soft girl era" or "divine femininity" and wondered if Carl Jung was spinning in his grave. Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who basically mapped the human soul, didn't use TikTok hashtags. He used concepts like the Anima and the Animus. But honestly, if you look at the feminine side in jungian psychology nyt trends often miss the mark by making it about aesthetics rather than the grueling, internal work of becoming a whole person.
Jung believed we are all a mess of contradictions. He posited that the male psyche contains an inner feminine figure (the Anima), and the female psyche contains an inner masculine figure (the Animus). It isn’t about gender roles. It’s about energy. It's about the parts of ourselves we’ve buried because society told us they were "weak" or "irrational."
What is the Anima, Really?
The Anima is the personification of all feminine psychological tendencies in a man’s psyche. Think of it as the bridge to the unconscious. When a man is out of touch with his feminine side, he doesn't just "lack empathy." He becomes brittle. He loses his capacity for relatedness. Jung argued that a man’s first experience of the feminine is usually through his mother, which sets the template for his Anima.
If that relationship was stifled or overbearing, the Anima might manifest as a "mood." You know the type. A sudden, inexplicable irritability or a feeling of being "vaguely handled by fate." That’s the Anima acting out because she’s been ignored. In Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections, he describes his own encounter with this inner voice, which he realized was a distinct personality within him. It wasn't him, but it spoke through him.
The Problem with the "Feminine Side" Label
Labels are tricky. When we talk about the feminine side in jungian psychology nyt articles often simplify it to "intuition" or "emotions." That’s part of it, sure. But it’s also the dark, chthonic, chaotic force of nature. It’s the womb and the grave. Jung didn't see the feminine as just "nice" or "nurturing." He saw it as a powerful, sometimes terrifying, psychological reality.
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For women, the journey is often about the Animus—the inner masculine. While the Anima produces moods, the Animus produces opinions. Harsh, rigid, "this is how it is" kind of thoughts that can paralyze creativity. Integration isn't about becoming more like the "other" gender; it's about making the unconscious conscious so these internal figures stop sabotaging your life.
Why the New York Times Keeps Coming Back to Jung
Why does this 100-year-old theory keep popping up in modern media? Probably because we are lonelier than ever. The NYT has covered the "loneliness epidemic" extensively, and Jungian psychology offers a roadmap out. If you’re disconnected from your inner feminine—regardless of your gender—you’re disconnected from the ability to form deep, meaningful bonds.
You become a machine. You focus on "doing" rather than "being."
Modern life is heavily weighted toward the masculine: logic, competition, linear progress, and concrete results. The feminine side is about the cyclical, the receptive, and the relational. When we ignore the latter, we burn out. We feel empty despite our achievements. This is why you see high-powered executives turning to Jungian analysis or breathwork; they are trying to reclaim the soul-life that a hyper-rational world has stripped away.
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The Four Stages of the Anima
Jung didn't think the Anima was static. It evolves. Or rather, our relationship to it evolves as we mature.
- Eve: The purely biological. The mother figure. The provider of life and nourishment.
- Helen: The romantic, idealized beauty. Think of the "femme fatale" or the "muse." It’s still externalized, projected onto others.
- Mary: The spiritualized feminine. This is about devotion and higher love. It moves beyond the physical.
- Sophia: The ultimate integration. Wisdom. The Anima as a guide to the inner world, a partner in the search for meaning.
Most people get stuck at Eve or Helen. We project our inner needs onto our partners and then get angry when they don't live up to the archetype. "You were supposed to save me!" No, your Anima/Animus was supposed to help you save yourself.
The Shadow and the Feminine
You can't talk about the feminine side without talking about the Shadow. The Shadow is everything about ourselves we find unacceptable. Often, a man’s feminine side is buried deep in the Shadow because he grew up in a culture that equated "feminine" with "inferior."
Reclaiming it is painful. It involves admitting you have needs. It involves admitting you aren't always in control.
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Marie-Louise von Franz, one of Jung’s closest collaborators, wrote extensively about how the feminine is often the "missing piece" in the Western psyche. She argued that without a healthy relationship with the feminine, we are prone to fanaticism and collective madness. Look at the comments section of any NYT political piece—you’ll see plenty of unintegrated Animus energy: rigid, judgmental, and completely lacking in nuance.
Practical Steps for Integration
So, how do you actually "do" Jungian work? It's not about reading more books. It's about engagement.
- Watch Your Projections. If you find yourself intensely attracted to—or repelled by—someone, ask yourself what "feminine" or "masculine" qualities they represent. You are likely seeing a piece of your own soul reflected in them.
- Attend to Dreams. Jung believed dreams were the primary way the unconscious communicates. If a mysterious woman appears in a man's dream, that’s the Anima. What is she doing? Is she trapped? Is she leading him somewhere?
- Active Imagination. This is a core Jungian technique. You essentially hold a conversation with these inner figures. It sounds weird, but it’s remarkably effective for uncovering why you feel "stuck."
- Embrace the "Non-Productive." The feminine side thrives in the gaps. Art, gardening, wandering without a destination—these are acts of relatedness to the self that don't require a "return on investment."
Moving Beyond the Theory
The goal of Jungian psychology isn't to become some perfect, balanced being. That’s impossible. The goal is individuation. It’s the process of becoming who you actually are, rather than who you were programmed to be.
By acknowledging the feminine side in jungian psychology nyt and other publications often highlight, we move closer to a psyche that is flexible rather than fragile. We learn to sit with the "not knowing." We learn that vulnerability isn't a flaw in the system; it is the system.
Actionable Insights for Daily Integration
- Audit your language: Stop using words like "irrational" or "sensitive" as insults. These are often code for feminine traits that are actually vital for psychological health.
- Check your "Shoulds": When you feel a rigid internal voice telling you how things must be, that's likely an unintegrated Animus. Take a breath. Ask what the "feeling" side of the situation is.
- Create without an audience: Do something creative—paint, write, build—and then don't post it on social media. This protects the internal process from the "masculine" need for external validation.
- Study the archetypes: Read Man and His Symbols by Jung. It’s the most accessible entry point to understanding how these figures operate in your own life and in the culture at large.