Lauren Walsh

An interesting point! But I don't think anyone, regardless of gender, studies Aikido in order to be violent or to vent aggression. I am in the same boat as you when it comes to reading through all these discussions which are basically centred on the concept of men vs. women. I think it just needs to be remembered that the nature of men and the nature of women has always been, and always will be, very different. I agree with your point on what motivates violence between men and women, it resonates throughout all the natural world. It is instinctive for men to react aggressively when challenged or intimidated, and thus most fighting that occurs in nature is between males. The responsibilities of females in nature usually doesn't entail protecting territory or fighting for the right to mate, so aren't typically build to for serious physical altercations.

As for Aikido, it isn't a place for violence or the cultivation of violent tendencies. Why are there less women in Aikido than men? I don't know. Why is there a larger drop out rate of women? I don't know. Maybe it isn't even a gender issue. We are all individuals, all driven onward by our own individual emotions, experiences and demons. Perhaps its more constructive not to compare the two sexes, but rather search for ways by which we can balance ourselves as individuals (our own Yin and Yang) and examine our own individual weaknesses and strengths so that we can reach our potensial. We can't do that by forever limiting ourselves to generalisations about gender.