Motherhood Is Not Overrated

It's funny because everyone has to learn and/or improvise.

It's been a year since the mission age requirement for both young men and women was lowered. With the lowering of age and increased prominence of sister missionaries worldwide, there have been some interesting social movements around as well. In particular, I've noticed some more Mormon feminist activities.

I'm all for equal opportunities and equality regardless of gender, race, etc. However, I could never align myself 100% with that ideology.

Of course, feminism is defined as collection of movements and ideologies aimed to define, establishing, defending equal political, economical, and social rights for women. Sounds awesome, right? Well, just like any other ideology practiced by people, sometimes they go the extreme or beyond the purpose of what it should have been in the first place. Believe me, everything sounds good on paper, but not so much in practice. I'm sure many of you can think of feminist supporters who hold the idea that women are superior and that we should reverse the discrimination in the other direction instead.

This past Conference, I noted the talks by D. Todd Christofferson and Neil L. Andersen. They were about women's roles and the influence they have on society as a whole. I believe those talks were sparked by the most recent demands on ordination of women. What does this has to do with the title of the post? I will get to that in a moment. I've thought about this topic before the October Conference, and I was glad the issue was addressed.

Motherhood and the nurturing of children have been mainstays of human interactions for women probably since the dawn of time. While men could also take roles in such bonding, I guess it's just different due to myriads of factors I'm not going to list here. Basically, mothers tend to spend more time with children ; thus, socialization of children happens at home and especially by the mothers.

Unfortunately, as sexist notions rose among the population, the domestic duties performed by women were ridiculed and portrayed in negative light by (mostly) men. Then, centuries of oppression continued until educated minds came to their senses and felt degrading half of the human population was definitely not the best way to build a society.

An even more unfortunate turn of events is the notion that what women do in the home is practically meaningless. The idea that domestic chores, nurturing children, being a support character in the family, etc. are but shackles to a woman's potential. In a sense, they are partially correct. When a woman is only offered these choices, it is undoubtedly limiting. I believe a woman should be able to choose to have a career and/or focus on family life. Agency and opportunity should have been the main focus of the feminist movement.

Hilariously, much of the feminist movement focuses on what men arbitrarily labeled as insignificant when it comes to a woman's important role in the family. The sense that women should stay away from family pursuits, women should be like men and do everything like men or better.

Who suffer in the end? The next generation. The paradox here is almost everyone still expects men to go out and have a career while the new women are often encouraged to stay away from home life or even take on both roles as breadwinner and a mother. I have to admit, it is very difficult to sustain a family based on a single income in today's economy, but many proponents of the breadwinner mother seem to prefer the idea the mother takes all the responsibilities on herself. She doesn't need a man. She can do just as well.

Well, how about that? A woman doesn't need a man for anything because she can do it herself. Guess who's liberated in the end? Men. (It totally made my day when Elder Christofferson brought that up.) The irony, then, is we are fighting for equality not based on revealed principles, but what the ever-shifting world has to say about importance, which often fortifies itself behind materialism and the currently not-so-hot economy.

In one of Paul's letters, he taught neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord (1 Cor. 11:11). No one achieves exaltation alone. Eve was to be a help meet to Adam. In fact, we learn that Eve labored with Adam to bring about the human family (Gen. 2:18; Moses 5:1). The point being, they worked together. While it's been speculated that Adam performed more of a provider role and Eve in nurturing children, but I'm sure it was not 100% one way or the other. Most happily married couples I know have overlapping duties while one partner focused more in one responsibility than the other.

Satan is clever. By driving men and women apart, he effectively drives families apart and frustrates the progression of many. Yes, he wouldn't win in the long run, but the point is to make as many people to fall short of celestial glory as possible because he wants them to be as miserable as himself (2 Ne. 2:18).

So, to give you my opinion on ordination of women... I believe when the time is right, the Lord will reveal what He will. We are taught in the temple that the wife is the priestess unto the husband. I'm sure there's some profound meaning behind that phrase. Regardless, the phrase also suggests it's different from the priesthood men hold to bless others. I don't know what the implication is because I'm only a mortal, but I do know that both genders are different by nature.

Everyone is NOT the same. If we were, most of us would have gladly followed Lucifer in the rebellion instead of going along with the Father's original plan. Life is about choices and everyone, men and women, are entitled to pursue what they want in this journey. However, don't ever underestimate the importance of the role of mother in a family. Trust me, if my mom didn't raise me a certain way, I wouldn't be the way I am today. Just because it's not your cup of tea doesn't mean it's not important. Your own personal Zion is not exactly the same as everyone else's.