Skip to main content

Gender Roles in the Family


"In His grand design, when God first created man, He created duality of the sexes. The ennobling expression of that duality is found in marriage. One individual is complementary to the other. As Paul stated, 'Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord' (1 Corinthians 11:11). There is no other arrangement that meets the divine purposes of the Almighty. Man and woman are His creations. Their duality is His design. Their complementary relationships and functions are fundamental to His purposes. One is incomplete without the other."
- President Gordon B. Hinckley

This week we are talking about gender roles in the family.  As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we know from The Family: A Proclamation to the World, that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.  We know that, “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”  This is critical to our understanding of families and marriage.  We have been given divine characteristics that help us in our success in these relationships. 

We participated in an activity in class this week that I found to resonate with The Family Proclamation. In this activity, we came up with a chart of different characteristics/qualities that are more feminine and some that were more masculine.  Here is what we came up with:

Feminine Characteristics
Masculine Characteristics
Cooperative
Aggressive
Nurturing
Greater upper body strength
Relationship oriented
Competitive
Communicative
Spatial oriented
Landmark oriented

Sensitive


After listing these, we discussed how they related to what the Family Proclamation said about the roles of fathers and mothers within the family:

“By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.”

For women, we talked about how all of the qualities we listed directly related to being able to fulfill her role to be nurturing in the family.  The same went for men and their ability to preside, provide, and protect.  I find it humbling that these characteristics have been with us throughout our whole existence. 

We discussed how women’s verbal and emotional centers are connected with five times the amount of connective tissue than men.  This helps them connect everything that they need to in order to help fulfil her role in the home whereas men have more grey matter which helps them have more storage.  Speaking of, if you haven’t seen this video about the differences between men’s and women’s brains, I highly recommend it.  You will want to buckle in for this one 😉 I will link it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XjUFYxSxDk

I think it is a big misunderstanding when we try and get rid of these divine characteristics either as we raise our children or pressure our peers.   We tell girls that they need to be more aggressive, that they need to compete more, that they need to be dominant and in charge.  This doesn’t help them develop the characteristics that they need as mothers.  We tell our boys to be more sensitive and less aggressive when in fact this inhibits their roles as providers and protectors.  We need to embrace the divine characteristics that were given to use, and we need to do our best to develop them.  It is the only way for our families to have the best chance at success.  God has a perfect plan and he designed us the way we are for this specific reason.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Preparing for Marriage

I am sooo excited about the topic this week!   The topic is, (drum roll please), Preparing for marriage!!!! This information really rang true to me because this is the stage that I am currently in.   Let’s get right to it. Dating is an important aspect of eventually finding someone that you will share your life with.   Assortive Dating is the idea that you date multiple people, no strings attached, just going out and having a good time and meeting new people.   This is an important stage that many people skip.   My mom likes to call it shopping for ice cream flavors.   Everyone is different and you may think you like mint chocolate chip until you try graham canyon.   This gives you an idea of what you need in a relationship and things that you could do without. In a devotional given by Dallin H. Oaks entitled “Dating vs. Hanging Out” he explains the 3 p’s of dating: “A “date” must pass the test of three p’s:   Date must h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Power in Family Relationships

This week we are talking about power in family relationships and how to become one with our spouse.  It used to be that in previous decades, the man had the most power in the family.  He made all of the important decisions, decided what the wife and children did, and had the final say in most matters.  However, in recent times we have seen this trend change.  Over time, the roles have shifted, and families are becoming either more equal, or the woman is trying to gain power.  This is due to the rise in feminism. So what are we supposed to do?  How is the power shared in the family relationship?  I am so glad you asked.  In the article, “Who Is the Boss? Power Relationships in Families” (2008) by Richard B. Miller, PhD, director of the School of Family Life Brigham Young University, He shares some points to consider: 1.        Parents are the leaders in families:  He says that there should be a clear ...
Post a Comment
Read more

FAMILY 100-- When Children Leave the Covenant Path

Hey everyone!   I wanted to talk a little bit about the heartache experienced by many families when children leave the covenant path.   This is so hard on so many people and they seek for something or someone to blame, often choosing themselves to blame.   This can be extremely harmful and dangerous to any parent when they begin to feel guilty for the choices their children have made.   In successful marriages and family, they share that: Elder Orson F. Whitney taught: The Shepherd will find his sheep. They were his before they were yours—long before he entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as he loves them….Our Heavenly Father knows, far better than any mortal, the pain and sorrow associated with having children who exercise their moral agency to their condemnation rather than exaltation. Can there be any better parent than God? Children’s decisions may bring us sorrow, no matter how faithfully we have taught our children. I foun...
Post a Comment
Read more