Boys Vs. Girls

I grew up in a family with 4 sisters and 3 brothers. I played Barbies and dress up with my sisters and cowboys and Indians with my brothers. Yes we were different, but yet still very much the same and I attribute that to how my parents raised us based upon on gender roles.

We were both raised with the same expectations, under the same rules and treated with equality and fairness. My brothers were expected to know how to do their own laundry, wash dishes, clean and cook. The girls also mowed the lawn, weeded the garden, took our turn shoveling the walk, and were taught how to change a tire and check the oil on our cars. We were never exempted from a chore or task because of our gender and I believe this was a benefit to us because we were never held back or hindered by what we believed we could or could not do because of our gender.

I think how I was raised has empowered me as a girl more than anything. I have learned that I can do anything that I put my mind to and I have the ability to learn new things and excel at them. There is nothing that I cannot do because I am a girl. I also learned my divine role as well. I was taught by the example of my own parents how important my role as a future wife and mother will be one day to my family and how important this role is to my Heavenly Father. Because of this I find myself caring more about what my Father in Heaven thinks about my accomplishments in this life than what society or the world thinks.