I've just finished my re-read of WH and I don't see how circles made of men and women can be as effective as they seemed to be during the cleansing. When two women link, their strength is almost added together, but a link between a man and a woman can't make either of them any stronger, can it? I mean, they each work with a different half of the Power, and Saidin and Saidar still have to be weaved seperately.

Including the men in the circle only prevented the men from channeling whenever they spotted something (as evidenced by Hopwil's encounter with Halima/Aran'gar). Had I been Cadsuane, I'd have had the women link among themselves while Flinn and Hopwil just tag along (Narishma, of course, would have to be in a circle to make Callandor safe to use).

For another thing, how can a mixed gender circle even work when it requires somebody to channel a completely foreign half of the Power? I recall somebody (I think it was Elayne) saying that seeing what you were weaving was essential. So how can a man weave saidar (or a woman weave saidin) when they can not see the flows?

Did RJ ever give some sort of explanation for this?