Gender Roles and Theories of homosexuality

This week we touched on topics that have had a lot of attention recently. We discussed gender roles and some theories of homosexuality. Before class we studied these topics to get some ideas of what to talk about. We started off with the question of What makes someone Female or Male? Our class came up with some answers of biological factors, sex-typical tendencies and society views. There are biological differences between men and women. Men have more grey matter and women have more white matter. It is common for girls to play house, dolls, with make up and are usually more social. Boys often play more aggressive , with guns, action figures and are competitive. Once in a while a girl will be a "Tom boy" or "One of the guys" as she is playing with them. As well as for a boy who will play house and spend time with the girls. Sometimes people will bully either the boy or girl who is playing with the opposite sex. However, it is a little more acceptable for a tom boy than a boy playing with the girls. Thus, it shows how are society really recognizes the activity and playmate preferences.

In my home although there were not very specific gender roles my parents were examples of what traditional parents do. My mom and dad both worked full time. My mom still did the nurturing , cooking , cleaning and raising of us a majority of the time. My dad was the breadwinner and protector of us. They were open with us and let us do whatever made us happy. Growing up and joining The Church of Jesus Christ when I was 13 really helped me see my role as a woman. It is kind of sad how society thinks that Christianity demeans women and just sees them as house wife. In this church, women have very important roles. We are leaders side by side with our husbands. We raise children but also help in communities. Families are the basic unit of society and that is where change really happens. So being a wife and mother is a huge responsibility. It affects our future generation and even the people around us.

The second topic we went over was something I had little knowledge about. I never really understood what "gay" and "homosexual" meant. Gay is identifying as liking someone of the same gender, usually men. Homosexual is liking someone of the same gender involving sexual relations. I honestly never thought about what really went in to someone being gay. I always thought well it feels natural for me to like men so maybe it's the same for them. When we studied this topic it opened my mind as people have observed this. Some theories include Psychoanalytic theories, social learning theories and interactional theories. The first one is Psychoanalytic theory. Which is the person identifying as gay may have had difficult family relationships , detached disconnect with their father or an over involved mother. Social learning theory is influence of peers and media. As well as high chance of sexual abuse. The Interactional is involvement with peers. With these theories something that I have gathered is that sexual attractions may not be chosen, but responses to those attractions do involve a choice.

With all of these things said I know that God loves all of us. Also, we are all human and deserve to be treated with kindness regardless of our circumstances. Some people make choices that may not align with what God has taught but we should still be kind and considerate.  We can still be firm in our beliefs and love as the Savior did.