In an age when there is so much confusion about gender identity, it’s natural that the question arises about personalities who are parts of me and who identify as males. I can’t speak to the many complex and confusing issues surrounding sexual identity in this society, but I can talk about how we as a unit understand and experience distinctly male personalities in my female body.
Like a sponge soaks up water, we, as a total unit, soak up Biblical learning and apply it to our experiences and identities. Our male personalities relate closely with male personalities in Scripture. They display masculine traits, have masculine mindsets, and respond to things in a typically masculine way. Basically, they think, reason, and behave like a man.
Some of the passages of Scripture that are integrated into our personalities apply to all of us. Two passages that are core to our beings are Isaiah 43:1 in which we read (God speaking), “He Who created you, O Jacob (birth name), and He Who formed you, O Israel (his God given name): Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine”
and Psalm 139:1-3; 14-16 “O LORD, You have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. You know my down sitting and my uprising. You understand my thoughts afar off. You sift & search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways. … I will confess & praise You, for You are fearful and wonderful & for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret & intricately & curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.”
As alter personalities, these passages (and others) speak to the validity of our presence. From it we understand that God knows each one of us by our names. He knows all about us – how we were formed in secrecy in dark and mysterious places. For our male personalities, it means they aren’t a mistake. God has a plan and purpose for creating them in this female body.Their sexuality is part of the unique design God created in them.
They are secure in their identity. They know the truth that they are created by God with masculine qualities to their character for the survival and benefit of the corporate me. They have freedom to express their views and preferences. They are secure in the knowledge that they are a valuable part of our whole with a unique role to play in our life.
All this is true, but it doesn’t negate that God chose to create them as part of a female person. They are no more and no less important than our female personalities. They are not confused or mislead about their identities, their personalities, their masculinity, or their roles in the survival of the female person they are a part of.
I don’t know if this helps anyone to better understand male personalities and how their masculinity affects our sense of wholeness. It’s important to make clear that every multiple has their own unique way of expressions of themselves. I hope that an awareness of how our system sees ourself, and how we deal with gender differences, may help another multiple (or a professional who is working with multiples) gain insight into their own sense of selves.