Hard to stay, Harder to leave part 1

This past week I listened to an interesting podcast that addressed the issue of "hard to stay, harder to leave." For me this is a profound statement/question. Such a statement raises many things for me but in this moment I wish to focus on the treatment of women within the church (please forgive the coming disjointedness).

The ordained women's movement within the church is no secret and in the last year or so has in fact received a lot of public light. I feel that the key element within this movement is male female equality, which I definitely think needs a fundamental change from our current situation, culturally and doctrinally.

At this moment I am currently listening to an interview with Kate Kelly in which she talks about her early experience in the church as a working women. Within the church being a working women isn't encouraged in some cases. Kelly specifically speaks about a paper she wrote while studying at BYU in which she had to pick a church topic and research it. She chose to write about women working outside of the home and through her research she was told that women are not to work outside of the home. She learned that a women's place is in the home as mothers, to nurture their children and take care of the home.  In addition to this she stated that information to do with working women is mainly focused on balancing working life with family life. The idea that part time work should be the only option, that your children and home are always your first priority as men are the working ones. This idea is backed up by the Young Women's manual, which I grew up with stating "mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of the the children." The young women's theme states that women's roles are to nurture home and family.
I greatly feel that the way women are spoken of and introduced in the church is that they are second to men. This is even illustrated in The Bible where it says that "Eve will be a helpmeet to Adam." Yet Eve was made out of one of Adams ribs (supposedly). In addition to this we are created out of the image of God. For me if we are made out of the image of God and men then are we not  equal to them and should we not be treated as equal to them.
In Mormon ideas the transgression that took place in the garden of eden was a positive turn that gave all of use the ability  to experience mortal life and thus eternal life. Eve was the initiator of this as she partook of the fruit and consequently Adam did as well. In church videos I have seen the great knowledge that Eve had to know in order to experience and understand the importance of her decision. In many places women are damned because of this one act and yet the freedom to choose is a powerful and freeing act.
Another female element within the church is the lessons we teach young women, at least from when I was in young women's. As I remember it I was taught that women's bodies were dangerous and that we need to strictly adhere to modesty as we are responsible for keeping men chaste and pure. I think this is absurd and dangerous. How can we teach young women that their bodies are dangerous while at the same time that our bodies are of God, beautiful and pure. Obviously in this light we need to  relieve young women of such a huge responsibility.
We spend so much time on modesty and how we need to make sure that young women are dressing appropriately, but sometimes this goes to far. The simple fact that young women and youth are even present at activities and church is far more important that how they dress. Growing up and being in youth I have been around and experienced extreme dress restrictions, young women who have organized events and been turned away when they have showed up for wearing jeans. The humiliating process of requiring young women to kneel down to make sure that their dresses/skirts touch the floor. Again who cares, they are present at

an event. They could be out at a party drinking do drugs, but no they are at the youth dance, which in all honesty are usually under populated and badly D.Jed.
I could go on and on and on about how women are treated in the church, but I think the point I'm trying to get at in connection to "Hard to stay, harder to leave" is that the way I am treated as a women in the church makes it hard for me to stay, in addition to many other problems I have. As a women I am part of the majority of the church and yet I am responsible for almost nothing, except my body and how I present it to others, especially men.
In connection with OW, over this past year, I have been rather sick, on and off and had quite a few personal problems. In all cases I've had to call on male friends to receive blessings. These men have families and commitments in their lives. So in a more practical light men being the only ones having the priesthood is genuinely inconvenient. But I also see it as unfair and a simple cry for equality in that regard is profound and needs to be heard, left, right and centre.

To be continued...