I have an older brother named Brigham that I hardly ever got along with when I lived at home. Growing up, we would fight about everything. One thing Brigham hated was when I would copy his hobbies. You see Brigham has medical heart problems which made it so he couldn’t play any sports. So he found other things to do. Because he was limited in what he could do, he was especially sensitive and protective of his hobbies. They were extra special to him. I never understood that. I just wanted to act like a boy so my brother didn’t treat me like I was an ugly annoying younger sister he had to live with. So I thought that getting into some of the things he liked would fix the problem. It didn’t.
Now I realize how frustrating that must have been for him. When he started getting into playing the drums I thought it would be cool if I did too. When he got into heroscape (some weird game like dungeons and dragons) and started to collect the figurines I thought it would be cool to get into the same game. I have many more examples that I could talk about, but the point is, I’m not a boy. I thought if I acted like a boy that my brother would like me, but that’s not how it works.
Girls and boys have very big differences. This is how God created us. Recently, the world is teaching that if women are to have equal rights to men, then they should be exactly like men. They should be able to do everything a man can do no problem. Just as I was wrong with trying to be a boy to fix my relationship with my brother, it doesn’t work that way.
Equality isn’t about acting the same. It is a fact that men are stronger than women. This means they will be better at jobs that require a lot of physical exertion. this doesn’t mean that women shouldn’t do physical jobs. However, If a certain job (like a firefighter) requires a physical test that a woman isn’t able to pass, that’s not sexist, that woman is just not the best fit for the job. This goes both ways. Both genders have strengths and weaknesses as well as similarities, but neither are the same.
Men and Women complete each other. Our differences make us unique and should be celebrated, not debated. In The Family A Proclamation to the World, it expounds more about the role God designed for each gender. In the longest paragraph in the proclamation it says “By divine design, 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.” It then continues to say that mothers and fathers are obligated to help each other as equal partners. Isn’t it interesting that mothers and fathers are equal, and yet they both have completely different roles. God makes it very clear that equality has nothing to do with being the same, and everything to do with using differences to create a strong family.
My brother and I are very different. Trying to be like him never helped me grow closer to him, it only pushed him further away. It hasn’t been until I’ve used my differences to help grow closer to him that we’ve been able to have more of a relationship. Differences between women and men are purposeful and beautiful. The more everyone can fully embrace who they are instead of who they aren’t, the happier this world will be.
The first picture is one that my mom forced Brigham and I to do if we wanted Papa Murphy's for dinner that night and the second one is of a couple of weeks ago when I saw Brigham's baby for the first time!
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