What gender is the fifth week?

This was another fantastic week in Family Relations, but I say that about every week. This time we talked about gender roles and gender identities and it was really exciting and fascinating for me. We began with a news special by the awesome John Stossel which talked about if gender roles were inherent or created by society. I support equality among the sexes, but I think that the feminists he interviewed were far too radical. Equality to me doesn't mean that we have no gender roles or gender lines, but it means that we give the same rights and privileges to everyone involved. If women want a job, let them have it. If they want to vote, let them do it. Where the problems come in is when companies and organizations are forced to create equality and end up sacrificing efficiency in the name of political correctness. Another problem with stuff like this is it is near impossible to talk about without being labeled a hater or a bigot. We need to be able to talk about issues like this with emotions set aside or we'll never get anything done.

Going off that, I honestly believe that there are inherent differences between men and women that God has designed us with. This is done because our ultimate goals is to become parents and raise children, so He has designed us with the qualities that will best help us accomplish our roles as moms and dads. I also believe that marriage is not meant to complete a person, but to compliment a person. We need to marry people that are a reflection of our values and strengths, which will allow us to work together in raising a family and making the world a more righteous place.

A Classy 4th Week

As I sit here writing this, I can't believe that another week has finished up here at BYU-Idaho. It seems that this semester is just flying by, which is inherently silly since all the semesters are the same length of time, but this one is different due to the fact that I'm doing a lot more and working heavily with the school's social activities (Which anyone reading should check out, by the way.) However, I love my Family Relations class (Probably the only class this semester that I like) and I thought we had some very good discussions going on this week. We talked about social class perception, mostly in America since most of us are Americans and we're living in America (Insert a link to the James Brown song here). However, when I think of class, I usually think of my mission, since there was a large difference between the people and their standards of living within the social structure of India. It's funny in America because I don't think we tend to think of class very often due to the fact that we all have similar opportunities to succeed and, especially in the church, similar blessings. It does remind me of my ex-girlfriend, who I would say belonged to a slightly higher class than my family. I've always thought of my family as upper-middle class, but this girl was making bank. Her dad worked in the real estate market and retired to become an actor, they owned a beach house, and I could just tell by the quality of their technology and clothes that they were pretty well off. I think that might be a reason why her mom didn't like me very much is she perceived me as coming from a lower class than their family. I'm actually very fascinated by the class system and I don't despise it or think it's a major problem. (Watch it come back to bite me now that I say that.)

Week 3

My thoughts this week are going to be a tad different compared to the previous two weeks. First, I really enjoyed the things we discussed in class on Wednesday and Friday, mostly how the role that a person plays will change depending on the system that they are in. I've noticed that when I'm home and with my family, I take more of a background role, watching people interact and observing what goes on. However, when I'm at college and when I was on my mission, I still have those characteristics, but I am more involved and social with people. I don't know why that is, but I think it's interesting. Switching gears a little, my mind has been on all the homosexual stuff that's been going on in the news. My aunt recently posted a link stating that California has passed a bill allowing boys who gender identify as girls to use a girls locker room in a school and vice versa. As a person, I do not support the hating of individuals, but as a student of family sciences, a Christian, and as a person, I cannot support the gay rights movement. This is as personal on the belief scale as I'm going to get, and I won't say anymore, but I think there needs to be a counter-movement from the people who support traditional families. While tolerance and equality are good things, there are some things in the world that are just wrong and should not be supported. That wraps up my thoughts for this week.

Week 2

Things seem to be going pretty well in this class so far. My favorite thing about family classes are that we get to talk about issues that families are currently facing, and I feel like I'm actually learning something that can benefit me in the future. This week, we talked about trends and myths relating to families that people in the world had to deal with, which I thought was very interesting and actually confirmed something that I've been believing for a while now. In the book we're reading, it brings up the trend of people searching for individualism and how a majority of their actions are motivated by seeking personal fulfillment by being independent and pursuing their own individuality. The problem with that, is we as people are inherently designed to function with other people, and we obtain the most fulfillment out of our lives if we have people to share them with. According the to research presented in the book, it appears that there seems to be a sort of "Values Resurrection" going on, which implies that traditional families are making a comeback. As I said, this is something that I've believed to be going on for a while now, and I hope to see it happen.