I've decided SeattleUte and MikeWaters are alike in a signficant way

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by YOhio

Is she a U fan?

No. She's not voting for McCain because Palin should be home taking care of her children.

[FMCoug]

Originally Posted by YOhio

All Mormons should think Y!

I didn't say that. The point being that there are those here who think they know the "typical mindset" as X and I'm saying they are out of touch. I did not say there are no Mormons who think X or even that it's wrong to think X.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by FMCoug

I didn't say that. The point being that there are those here who think they know the "typical mindset" as X and I'm saying they are out of touch. I did not say there are no Mormons who think X or even that it's wrong to think X.

X: the Mormon mindset is that men should occupy executive positions
Y: ?

Some of your buddies are making up Y, against all evidence, IMO.

[FMCoug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

X: the Mormon mindset is that men should occupy executive positions
Y: ?

Some of your buddies are making up Y, against all evidence, IMO.

Y: In general, mothers should be home with their children. However, the inidvidual circumstances of families vary, and it's up to each family to decide what is best for them.

That is what most Mormons I know would say.

Compared to your X:

You make it sound like the emphasis is on men being in those positions vs. mothers being at home. I don't know ANYBODY who believes that if you are an empty nester or do not have children (for whatever reason), the woman should not work outside of the home. The issues is motherhood, period. But it serves your purposes better to frame it as sexism, so that's what you do.

[UtahDan]

It is Krakauer they both remind me of.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by FMCoug

Y: In general, mothers should be home with their children. However, the inidvidual circumstances of families vary, and it's up to each family to decide what is best for them.

That is what most Mormons I know would say.

Compared to your X:

You make it sound like the emphasis is on men being in those positions vs. mothers being at home. I don't know ANYBODY who believes that if you are an empty nester or do not have children (for whatever reason), the woman should not work outside of the home. The issues is motherhood, period. But it serves your purposes better to frame it as sexism, so that's what you do.

when a LDS woman finishes having kids at say, age 38, she is going to be 56 when she is an empty-nester. Up to that point she is encouraged to stay at home, now suddenly she is going to run for Congress?

That's disingenuous. The strong encouragement to stay at home makes LDS women unlikely to hold positions of political leadership at any point in their lives.

[FMCoug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

That's disingenuous. The strong encouragement to stay at home makes LDS women unlikely to hold positions of political leadership at any point in their lives.

This is probably true and I have no argument with that. My argument has to do with motivations.

Postition A: Women do not belong in politics or executive positions because men are better at it.

Position B: Mothers belong in the home and an unfortunate side effect of that may be that they don't have those opportunites.

Two very different attitudes. My point is that postion A is sexist, position B is not. You may disagree, which is fine.

[MikeWaters]

Position B is sexist. As you already know.

It would be one thing if the women of the church were just choosing to stay at home on their own. But in actuality, they are taught from the time they are born from manuals (approved by men), by male leaders, and a few female leaders (all chosen by men) that this is what their life is to be.

Simply put, God doesn't want Mormon women to work outside the home when there are kids, at the very least.

I see this in the Juanita Brooks biog, where she hides her writing from her neighbors and friends, because it would be considered frivolous activity for a woman.

Not having to balance careers does make things easier for the professional male, I can attest, as I compare things.

[MikeWaters]

You know random thought, if I am called as a mission president one day (as unlikely as that is), I might send my wife out for a tour of the mission during zone conferences. She reports back to me.

Or have the missionaries be interviewed both by myself and my wife separately. Essentially a counselor in the mission presidency.

That might get me fired, but oh well.

[All-American]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

You know random thought, if I am called as a mission president one day (as unlikely as that is), I might send my wife out for a tour of the mission during zone conferences. She reports back to me.

Or have the missionaries be interviewed both by myself and my wife separately. Essentially a counselor in the mission presidency.

That might get me fired, but oh well.

I actually kind of like that idea. If I were a mission president, I don't know that I would send my wife out to tour the mission, but only because I would consider being with my wife more often to be one of the few perks of being a mission president. I would definitely look favorably upon having the mission president's wife take a more active role in managing the mission.