Masculinity & Femininity Course

Many people enter a relationship carrying a ready-made picture of “how a man is supposed to be” and “how a woman is supposed to be”.

Part of that picture may relate to our personalities and individual traits, and part of it is shaped by upbringing, society and the expectations we grew up with. When these get mixed up without awareness, they can turn into misunderstanding, pressure and a struggle over roles inside the relationship.

The “Masculinity & Femininity” course is a practical training space that helps you understand yourself and your partner more deeply, tell personal traits apart from social stereotypes and expectations, and deal with the differences between you consciously, without locking yourself or your partner into a fixed image of what a man or a woman should be.

The goal is not to say that all men are alike or that all women are alike, but to understand the traits, tendencies and expectations that can show up to different degrees, and how they interact inside the relationship.

Who is this course for?

• Married or in a relationship, and you feel there is a struggle over roles or expectations between you and your partner.
• About to get engaged or married, and you want to build a realistic foundation from the start.
• You feel that society’s expectations of men and women affect your relationship more than your real needs do.
• You want to understand your own traits and your way of relating, away from ready-made stereotypes.
• You want to understand the differences between you and your partner consciously, instead of letting them turn into confusion or ongoing conflict.
• You are interested in understanding more deeply the relationship between traits, roles, attraction and communication between partners.

Course topics

1. Masculinity and femininity beyond ready-made stereotypes — Understanding the traits and tendencies we usually associate with masculinity or femininity, and how they differ from the images and roles society expects of men and women. These traits are not fixed rules, and they can appear in people to different degrees.
2. Healthy masculinity — Discussing traits such as initiative, taking responsibility, firmness, protection and emotional steadiness, and how they differ from harmful patterns such as control, harshness or suppressing emotions.
3. Confident femininity — Discussing traits such as warmth, self-confidence, expressing needs and quiet strength, and how a woman can deal with society’s pressures and expectations without losing her personal identity.
4. Attraction and polarity in the relationship (Polarity) — Getting to know Polarity as a framework common in some relationship writing for understanding certain dynamics of attraction and difference between partners. We treat it as a tool for thinking and discussion, not as a fixed scientific law, and not as a requirement for every successful relationship.
5. Roles and expectations in the Arab context — How culture, upbringing and society can shape our expectations of the man’s and the woman’s roles, and how both partners can re-agree on roles in a way that suits their relationship instead of fighting over “who is supposed to do what”.
6. Practical applications to yourself and your relationship — Exercises that help you recognise the traits and tendencies that show up in you, understand your partner’s pattern, and review your expectations of the relationship more realistically.
7. Attachment styles and their effect on the relationship — How attachment styles can affect our reactions with our life partner, especially around closeness, distance, conflict and the need for security, seen as patterns and tendencies rather than fixed judgements about a person.

After the course you will be able to:

• Distinguish more clearly between your personal traits and the social stereotypes and expectations about men and women.
• Understand some of the traits linked to the ideas of healthy masculinity and confident femininity, without turning them into fixed rules for every person.
• Notice your expectations of your partner and ask yourself: do they come from a real need in the relationship, or from a preconceived idea of what is “supposed” to be?
• Understand Polarity as a framework for thinking about some dynamics of attraction, without treating it as a fixed law.
• Handle roles within the relationship with more awareness and flexibility.
• Apply exercises that help you understand yourself and your partner more deeply.
• Notice how attachment styles can affect your reactions within the relationship.

Programme details:

• Number of sessions: 4 sessions.
• Length of each session: two and a half hours.
• Total training content: 10 hours.
• Attendance is available in person in Cairo or online.
• The programme is suitable for men and women, for married people, people in relationships, and those about to get engaged or married.
• New group dates are announced on Amr Ezz’s social media pages.
• Nature of the programme: an educational training programme. It is not a substitute for psychotherapy or individual consultation when you need it.

Who presents the course?

Amr Ezz, relationships, parenting and psychological support consultant, certified trainer, author of 3 books, with more than 160 media appearances and long practical experience working with relationship and marriage issues.