No matter how one tries, gender is inseparable with identity. The feminists and sexists of modern society who are working to diminish traditional gender roles claim to be pushing for equality of rights. Such individuals have a sad misinterpretation that sameness defines equality, when in fact it doesn't. I agree with equality of opportunity, yet working together supports that differences are good. Uniformity of the sexes, and more specifically changing the standards so everyone qualifies (just as with the 'No Child Left Behind' act) , will keep us from progressing. Every individuals is blessed with qualities and talents, and we are to help one another in their weakness. Having a weakness does NOT make one weak. Why do individuals feel they have to prove themselves? Because they fail to see the whole. 1 Corinthians 12:21 lays this truth with clarity: "the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you." I add: neither can the right hand say to the left, I have no need of you. Yes, one hand is still functional without the other, but is is better to have two--and not two left hands! One is not better than another, and both is better together. Why don't we just be are best selves? We all have things we are better at doing than others, and others have things they are better at doing than ourselves.
Who will fill the role and responsibility of womanhood and mothers if females do not?
Who will fill the role and responsibility of manhood and fathers if males do not?
There are only two genders, male and female, and they complement each other to form the whole.
Let Us Be Men -- D. Todd Christofferson
The Women in Our Lives -- Gordon B. Hinckley
One thing I've been wondering about is how the typical role helps fulfill the responsibilities. The Family gives examples of when responsibilities certainly change, "disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation." Is it possible that these responsibilities may change in the face of situations that force it, while the roles are eternal enough that they don't have to change when responsibilities do?
ReplyDeleteOn numerous occasions, Elder Dallin H Oaks has shared examples from his childhood as he was raised by his widowed mother. He usually did not think of his mother as a widow, and I believe that's because as she raised him, she made it clear that while she was filling her husband's responsibilities as a provider, he was still fulfilling his role as a father:
"She taught us that we had a father and she had a husband and that we would always be a family because of her and my father’s temple marriage. I’d always just felt that my father was away because the Lord had called him to another work.
Friend to Friend, Interview with Elder Dallin H Oaks