Parenting according to gender...

I personally believe that children all need to learn the necessities in life such as how to cook, clean, and take care of themselves. I read an article on how some people parent according to gender and how certain things are expected from certain genders.

I was shocked at first while reading this but then I remembered where I had seen something similar to this style of parenting. When I first watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding I was really confused at how Toula couldn't date anyone without the entire families' approval and yet Nick, her younger brother could do whatever he wanted. I believed that this was a very isolated way of parenting and just put into the movie to create more drama, little did I know that there are a lot of people who believe that parenting this way is everything and they know no different.

Parenting children differently according to their genders is a dangerous thing because it can lead to feeling superior to others such as if you raise a boy and tell him that he can do whatever he wants before he's married and that a woman will always be there to take care of him could lead him to feeling like he is better than all women and that they are alive merely to serve him. Parenting a girl so that she is told that she is to keep house, have babies, and dote on her husband would lead to her being oppressed. She wouldn't ever consider going to college and she might not even feel like it would be even worthwhile for her to finish high school in general, what would be the point if you already know how to clean a house and cook meals right?

The expectations that we have from our Heavenly Father are that we are to obey the two great commandments and that that entails. If we are to love thy neighbor as thyself it makes it hard to do if your neighbor happens to be a girl and you a boy and you have been raised to think that girls are inferior and just there to provide for you. If you do love your neighbor as yourself even when they are of the opposite gender you might make a new friend but more importantly you could improve their image of themselves.

There are differences in the expectations for genders and it is laid out in The Family: A Proclamation. "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children."

The part where they are the same is also laid out in The Family: A Proclamation. "Fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." There isn't a part there that says the father, or man, gets to rule over and put down the mother, or lady. It admonishes later that if such a thing as abuse occurs that those who fail in their responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.