Father's Day and Feminism

Sunday, June 18 was Father’s Day. It was the first time I would really celebrate it with my small family and I was anxious to set up a few traditions that would last a generation. After a weekend camping trip, we came home and hurried ourselves to prepare for church. Mother’s Day is a HUGE day of celebration at church. Women of all ages and adoring sons, stand at the pulpit to pontificate on the necessary qualities of being a “Mother in Zion.” Unfortunately, the day is rife with statements such as, “My mother was wonderful, she was never sick” or, this years winner “When I was younger I always focused on my career, now that I want children I see that I have no talents that would have properly prepared me for motherhood.” Clearly, being a mother in Zion means you are healthy and that regardless of the personal traits, education, and character you have developed, you are not a proper mother if you do not sew, cook, or keep a home well. I won’t even mention what indications are given to women who have no children. Fortunately, however, you do have the occasional talk that honors true motherhood: love, charity, knowledge and a Christ-like example.

Father’s Day, however is a different story. I anticipated similar talks, daughters expressing gratitude to daddy’s who adore them, single men preparing to be father’s someday discussing traits of that great calling, and grown men offering sentiments about their own father’s and being a father. However, this was far from what would actually occur. The talks from the pulpit praised the value of early morning seminary. Not one mentioned a Father, Heavenly or mortal.

As the talks went on I became increasingly offended. The message being sent to the entire congregation was two fold: the significance of Father’s in the home was minimal and the only manner in which the value of womanhood is extolled is in relation to motherhood. My daughter’s father is an integral part of her life. He rocks her in his arms when she is hurt, he makes sure she has food in the house, among many other, even more important tasks. He is both a nurturer and a provider. Sadly, his traits were not honored. Neither were those of a busy Bishop who manages the ward full time, his job, and a daughter in high school, nor the father of six who takes his sons with him to Home Teach every month. The only “shout out” these Fathers received was a sucker bouquet and a talk that informs them of everything they are doing wrong.

Not only does this lack of appreciation under value the significant role of fathers, it overemphasizes the role of the woman in the home. Men must be busy in fulfilling their bureaucratic church duties, while the wife is to be at home, tending to the matters of the family. Any “murmuring” on her part is because she does not understand that he has a higher call he is filling. This limited point of view is the lazy man’s version of our culture and gospel. In a very real sense a man’s place, as much as the woman, is in the home. With so much conversation in recent years on the degradation of the family, one would hope a greater understanding with regard to a two parent household would be facilitated. Instead, the role of a woman continues to be typecast and the definition of marriage is the topic of discussion. Numerous academic studies indicates that for children who lack a significant male presence in the home, more have statistically lower income, lower grades, and lower self-esteem, as well as a decreased ability to communicate in contrast to homes where the mother is the absentee parent. Perhaps as we continue to emphasize the family we will actively recognize it as consisting of two parents and show each part of the entity its due honor and praise.

The most anticipate Baby Pictures

I finally found some! Sadly, I can barely get a good look at the baby, but I think it was another brilliant PR move by the Jolie-Pitt camp to deliver the baby by cesarean. The child has so much expectation to be gorgeous that a conehead with yoda-like skin would receive ridicule like unto Chelsea Clinton.

Dieting Hell

A woman recently unearthed 1974 Weight Watchers recipe cards. With culinary treats such as mackrel pudding, and a slender quencher (containing a combination of milk and orange pulp) is it any wonder there is an aversion to "dieting"?

Pretty in Pink

Each year about this time I experience a giddy excitement, attributed only to the idea that this might be the year that Jan Ullrich again claims the Maillot Jeune. However, this year's tour course (scroll down the page a bit for an interactive map) seems to be designed for the Kaiser. Day one is in Strasbourg. In typical French fashion, the website boasts the prowess of ever-young Tommy Voelker carrying on the tradition of hope in the Alsace region. However, I believe it is safe to say the sea of T-Mobile pink tee shirts in Alsace will be akin to the orange Basque sea when the tour is in the southern regions. I do not believe the tour in Strasbourg will celebrate the strength of France as it did 100 years ago, but this time, the Germans will be the victors.