Gender Differences

                Gender differences are still in the news.  Many people have difficulty understanding and accepting some of the ideas and changes about gender, and others are standing firm in their traditional beliefs about gender.

                Michelle Goldberg documented in The New Yorker  the “ongoing feud between radical feminists and the transgendered community.”  It seems that the feminists do not want to share restrooms with men who hated themselves so much that they changed their male bodies to female ones.  They consider men to be men no matter what their bodies look like.

                Taylor Lewis of the American Thinker shared his opinion about the gender clash.  “Radical feminism thrived off the idea that women are the incarnation of suffering.  Supporters thought cutting the ties to two millennia of Christian understanding would set them free.  Instead, they started a chain reaction of culminating into a radical redefining of marriage, gender, and biological self.  They pulled up the anchor of tradition and set adrift in the choppy seas of amoralism.  If feminists are upset seeing men appropriate their sex for separate ends, they have only themselves to blame.”

                These gender clashes cause confusion in the minds of children, youth and many adults.  Men and boys do not treat women and girls with respect – such as opening doors for them – because they are afraid.  Then women and girls get upset because of the lack of respect shown to them.  This confusion causes all kinds of problems, such as men wanting to be women or women wanting to be men.  Even changing their bodies to the other sex does not solve the confusion as evidenced by the many suicides of transgendered individuals.

                Many people believe that girls and boys, men and women are basically the same.  I believe they are wrong.  I never had any doubt about gender, and my beliefs were strengthened by motherhood.  When I was a young mother, we were advised to treat our sons and daughters alike.  We were told to give trucks and cars to girls and dolls to boys because they were not different.  I was very careful in the gifts I gave to my children and then stood back to watch them play.  My girls enjoyed playing with cars and trucks, but they were drawn to dolls, dishes, etc.  My sons would consent to play “dolls” IF they had to do so in order to play with their sisters.  It was very apparent to me that boys were different than girls in numerous ways.

                Elizabeth Reid claims that gender differences between men and women are essential.  “There are many pressures in the world encouraging people to confuse and homogenize gender differences.  Many claim that men and women aren’t really different at all.  However, such differences are not only biological facts, but God-give certainties.”

                Ms. Reid reminded her readers that God created Adam and Eve as equals who were meant to compliment and complete each other.  “As time passed, the world continued to view men and women as two different groups of people with complimentary skill sets.  Unfortunately, viewpoints were soon corrupted to portray women as the weaker and inferior sex; servants to their male masters.  This belief continued for centuries, changing only recently.

                “Hugh changes in the 1960s and 1970s brought about the sexual revolution, feminism, and women’s rights movements.  Fortunately for many women, gender inequality started negating.  But then this movement was perverted and today, only a few decades later, we see the equal roles idea has become corrupted yet again.

                “Now there is a movement attempting to prove that men and women, while equal, are basically genderless.  Today’s popular belief says we are all part of a homogenous society, just humans, with no gender characteristics excepting a few body parts.

                “God never placed one sex above the other.  It has only been society that skewed gender roles.  Without our essential gender differences we would lose many opportunities to learn and grow from each other.  Ignoring genders also places families in danger as the roles of mothers and fathers are slighted.”  Ms. Reid continues her article by explaining that male and female bodies are biologically and genetically different with no need to become “homogenized.”

                Ms. Reid explained that “homogenizing leans toward making women more masculine.  Many women are told and believe, they need to discard their natural tender tendencies to be tougher and edgier.  At the same time, numerous women downplay their century-old pivotal role, that of being a mother, as ‘just a mom.’ …”

                God designed the bodies of men and women to complete each other, not to copy each other.  For years, women have been told that we must become more masculine to compete with men in the modern world.  This attitude quickly trickled down to girls and young women.  Some years ago I taught a group of teenagers in early morning Seminary.  At the end of our class each Friday we folded the tables and chairs and placed them against the wall in order for the room to be ready for other activities on the weekends.  I asked the boys to fold the tables and carry them to their assigned place.  I was surprised by the girls’ reaction.  They let me know that they were just as strong as the boys and could carry their tables by themselves!

                Ms. Reid continued, “Blurring gender continues when some women, thinking equality corresponds with less respect, shun men who attempt to open doors, carry heavy things, or show deference.  By refusing to let men become gentlemen, many of these women promote disrespect towards all women, thereby confusing genders even more.  Every time women encourage men to treat them similarly to their male companions by denying their inherent desire to protect and serve, they quash some of men’s wonderful, natural inclinations.  Mothers, now is the time to teach your sons the importance of being gentlemen.”

                Ms. Reid explained that the bodies of men and women are biologically different for a reason and stated that “one essential difference is how empathy and logic are displayed between the sexes.  While men’s brains are proportionally larger than females, women’s brains have more nerve cells and connectors.  Also, women are more sensitive when it comes to feeling both their pain and that of others.  This difference in empathy is an important scientifically proven fact between men and women.  Women’s biological inclination to help those who are hurting helps them naturally take on nurturing mother roles.  Men, as their biological compliment, are not as inclined to be hypersensitive towards the emotions of others, making it is easier for them to see the world more logically.  Neither empathy nor logic is better.  Rather, both are needed for families to enjoy greater harmony.”

                Children need both a father and a mother.  A mother should tenderly care for her children while a father should prepare them to survive the world.  When a child scrapes his knee, Moms tend to “kiss it better” while Dads tend to say “suck it up.”  Children need both types of care in order to take their proper place in the world.  These traits were given to the different sexes in order to form and strengthen families.  Ms. Reid explained that these same traits can make it difficult to be happy in a “genderless” world.

                Ms. Reid concluded her article:  “These two qualities, empathy and logic, are needed in order to balance and complement each other.  One is not better than the other.  But one without the other can easily upset the balance of couples, families and countries.

                “The gender differences in men and women are not only essential, they are biological.  When people choose to homogenize themselves they choose to ignore and suppress their identities.  It is only by accepting and respecting such differences that both genders can find greater harmony with each other and with God.”

                I am a firm believer in the need for gender differences in our world.  Both genders are equal in importance even though different in build, traits and qualities.  Our world needs men to be men and women to be women – as God intended us to be!