Gender Roles and Sexual Identity

  This week we talked about gender roles and Same- sex attraction in my Family Relations class. As I thought about my family I thought about the gender roles that I've seen in my life.I come from a very traditional family where the gender roles are pretty traditional. In a discussion board about my feelings for class I wrote, "My dad is the main provider for my family and my mom stayed home with the kids till we were all in school. They both played many roles in my family however, my mom ran a preschool in our house to help support my siblings and I in missions and college. My dad was also a nurturer as well as a provider. There were many Sunday’s where I would sit down with my dad and talk about my life and how its been going and he some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten (he also gives some of the best hugs)". This is what I thought of when I thought of the gender roles in my parents. 
   In my family I have 2 sisters and a brother. My brother grew up around girls, yet did not become attracted to the same sex because he participated in "girl activities". This was one thing that really stood out to me in my class. We talked about how nowadays if a boy plays with dolls or likes to cook or dress nice they are seen as "gay" or if a girl hates shopping and likes to do guy activities that she wants to be a guy. Why are we so accustomed to putting labels on everything? 
  One thing that really stood out to be this week was how most people believe the myth that "Gay people are born that way or its in their genetics". This is a myth. If you look at studies and research no one has actually found that this is true. In a video we watched this week many of the men said that they found they were attracted to the same sex when they were molested by another man or when they watched porn. This is when they "turned gay". I have examples I have seen in my life of people who were raped/molested and then identified themselves as gay. 
  It is scary to live in a world where everyone thinks that being gay or being transgender is the new thing, that everyone should agree with. I believe that our Heavenly Father created us and sent us to earth to live in families and create families through bonds of marriage between males and females. We are the gender we are suppose to be. Each and every gender has something to offer. Everyone is important.