Equal Partners = Strong Marriages 

    There is a lot of talk about mental load and equal partnership in marriage both inside and outside the church. What does equal partnership look like? Our understanding of being equal in marriage is different than our identity. Being equal does not mean that we are the same. The Family Proclamation points out our unique designs, being equal recognizes these uniqueness's and blends them together to create a beautiful harmony. While working together to create this unity we are able to maintain our unique design and gender differences. Men and women are considered equal, there should be no hierarchy in our relationships. 

    I have loved learning about Adam and Eve and how they are made in the image of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, they also share their divine masculine and feminine characteristics. It teaches that they have different characteristics and abilities, but they are equally divine. We understand the choice that Eve made in the Garden of Eden and recognize it as a necessary step in the plan of happiness. As Elder Bruce C. Hafen, a member of the Seventy at the time, and his wife, Marie, explained, Genesis 3:16 states that Adam is to "rule over" Eve, but this doesn't make Adam a dictator... Over in "rule over" uses the Hebrew bet, which means ruling with, not ruling over... The concept of interdependent, equal partners is well-grounded in the in the doctrine of the restored gospel. Eve was Adam's "help meet" (Genesis 2:18). The original Hebrew for meet means the Eve was adequate for, or equal to, Adam. She wasn't his servant or his subordinate (Hafen, 2007, p.27). 

     Understanding that equality between Adam and Eve helps us to realize the importance of striving for equality in our marriages. Equality and love are intertwined, and Adam and Eve are a wonderful example of this. When envisioning the equal partnership that the Family Proclamation refers to Elder L. Tom Perry said, "there is not a president or vice president in the family, we have co-presidents working together eternally for the good of their family...they are on equal footing. They plan and organize the affairs of the family jointly (Perry, 2004, p.71). This helps us to realize the importance of supporting each other in the roles we each take on. These roles can be left up to the husband and wife to decide but the housework and family tasking should be a joint effort between husband and wife. This is the part where we get to council and work together to create equality and harmony within our own families and circumstances (Hawkins, et al., 2012).