Gender and its Purpose

Gender can be a very sensitive topic for many people. The purpose of this blog post is to better help you understand Heavenly Fathers' doctrine concerning gender and how it applies to the circumstances of the world today. In The Family: The Proclamation to the World it states that “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." As we better understand Heavenly Fathers' plan for us, we can better understand the purpose of gender. What is the definition of gender? This question isn't as easy as you may think. According to the World Health Organization, Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls, and boys that are socially constructed. According to Yale School of Medicine, Gender is a person's self-representation as male or female, or how that person is responded to by social institutions on the basis of the individual's gender presentation. According to NYC.gov, gender is defined as "actual or perceived sex, gender identity, and gender expression including a person's actual or perceived gender-related self-image, appearance, behavior, expression, or other gender-related characteristic, regardless of the sex assigned to that person at birth.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints defines gender as biological sex at birth. A persons understanding of gender can be influenced by culture, social norms, and or the way they were raised. Because of this, some extreme gender stereotypes can sometimes cause confusion when one isn't able to meet those stereotypes. Dallin H. Oaks warned against labeling ourselves, he said, "Be careful how you characterize yourself. … The only single quality that should characterize us is that we are a son or daughter of God. That fact transcends all other characteristics." There are some very inherent differences between men and women and each has a very important and necessary role in God's plan. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "[Man and womans] roles and assignments differ. These are eternal differences—with women being given many tremendous responsibilities of motherhood and sisterhood and men being given the tremendous responsibilities of fatherhood and the priesthood--but the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the man in the Lord." Gender roles refer to the way we’re expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct ourselves based upon our assigned sex. For example, women are expected to dress in a femine way and be polite and nurturing while men are expected to dress "manly" and be strong, aggressive and bold. While these gender norms are becoming less common, they are still quite prominent. Even from a young age, these gender differences are apparent. There was a study done of 101 boys and girls ages 9 months to 32 months where they learned that girls were more likely to play with dolls, pink toys, and pots and pans while boys were more likely to play with cars, blue toys, and a ball.The world views these gender roles as a bad thing but Heavenly Father gave men and women distinct gifts and characteristics that are important to God's plan. According to Deseret News, research shows that children who are raised in a two parent home have some advantages over children raised in a single parent home. Some of these advantages are- More secure financially. Do better in school and are less likely to drop out. Less prone to experience anxiety and depression. Less likely to take drugs or become addicted to alcohol. Less likely to experience sexual abuse and domestic violence. Less likely to commit crimes and be in the juvenile justice system. Less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior thus avoiding sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. I think that I big factor for this is the characteristics that men and women have to go together and compliment each other. Children needs to be loved and nurtured, but they also need to feel protected and secure. Mothers and fathers together can give their children these things. As we better understand gender and its purpose, we will be able to fulfill our divine potential in Heavenly Father’s plan.