Gender Roles

This week has  been very interesting. We have been discussing gender roles and the differences between men and women. I was shocked to find out that there are people out there who think that boys should be raised more like girls. Boys are usually raised to be tough and they don't show their emotions as much as girls. Some things that people were saying was that girls are given more love and care as children or that they get the more gentle side of the parents. This could be true but I think there is a natural reason for this. I don't think parents consciously think about raising their boys tougher than their girls. I think it comes naturally to them because that is how it is supposed to be. I think men are supposed to be different than women. The Lord made us that way for a reason. The trend now is to make men the same as women. I think by doing that we make it more socially acceptable to be homosexual. If there is no difference between men and women in society then there is no difference between them when it comes to getting married and raising children. Something that we talked about today in class was that people are saying that people are born gay or lesbian. That it is just a gene that some people get. I highly disagree with this. Children do not go around with the mind set that they like the same gender. They don't even know what the word gender means. For boys, there is usually a disconnect between them and their father which makes them feel like there is something wrong with them. They then begin to seek for affection from a male and end up being sexualized either by molestation or by pornography or otherwise. When their body responds to this they think that there has always been something wrong with them and that they must have always been gay. When it comes to homosexual females, they usually start out in a heterosexual relationship and find that it is too hard. They experiment with the other gender and find that it is much easier to be lesbian because females understand each other. I don't think God intended us to be homosexual. If He had then He would have given both genders the parts to procreate by themselves. In the Family: A Proclamation to the World it says that our gender is essential to our physical and spiritual identity. That man and woman have a divine purpose to love and care for each other as well as their children. That document is inspired of the Lord. I know that it is true. Anything or anyone that says otherwise does not know how much God loves us. Men have the responsibility to preside, protect and provide for a family while women have the responsibility to nurture and be the emotional support of a family. Children are to be raised under these divine principles.
Another thing I thought was interesting was an analogy that Brother Williams used to describe some families. He used a river to describe different kinds of personalities that make up a family. When a river is flowing, it carries things with it especially when the water is moving rapidly. When logs or sticks are in the river they usually flow with the water, pointy side forward because it creates less resistance. Then there are other times when the log is firmly stuck between both sides and things start to collect at that point. This log (or whatever it is, concrete, etc.) sometimes is strong enough to withstand everything that collects there and is pushing on it. This, in turn, purifies the water that comes after the block. This is like a family where there is a person who acts as a filter in their family. He said that sometimes they were put there by God to help the family out. He said that those kind of people would be considered a "savior". Not like the Savior of the World but a savior. They are willing to suffer for the good of others. It is amazing how different personalities help a family function (or not sometimes). There was so much that I learned this week that I can't remember all of it. I am not very good at summarizing either so I hope I get my points across.