MW

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I believe that our Heavenly Father has assigned us different roles as men and women. Heavenly Father has provided us with council from prophets about these roles and how Heavenly Father wishes us to fulfill them.

The family proclamation to the world is a publication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints given on September 23, 1995. It outlines the roles of mothers and fathers and men and women in families. It states that “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.” This principal is vital for us to be able to fulfill our roles. The family proclamation states that “…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.” While men and women have separate responsibilities in life and in the home, they are still expected to work as a team. “In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.” So why do men and women have different roles to fulfil in the first place?

Men and women are naturally different, the difference comes from birth. We are just simply born different. For example, most men when driving navigate using direction, north south, and a vague sense of distance traveled. Women navigate using land marks that they know or remember. When considering children, if you let children pick and play with toys, most children will choose to play with the toys that are gender specific to them. Boys will pick trucks and toy guns and action figures. They rough house and play hard. Girls will pick the dolls and makeup and dress-up clothes. Girls play with each other and focus on the relationships between dolls and the other children they play with.

When I was six years old, I had two best friends. They both lived across the street from me and we all played together. My friends were a boy and a girl, Christian and Makenna. We played together every day, and every day we would change up what we did. When we would play at Christians house we played with Legos and I-Spy books. Christian would build cars and ships out of Legos, while Makenna and I would build houses for the Lego people. While playing I-Spy Christian would always leave feeling frustrated that us girls could remember exactly where the objects were from the last time we played. We would often play at Makenna’s house, where she had two sisters and dress up clothes, dolls, and kitchen sets. Makenna and I would dress up in dresses that matched our hats and shoes, but Christian would put on clothes the wrong way and two different shoes in attempt to make us laugh. When we would play with barbies Makenna and I always made our dolls interact with each other and form relationships. Christian would use a baby doll and attack our barbies and destroy their houses. All of us had equal opportunity to play with whatever toys we wanted in the way we wanted, but the “gender norms” still rang true.

Back to research, when separating children from their mothers, most boys would turn aggressive to try to get back to her by pounding on the barrier. Whereas girls sit down and cry for help. Girls sit up on their own earlier than boys do. Boys crawl away from their caretakers and venture off sooner than girls. As infants, 72 hours old, males startle more easily than females. Females move their lips and suck on their tongues.

Men and women are just different. In no way is this a negative thing. Encouraging men and women to do what they will most excel in is not discrimination. I hope that we can someday accept the differences for what they are and appreciate them. I am excited to see a world where women and men can be appreciated for the differences they bring to the table.




here is a link to a video that might make you laugh about how men and women think differently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XjUFYxSxDk