Do most Mormons value homemaking?

[chitchat]

I believe it is a high calling to be a wife and mother who loves serving inside her home. I think societal pressure for women to "find fulfillment" outside their family and home is tremendous. Here is a good article showing some of how feminism developed in our country:

Frankfurt School

[dreiko]

I believe it is a high calling to be a wife and mother who loves serving inside her home. I think societal pressure for women to "find fulfillment" outside their family and home is tremendous. Here is a good article showing some of how feminism developed in our country:

Frankfurt School

You know what, I agree with you.

But there are circumstances that causes us to have vocations outside the home. I don't know whether you are LDS or not, but we LDS have patriarchal blessings that help guide us through our lives...

My patriarchal blessing has instructed me to go into medicine because of what the Lord needs me to do in the future.

I love baking, and sewing, and even cleaning... I love 50s style aprons and wearing pink dresses and decorating with feminine things.

Yet, I am meant to become a doctor so that I can save lives.

I think feminism has destroyed our society, but I believe that it has had some good effects. I wouldn't have been able to do what the Lord asked for me to do, if there were not women whom had paved the way before me.

Also, I believe all women should have a vocation... because no one knows what might happen to their husbands: divorce, car accident, medical decline, or war, etc.

[JudoMinja]

Also, I believe all women should have a vocation... because no one knows what might happen to their husbands: divorce, car accident, medical decline, or war, etc.

Very true. While "homemaking" (I prefer calling it motherhood) should be our top priority, we should always be prepared to fend for ourselves, especially in todays society.

My mother got her nursing licnese, but at this point in time it is useless, because she's gone so long without any work or educational experience. She devoted all her time and effort to being a homemaker, and now (should my father die) she will be basically helpless. She has nothing to offer the job market other than her homemaking skills and a useless nursing license.

Part of our calling to motherhood should include an education. We may not pursue work experience so as to devote ourselves to our children, but we should most certainly be prepared to enter the job market. And let us not forget that an education is priceless. Our knowledge can help in raising our children, and it is one of the only things we can take with us out of this life.

I admire you for taking up your role as a doctor. I hope you find fulfillment in it, and who knows. Maybe the Lord still has it in his mind for you to be a mother too.

[RachelleDrew]

I think it's important to fulfill our divine roles as women and mothers, but it's also important to realize that we may have other roles to fill. Part of being a wife and mother is recognizing that there are lots of needs that have to be met in a family. Education is important for our children and ourselves, this is a role I can fill because I love schoolwork and studying. Creative expression is healthy for our minds and souls, this is another thing I can contribute to my family because I love to play guitar and drums, and I also like writing stories and songs. I am able to fulfill my divine role as a mother with the talents I possess, and without becoming an imitation of a woman that I won't ever be, nor have the desire to be.

I will never be a crafty lady. Frankly, I despise knitting and sewing and scrapbooking. I've given substantial effort to becoming more domestic, but the fact is some women are good at it and enjoy it. I am not one of them.

I am a master cleaner. My house cleaning abilities are my pride and joy. Other than that, I am not a Molly Mormon.

I think it's kind of funny that you mention feeling pressure from the secular crowd to give up those values. For me it's the other way around, I feel tremendous amounts of pressure from other LDS women to become like them. In my area, unless you are a member of their quilting circles or whatever, you are kind of an outcast. But this is not the church, it's the culture. I don't want to blame this issue on the church at all because that's not what i'm getting at.

There is nothing wrong with feminism, the problem are the women who are a little nutty over it. The basic tenant of feminism is that women are equal in value to men, and that they should be treated with respect and should be given the choice to live their lives as they see fit.

There is nothing inherently bad about those ideas, what's bad are the overzealous women who fail to see that there are biological and emotional differences between most men and women. There is nothing BAD about these differences, and they should be celebrated.

I think that is what the church tries to do. I don't feel less important or worthy because I don't hold the priesthood. I would hope that the men in the church don't feel less important because they cannot bear children. Because that's not what God wanted, for us to feel inferior to one another due to our biological differences.

There are some that assert that women in our church are being trampled on or oppressed. To this I say "nonsense". I believe feminism is about choice, and I am choosing to belong to the Lord's church. a church that happens to recognize that men and women are equal, but different.

Edited January 17, 2010 by RachelleDrew

[mormonwifey]

I have worked a few times outside the home since my husband and I married.But for the most part,I am content and happy being a homemaker,taking care of my husband and our home.I know plenty of women who can not function properly if they don't have a full time job to go to daily,my mother being one of those women.But I am so very happy taking care of my family.