Snapshot #915: Moral Influence of Women

October 5, 2013.  San Jose, California.  I cannot get Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk out of my head from General Conference.  He spoke about a topic that has been running in my mind for months now; that is the need for essential differences between the man and the woman in society, in families, and in marriages.  In my personal life, I discovered several years after marriage that there were some fundamental needs not getting met in our lives as a result of having two people focused on and working essentially the same role--as provider.  Because we had two providers, and little time or energy for much else, we lacked a consistent nurturer and much was lost as a result.  Now, I can appreciate what Elder Christofferson means when he says there are "those who, in the name of equality, want to erase all differences between the masculine and the feminine...In blurring the feminine and masculine differences we lose the distinct complimentary gifts of women and men that together produce a greater whole."  He echoed Elder Maxwell's sentiments, "When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses?"