(your points on human fallibility are so apt. I heard this thing about how Catholics profess to believe in papal infallibility, and yet act as if they don’t (for e.g., so many use birth control despite admonition against it. And Mormon profess to not believe in prophetic infallibility (we have so many conditions that must be met for something to be “doctrine,” and yet we often act as if we do believe in even local-authority infallibility, which is the only reason we could get mad when they (we) show how human we all are)

I also have been liking http://womeninthescriptures.blogspot.com/ by Heather Farrell she has a post called “Two Trees” (or Two Veils) that I liked a lot. It’s basically that women bring people into this world and men are responsible for bringing people safely back to our Heavenly world. Equal but separate responsibilities.

I also feel like we need to remember that we have a past that we don’t remember and perhaps women played a more authoritative role there.

One last thought. People in the church (your primary chorister?) are not perfect. We are all in church to get help, and to be forgiven.

Hope you get some answers to your questions.

Sorry this comment is so long – this is a topic that I think about ALL of the time. I feel sad that so many think (whether consciously or subconsciously) that women are inferior beings. I was in a meeting a few months ago (not in Utah) where the Stake President and his wife taught us that the priesthood is in place in order to support women in their role as nurturers. Not the other way around, like so often happens. I’ve thought a lot about that since and have realized that our gospel is clear, it’s the culture in the church that has me in a tizzy.