a. The roles of woman, following gospel teachings, combined with some of my own philosophical observations (following George Gilder, to some extent), are:
1. As an indispensible earthly and eternal companion in life, love, child rearing, spritual, psychological, and emotional maturity, and in the bringing to pass of the immortality and eternal life of man, that is, men and woman are inextricably linked to each other in the process of exaltation.
Jersey Girl: With the exception of the concept of exaltation (which I do not subscribe to) I agree with the above comments. I see the descriptions (various life circumstances not withstanding) as the "ideal" relationship between male and female.
2. Woman have the primary, but not sole reposnibility for the raising and nurturing of children. This is an emphasis, not a dichotomy between men and woman.
Jersey Girl: I agree with this to the extent that so long as it is accepted as generalizing with regards to certain traits that are inherently "female", children benefit most from the ongoing guidance and nurturing of their mother.
3. Woman exert an inherant civilizing role on men, both because of their inherant feminine nature and qualities but because of the direct causal link between sexuality and childbirth (and therefore family and posterity). Woman exert a natural domesticating and civilizing effect on men such that many of the inherant male tendencies that would otherwise run amok and turn to social pathology are controlled, channeled, refined, and matured within the context of a role as provider, protector, teacher, and leader of a family.
Jersey Girl: Again, so long as the above is considered within the framework of generalizing regarding female/male traits, I agree. I would like to see this drawn out into specifics, Loran. What specific male/female attributes are you thinking of?
That being said, woman are here to kick our ass and keep us in line.
Jersey Girl: I find myself in complete and utter agreement. ;-)
b. I do see a difference, and that is in the first instance, faithful LDS woman share with faithful men a knowledge and committment to the gospel and its teachings that makes them, overall, that is, on average, better people, morally, ethically, and in the sense of mature adult attitudes and characteristics, then those who don't'. In other words, they are good Christian people, and moreover, they share with LDS men the same vision of the purpose of life and other things larger and greater then themselves within their own particular cultural or generational bubble. The main thing, however, would be the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which gives them a spiritual insight those not having it lack. This is indispensible and without doubt, pivitol.
Jersey Girl: Gonna throw a wrench in here now. In context of LDS belief in practice, I would agree with the above. I also think that mainstream Christian women who are able to conduct themselves in submission to their husbands, are able to create the same type of relationship.
Its not submission in the sense that word is normall used. Men submit to woman on many occasions as well. In the real world, the realtionship, if it is healty, is mutual and equal. The man does have a spiritual leadership role relative to his wife (and children, obviously), but this is a leadership by example type of role, not a dominance/submission role. That's not what the church teaches. The man gives direction and focus to the home, but it isn't as if this is never overruled by a wife or as if bad ideas a husband has cannot or should not be put aside. This happens all the time.
c. men are not superior to woman. They are different. Men have certain inherant capcities that, on average, are more pronounced in them than in woman and woman have similar capcities and characteristics less prunounced in men. Men and woman compliment each other in a dynamic and developmental way such that both are necessary to the other to achieve their full potential as human beings and children of God.
Jersey Girl: I agree with your saying that "they are different". Once more, I'd like to see you name specific attributes/capacities.
I perceive men and woman to have a very symbiotic, hightly interpenetrating complimentary relationship that, at its best, polishes, matures, and disciplines, the natural attrubutes of the other. Some of the natural, inherant tendencies of men and woman, if not in consistant contact with mediating attributes, can become exaggerated (such as the modern cult of contact sports in this culture, which is a natural outgrowth of mens's innate competitiveness and greater tendency toward aggression (which is partly bioglocial, of course) run amok). A woman's tendency toward cooperation and finer, more refined sensibilities (which are innate to men as well) are a check and mediating influence (ideally), on the male tendency to low impluse control and a consistant desire for aggressive or violent sensory stimulation, either personally or vicariously.
On average, woman are more verbal than men, and although, of course, just as intelligent as men across a broad specturm of abilities, most woman, again as an average and not with reference to any specific woman, do not do as well in purely analytical areas such as logic, rigorous analytical thought, mathematics etc., as men. Men, on the other hand, although by no means uniform in such areas, tend towared these and this can cause the atrophy of other cognitive attributes, such as creative imagination, musical intelligence, or sensitivity to more subtle emotions. This again, is where woman and men become both a catalyst to the attributes in which the other is less sensitive or developed, as well as a check and control on the overuse or overreliance on either emotion or rationality in the solving of problems and negotiating of life tasks.
The reason the Lord has structured things as he has is precisely because of the dynamic interplay of these different characteristics between men and woman. These differenes are not opposites and there is no sense in which men and woman either do or do not have them. It is a matter of emaphasis and deemphasis. Femininity and Masculinity are, at their best, unique wholes each containing parts of the other in different quantities and degrees of refinement. Woman and men help each other to draw out those aspects of the other that are pehaps weaker or less developed (and better understood by the other in an inherant and therefore natural and unselfconscious way) and nurture those characteristics. In other words, in a gospel context (as well as a general human one, all other things being equal) woman help men become better men and vice versa.