By Joe Perez
Types refer to the persistent deep universal structures of existence. As I've argued in Soulfully Gay, the four prime types of existence are the masculine principle, the feminine principle, Eros (or heterophilia), and Agape (homophilia). In an evolutionary perspective, love flows in two directions. Love flows from creation to Source (the direction of heterophilia), and from Source to creation (the direction of homophilia). Gayness is not merely a concern of homosexuals; it is a universal attribute of human existence on the deepest or highest levels of reality.
In Part 1 of this three-part series, we looked at the basics of integral theory as it is summed up by the acronym STEAM. We saw that the "T" refers to types. In part 2, we looked at frequently asked questions about integral theory. In this concluding post, we look more closely at types and how they provide a "map" to situate gay spirituality within a wider perspective.
In my interpretation of integral theory, human personhood in its essence is always derived from permutations and variations on four prime types as they manifest in individuals. Generally, one type is dominant in a person’s identity and psychosexual development. When a specific type is dominant, it usually corresponds to a particular combination of gender and sexual orientation (yang-yang for straight men, yin-yin for lesbians, yang-yin for gay men, and yin-yang for straight women).
When no one type is dominant, most commonly two types are combined (for example, yin-yin and yin-yang for many bisexual women and yang-yang and yang-yin for many bisexual males). Types that combine gender may find expression in transgender and non-gender conforming persons (for example, effeminate heterosexual males—the “lesbian trapped in a straight man’s body”—might be expressing a combination of the yang-yang and yin-yin types).
Of course, there's much more to human personality than is revealed by these four types. It's possible to define any number of typological permutations of basic human characteristics (two types, four, six, nine, twelve, and so forth). Any specific individual will display a unique combination of these types (not just one), and all four types are present in men and women, heterosexuals and homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered, alike. Types are tendencies, not destinies!
However, these four prime types are not arbitrary; their predominance is reflected by the frequency with which they have appeared throughout human history. These archetypes have appeared in Taoist thought to ancient Greek mythology. Moreover, in integral theory, they are manifestations of the four prime tenets of all holons (a holon is a whole/part). Gayness is defined as a cross-cultural universal tenet of all holons, for it is how all holons express homophilia (self-dissolution) at one of the most elemental levels of their being.
Types are worth considering because they reveal the very spirit and substance of human nature. They are the deep structures underlying the patterns of evolution: species struggling for self-preservation (agency) and adaptation (communion) in a world in the midst of the great Alpha and Omega. They are the face of Spirit by any other name: God's Love (homophilia) embracing and connecting a fragmented world as life reaches out (heterophilia) from its core nature.
Here are some of the connections we can make in exploring the four prime types, plus a fifth type (actually a balanced combination of the four others).
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Masculine heterophile
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Feminine heterophile
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Masculine homophile
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Feminine heterophile
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Neutral (yin-yin, yang-yang, yang-yin, and yin-yang)
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Joe Perez says his own type is probably mostly yang-yin balanced with yang-yang.This post is based on material previously published in Joe Perez's books Rising Up and Soulfully Gay. For more information about the author, visit www.joe-perez.com.
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