The Role of your Gender

It always is extremely intriguing to me to learn about gender roles and how that affects things. I must admit, reading our textbook about how females tend to ask a lot of questions and such was somewhat comforting! I thought I was broken since I ask literally a billion questions...apparently I'm normal :) I think it's really cool to learn about genders and how that helps us to understand those around us more. It sure opens my eyes, at least. It was interesting to talk about what we're born with and what society makes us into and the different things that are considered masculine and feminine.
I think the most beneficial thing I have learned about this week is about Same-gender attraction. We learned about different studies that have been done and watched an interview of my professor and he explained the difference between same-gender attraction, homosexual, and gay. He talked about how these feelings come about. Mainly he said that it all starts when a boy (we focused on boys) is different from the other boys--maybe he is more creative or sensitive and doesn't really like the same things the other boys do. The boys then tend to push him out and not let him be a part of the group. He then finds that the girls will accept him and like doing some of the same things. Sometimes the boys even make fun of him.
It then gets to the point when boys start to notice girls and girls start to notice boys. This boy already has been around the girls and knows what they're like. But he begins to wonder what it would be like to be "one of the guys" and how he wishes he could be closer to them and more a part of the group--this has absolutely nothing to do with sex. He just has a desire to be accepted and understand them more. At this point is is same-gender attraction because he wants to be more intimate with other boys (in a nonsexual way).
This turns into homosexual when a boy starts to imagine what it would be like to hug the guys or be more physical and they sexualize it. He also said that this almost always happens when a boy has been sexualized (molested, touched inappropriately, etc.) at a young age. People have been calling him gay and labeling him, and if his body reacted when a man was inappropriate with him, he thinks "well then maybe I am gay. It must be true."
This isn't something that we are just born with and have no control over. He suggested that if this is something you're struggling with, you have to get back to basics: think about who you really are--a son or daughter of God--and  what that means, pray and read your scriptures and so on. You also need to stop thinking about people of the same gender in a sexual way. We have the ability to control our thoughts and this is something we must do--homo and heterosexual alike.
I think it is so interesting how we have such an enormous impact on those around us. We must realize how the way we treat other people will affect them. When we understand that we all have different personalities and temperaments and qualities, we can accept them for who they are and not ostracize them for being different than we think they should be. We should be Christ-like and seek to become more like Him by loving and living as He does.

Society and the Family

This week we learned a lot about how society impacts the family and how the family impacts society. To be honest, I never really thought about how social class or our cultural background affect how our families are. We talked about how those in the lower social class can have some serious family problems, but then again so can those in the upper class. We concluded that it isn't as much about how much money you have, but rather how much focus on money you have. We must keep our focus on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and on our families.
We also read about a study done on Mexican immigrant families. I never realized how taxing that would be on a family. They are torn out of their network with their extended family and many of the roles played in the family system are disrupted.--forcing members of the family to take on new roles. A lot of tension is created when this happens and gaps grow wider between generations. It's really eye-opening to see how many different things affect the family, no wonder families are suffering so much today.
I just find it so interesting to learn about culture and how the culture of your family is different than other families. I think it's important to recognize these things so that we can be aware and make changes in our families to better the lives of our children and our family as a whole.