Yesterday in one of my English classes my teacher asked us what it is that women want to do, and the difference between women and men. Based on the story we were reading he was getting at male/female roles in society/church. A guy in my class said, "Men are rational and women are emotional." The teacher asked if anyone wanted to throw a book at the dude. I wasn't too concerned about what he said because he is young and will eventually learn that stereotypes while sometimes applicable are never very flattering. So the teacher said, "Well that is a stereotype but not entirely false." Which I was fine with. I raised my hand and said, "Women want to be nurturers, we want to nurture and you can't say that is stereotypical because that is in the Proclamation to the Family." Then a girl a couple rows down turned to me and said with a sneer, "It says in the proclamation that our primary RESPONSIBILITY is to nurture."
Um, did I say something offensive here? If so, what on earth was it?
Commentary: I am so sick and tired of walking on eggshells when it comes to gender roles in our society/church. The proclamation is clear that the Lord has given men and women different different jobs to do and that is something to embrace and rejoice over. Why do young girls get so offended by the thought that motherhood is just as worthy of an occupation as anything else? I would never tell anyone that I am a great nurturer, but I want to be because I have that God-given power within me.
Also, what that girl said was semantics. If the Lord says our primary responsibility is to nurture, guess what, that means the Lord gave us the tools, that need is within us even if we aren't that good at it.
Hey wait, don't I go to BYU? I almost forgot.
3 comments:
Dude. I would have thrown a book at her. Dang, I wish you would have asked her what the **** (starts with an "h".... not another letter) is her problem. I agree with you about gender roles. Sure I would love to be some successful professor doing cool research on art history but dang, I'm way more stoked to fulfill my motherly responsibilities like Julie talked about in conference.
Jeanna,
Obviously that young man in your class has never met my husband if he wants to generalize that men are rational and women are emotional. While I'll freely admit to being emotional, there is not a rational or common sense bone in my husband's body. As for the girl, I think thirty lashes with a wet noodle, wait that wet noodle is her brain! She obviously didn't recognize who she was speaking too. If she did then she would know like I do, that you are intellectually superior to her and she would have just kept her big mouth shut!
I think I used to be one of those girls, I just had the common sense to never say it out loud in a public setting. Now that I have children I can't imagine doing anything else in life. While I do have aspirations of my own for the future, I am blessed to be able to be home with my kids at this time in their life. People need to realize we can do it all, we just can't do it all at the same time and that's ok. Whenever I come a cross someone like this girl I say, she probably doesn't have children yet. It changes you.
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