The Gender Difference

 "All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." -The Family: A Proclamation to the World

We live in a society where gender is slowly losing its meaning. The ideals of what is expected of men and women have drastically changed over the years, leading to a misunderstanding and even sometimes a loathing of traditional feminine or masculine traits. I grew up in a home of three girls, so as you can imagine, there were a lot of things done that were very feminine in nature. We would play with dolls, create elaborate, imaginative stories, and played more games of House than I could ever count. We would dress up in our mothers clothes and gossiped about the boys that we liked all together.

At the same time though, there were things that I did and my sisters as well, that could be considered very masculine. I remember summers working with my grandparents doing very hard, physical labor: building a stable, ripping up thistles, feeding and tending to the cows. I was also athletic as a child and preferred to play football with the boys at recess more than I did sitting around with the girls. In fact, there was a time in middle school that the name that I was given by my classmates was "man hands" because I was much taller than the girls and athletic enough to keep up with the boys. I also did not have the same development when it came to certain features that my female friends all seemed to have during middle school. One could say that I was a late bloomer in many different ways. Some of the time, this made me feel either ridiculously ugly or just not the same as others that I saw around me.

Did having these traits make me any less of a female? Should I just have rejected the titles of either female or male all together because I didn't seem to fit one gender role or the other? I've never seen or looked at myself as a male. Sure, I may have some tendencies and physical attributes that align a bit with the more masculine side of things, but I see those things as blessings that have helped me connect with the men in my life a little better. I'm grateful that as a woman, I have more of the tendency to be nurturing towards those around me, that I want to be a mother who takes care of her future children, that I think things through and can make connections through emotions. I am just as much grateful for the incredible men that I have had in my life, that take the time to think things through, that are always willing to fix whatever problem I may come to them with, and I even appreciate their nothing boxes.

You may be thinking "Grace, what in the world is a nothing box?" Or you may know exactly what I am talking about when I say the "nothing box." Men and women's brains are so beautiful in their differences and complexities. Men tend to have "boxes" in which they store information or experiences. They remain individual and separate, allowing men to see situations or ideas from very specific directions. Women on the other hand tend to be more along the lines of a ball of thread, with everything connecting to each other and making a whole picture. Granted sometimes this isn't always the best, especially if you are an over thinker as I am, who tends to allow all of these connections to color my current experience. Can you see how both of these different ways of thinking are important, even necessary for helping individuals understand life better? Does it make sense why it is so significant that men and women join together to experience life in the fullest way possible, as husband and wife? If anything, this class has been helping me to understand just how much men and women need each other and how life wouldn't be the same without those distinct differences that both men and women posses. I would suggest that you take the opportunity this week to seek out those differences between men and women and see what you can find to help you appreciate them or at least see the need for them. I'd love to hear what you discover!

-Grace