Thoughts about Women

This topic has been floating around in my head for a couple years now. It's a complex enough one that I don't think a solid solution can completely formulate in my head, at least not in this lifetime. But I thought I'd write a few things on the ol blog right now.

Being a mom brings new perspective, especially being a mom to a little girl because I know I need to be her example. As she grows up new challenges come, and I don't really worry that much about how well she'll do in school or if she'll be a good athlete or if she'll have a lot of friends. Because none of that matters if she has a pretty good sense of self. She could be bad at school but still know she has value and can contribute a lot in this world. She could only have a tiny handful of friends and it wouldn't really matter to her because she loves the life she lives and the people she's chosen to be around her. But I don't know how to give her that sense of value and worth in this world. I grew up in a great family with a gospel that teaches how valuable I am. But the world taught me to be insecure because I was tall and have lots of freckles. Really, that's such a joke. I absolutely hate that girls hold themselves back because of the way they look. They feel like they can't have as much fun or get the respect they deserve because they aren't pretty or skinny enough. They think people won't like them unless they fit into a certain mold and the fear of being ridiculed is enough to keep them in a mediocre, shadowy status.

I'm not sure what being a feminist means exactly. I think it's a very loaded term so I would never use it to describe myself. I read a lot of stuff about gender wage gap, rape culture both in America and the world, pop culture stuff like Miss America pageant and Carls Jr commercials. Topics like abortion are no brainers to me because it's the most disgusting thing I can think of but I still try to find out why the hell people can possibly think it's okay and understand their side. Why women don't seem to fit into certain jobs like sports casting and why Ray Rice's wife defends him so diligently compared to USA's womens soccer goalie getting a domestic abuse charge and thinking about the differences in situations. There's sooooo much going on just in the past couple weeks that tell a lot about what our society is like and the underlying problems that women face everyday. It's a huge topic. It surprises me how many of these types of problems exist in the church. Women rallying to get into the priesthood session and for change in doctrine to have the priesthood and be in all prominent callings, wear pants to church, be able to openly breastfeed in sacrament meeting. 

Which always leads back to what I want Abby to know about these topics and how to handle them in her little brain when she gets older.

What I want is for people in the world to care more about improving their mind and better their relationships with family and friends. To take the time to get to know God and religion and culture. Where do these insecurities in both men and women come from and why do they manifest themselves the way they do?  Like if your outfit is expensive enough to impress everyone will you get more friends. And if that hook in your nose that you got from your grandpa is making people think less of you. And if you could lose your love handles you'll be more successful at your job and dating. In some ways, this is only a first world problem because people who have to sweep dirt floors and worry about food everyday don't have the time. But I know that even people in the Philippines care about stuff like this. If men and women only cared about the important stuff than I think women's issues would sort themselves out. 

Anyway, I think I've written all I feel like writing for now. I'll include one of the things I watched today that was pretty amazing.