Flying The Flag For Male Education

When talking to my husband the other day I realised something that hadn't occurred to me.

Men need education.

What do I mean by that? Have the tables really turned? Are women now the gender with more access to education and career prospects than our male counterparts?

Sadly I can't say in all honesty that the inequality between the genders has been successfully annihilated throughout the world. But there is one area in which I believe that women far surpass men and that is our knowledge about the opposite sex.

It may seem fairly obvious that we know more about our own gender than we do about the other but I realised recently that men tend to know less about women than women do about men.

The examples that come to my mind are from my own little world - my church life - so forgive me if the following terms aren't familiar to you!

As women in the church I feel that we learn a fair bit about men. Specifically, we learn about the Priesthood and it's role. We learn about it's restoration, we learn about the offices that Priesthood holders have and we learn about the responsibilities of men in the family and society. Most women, if asked, would be able to tell you what distinguishes a deacon from a teacher; a teacher from a priest; and a priest from an elder. They'd be able to tell you about obligations and responsibilities of each of these positions. They'd be able to tell you about Melchizedek ordinances and Aaronic ordinances. They'd probably be able to say a little something about 'Duty to God'. They'd talk about missions, blessings and might even throw in where you can find scriptural references to certain elements.

When I talked to Ben, he didn't know that Relief Society have a special meeting in the October conference and that April means it is the Young Women's turn. I doubt that he (or many men) could name the classes in the Young Women's programme. I don't think they'd know about the history of the Relief Society or even what the motto is. How many men could quote the Young Women's theme (or even know the gist of it)? I can't help thinking that this is wrong and that the gaps in this knowledge should be filled.

I think appreciation of each other has to start with knowing about each other.

So here is a completely non-exhaustive list of 7 basic things men in the church should know about the girls and women of this church: 

1. The Young Women have a motto. It is "Stand For Truth and Righteousness." 
2. The Relief Society have a motto. It is "Charity Never Faileth". 
3. Young Women's conference is an annual event in April (or March), the week before conference. The three women who make up the Young Women's Presidency speak and then one of the First Presidency speak. (2013: President Uchtdorf) 
4. Relief Society conference is an annual event in October, the week before conference. The three women who make up the Relief Society Presidency speak and then one of the First Presidency speak. (2012:  Henry B. Eyring) 
5. The Young Women have a theme which they say every week. While we don't expect you to learn it (though I've heard members of the bishopric say it along with the girls) I think the words are beautiful and applicable to everyone:
6. The Young Women have a programme like 'Duty To God' called 'Personal Progress'. It requires a lot of work. There are projects that take over 10 hours for each of the 8 values listed above as well as 45 experiences to do. If they complete it they get a necklace and some ribbons to mark their scriptures with. 
7. The Young Womens classes and equivalent Young Men's class:  Beehives/Deacons; Miamaids/Teachers; Laurels/Priests 

Of course, I am aware that whilst writing this I am massively generalizing about the fact that men just don't know these things. I just think they're not explicitly taught so you really have to go out of your way to find this information or you have to listen hard to sisters and other female relatives. If you're reading this and are male and knew everything that was written here - I salute you!