Symbolism

Women and the Underside of Meetings (Part #6)

Curiously, whilst the cognitive role of women may be in various ways excluded from the conference process, it is to be recognized in the following:

the terms "congress" and "intercourse", as applied in the context of meetings and dialogue, have other (even primary) meanings directly associated with the integrative process relating male and female -- through which the future is engendered
the architectural symbolism of the front of large plenary meeting rooms typically involves a form of suitably draped proscenium of pillared archways deriving from traditions of theatre stage design (from which the dramatis personae emerge) -- often to be recognized as recalling elements of female genitalia.
more controversially, as suggested elsewhere (Dialogue: policy forums as metaphors), is the body-language of speakers, especially in relationship to the microphone and any proscenium, and that of the audience seated in expectation of stimulation (whether or not they are "turned on" by the gathering, or the result is considered fruitful). This is a reminder that unconscious factors may play a determining role in meeting processes.
staging presentations typically ensures that "stars" enter through the proscenium into the moment of the "happening" -- a birthing process (meriting the sense that such events laboriously "give birth"). As an "event", the transition may be compared to passage through and out of the birth canal -- being reborn in a new space as the culmination of a process analogous to a mating ritual. It is this that justifies explicit use of such symbolism in Wicca and Tantra.
use of the term seminar, and its derivation dissemination, to characterize one environment in which participants engage in intercourse -- and the manner of the distribution of the outcome thereafter; curiously the possibility of an "ovular" (to receive such insights through "insemination"?) would be considered ridiculous, despite frequent use of euphemisms (or the presence of "egg-heads" at such gatherings!). However extensive use is made of "incubator" in the form of business incubators of innovations -- possibly associated with think-tanks -- whether or not "conception" actually occurs.

Potentially even more problematic is the extent to which the presentation of proposals by males, to an audience in expectation of possibly being "turned on", is effectively set up -- given the typically male ("homosexual") environment -- as "blow jobs for change" (in the language of the Masters of the Universe).

However, even when the declared purpose of an event may be to facilitate an integration of contrasting cultures, only indirectly symbolizing male and female, this is typically a real challenge for the organizers -- as with the events of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS). The compromise is then to organize entertainment as a separate part of the conference programme to represent cognitive modalities typically associated with women or involving them (music, performing arts, etc), even a dance or a party.

There is never any question of considering how such different cognitive modalities might be fruitfully integrated (Aesthetics of Governance in the Year 2490, 1990; Ensuring Strategic Resilience through Haiku Patterns: reframing the scope of the "martial arts" in response to strategic threats, 2006; Knowledge Gardening through Music: patterns of coherence for future African management as an alternative to Project Logic, 2000).

Women's Forum for the Economy and Society

This Forum, meeting regularly, was created in 2005 in reaction to the exclusive attitude of the annual, male-dominated World Economic Forum at Davos. The 5th such meeting was held in 2009 in Deauville (France) with 800 people. In contrast to the Davos gathering, a special song was sung by Arielle Dombasle - Women, just a woman. (Ruth Sutherland, Deauville forum: Women want a different business agenda, The Observer, 18th October 2009)