Gender Roles

Such a great weekend so far! Friday went on a blind double date with my best friend of 11 years and it was a blast! We ate dinner and went bowling! And then had a sleepover with my amazing roomies. And then today I went on a group date with a real cutie J we went sledding and then to Shake Out. It was super fun! I love this school and am so grateful to be here! So I’m actually taking two family classes this semester, this family relations class and then The Family. This week in both classes we have been talking about gender roles, so my post for this week I am going to talk about what I learned from this class and then pull a little from my other class. I think the topic of gender roles is really important. One of the most important things to start this topic off is by saying how our gender did not happen by chance; we are what we are by chance. There are specific characteristics and roles given to men and women that occurred before we came to this earth. I think it is important to remember this because it is not our choice and by going against our roles it is going against our divine nature. Man and woman are created equal, but that does not mean identical. Our roles are different but equal.  I think while we each have our roles, the man as the provider, protector and priesthood holders; while the woman is the nurturer and caregiver, we are here to help each other gain eternal salvation and each of our roles is equally important and necessary.

                One of the things that we talked about in class was that some research says that the reason that boys and girls act differently is due to sexist parenting. It said that parents need to treat their sons more like their daughters and nurture them more. This is just not true! We are different and supposed to be! There was a quote in one of my classes, I don’t remember which one, but it was something like “if we both thought the same, there wouldn’t be a need for both of us.” I think this can be applied to gender roles. If we were the same, there wouldn’t be a need for both males and females. But God created both, so obviously there is a need.  Plus, it’s more fun! Haha

                Last thing I wanna say.. we had a reading that I really liked and I wanted to mention it. It was about the role of siblings, specifically sisters. It talked about how important the role of siblings is in growing up. This study said that having a sister “protects them from feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscience, and fearful”.  And while major fighting between siblings is not the best thing, the little sibling squabbles is actually a good thing because it teaches us to make up and regain control of our emotions. SO that said… I just wanna say my little brother is lucky to have three AWESOME big sisters! Haha :P

Have a great week!  J