Men & Women: The Same?

Did you ever have a disagreement with your brothers growing up? Or if you were the brother, did you  and your sister ever try and solve things differently with said disagreement? You, the girl,wanted to watch Arthur, he wanted to watch Quigley Down Under, and when you tried to talk about it to find a compromise (Okay, maybe it was more like crying and stomping my little feet about it), he decided to rudely set you in your room and tie your door handle to an opposite doors handle so that you couldn't bother him any more. Yeah? Well, maybe your experiences were a bit different, but I'd guess they probably have a similar theme.
What about dating? Did you ever find yourself going about things in opposite ways? Maybe you have a disagreement one day and when you see each other the next he's completely forgotten about it, while you're still fuming. Or maybe he'll ask you what you're thinking about; you'll spurt out the twenty different trains of thought that are running like mad bulls through your mind, all seemingly connected by the longest imaginable piece of invisible string, but when you ask him what's occupying his mind you learn that he's thinking of one. single. thing. ...I'm sorry, is that possible?
Alright, so what am I getting at here? Men and women are different. Innately. To say it differently, and in the words of that scary, scary woman, I was born this way. You were born how you are, be that woman or man. With that inheritance come qualities that are gender specific. There are many in the world today that say that there are no differences between males and females, but that if there are we should hastily change our society, mind set, way of living, and way of raising our children so that those differences between boys and girls are no longer existent. Equality, they call it.

Let me take a step back to the movement for women's rights. It's related, I promise. What a wonderful thing! Because of those strong, visionary, hopeful women we now have opportunities that weren't even thought of just a few generations ago. We can vote, we can work outside the home, we can run for office, we can fight in the army, and on, and on the list goes. This has changed our lives, our family's lives, and the life of our societies and cultures. Women equal with men, a happy sentiment. Or are we truly equal? It's found that women have a difficult time passing the required strength performance tasks for some occupations, like to become a fire fighter. Most women just don't have the strength to do these things. Equal? They're excluding women from the occupation of fire fighting! Every women should have that right! Right? So do you agree that the strength standers should be lowered for women joining your local fire fighters? You wouldn't mind being dragged out of the third floor of a burning building, your head hitting ever step on the way down because your female savior didn't have the strength to cary you out, unlike her male coworker, right? What's a major concussion and some brain damage so long as that woman can be equal to her male coworkers! ...Even if it risks another's life.... right? I mean, men only have, on average, twice the upper body strength of women. No big deal. But I'm sure we shouldn't take that into account with something like this. Men being more qualified for a position like this--well, saying something that is sexist and discriminatory! Or maybe it's just wise.
Equality does not mean that everything is the same. Being equal with the guy siting next to me in the library does not mean that we will have the same abilities, or that if he makes it into a Psychology grad school and I don't, that the board of admissions is being biased and that I have every right to sue for the injustice of it all. No. Please no. Equality is equal opportunities. If I want to be the CEO of a company then I have every right to go for it. Why? Because it's an option, it's available if I want it. But say I wanted to be a civil engineer but am, quite honestly, terrible at math, geometry, and basically everything the major requires. Should the program be required to lower their standards (because men are often more proficient at math than women) so that I can do what I have a desire to do? Well, no they shouldn't.
My point is that while the movement for women's rights started something really, very good, perhaps we've taken it to an extreme. I also believe that we lost something very important along the way, but more on that later.
Women and men are equal but different. That statement can seem like somewhat of a conundrum, can't it? Equal but different... How can two things be different, unique, but still have equal worth? That is something that isn't often thought of in the world.
Girls and boys are different from a very young age. Boys crawl sooner, girls sit sooner, boys are more aggressive, girls more sensitive and nurturing, and so on. Some say that these are differences imposed upon the children from society and by subtle parenting differences between how boys and girls are raised. I don't believe that. Men and women have unique God given characteristics specific to their gender. Simply put, we are not the same. You can try all you like but men and women will always be different. It is because of these differences that marriage is such a divine relationship; husband and wife complete each other and help to perfect one another by each bringing to the table something that the other doesn't have, or maybe isn't as proficient with. We help each other to learn and grow! Without woman, man would be lost, and vice verse. In Genesis 2:18 it says, "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Our differences are there to help one another and without the differences of men and women we would never be able to reach our fullest potential.
Don't think I'm saying that women need to be dainty and delicate every second of every day (please no! I'm such a tomboy!), or that men should walk through the day showing feats of strength at every corner. What I'm trying to say is that men and women are beautifully different and that we shouldn't try to change or take away what God has given us. It is a gift to be a women, I cherish my role in God's plan. Don't you take your part in His plan for granted.




If you want to know more about the individual roles of men and women check out this link: https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation
Or take a peak at the similar blogs, they'll probably have something to say!