Women in the Church

I think there are many positive messages that the Church sends to women.One of these is the sense of equality that the Church honors between men and women. This equality may not always be carried out completely, but it is still a prevalent idea in the Catholic Church. Another positive message is one of sexuality.The Catholic Church teaches about the need for intimacy, mutuality, consent, and respect for the dignity of one’s partner in sexuality, which are all important values. These messages help to balance out the negative messages that are also sent to members of the Church. The Church tells its members to value mutual pleasure and long term commitment in a sexual relationship. This positive message teaches us about healthy relationships, which in turn teaches us about a positive self-concept and seeing ourselves as gifts from God, made in his image and likeness. In a Catholic school environment, especially at an all-girls school, it has been drilled into my mind that women are to be empowered at a young age and can have a bright future if they are educated properly. Our school motto is "On the education of women largely depends the future of society." This has been repeated to me on several occasions and so it is very important to me.I have really only received positive messages from my school but the Church does not always uphold what it says about equality. Women are not allowed to be priests, how is that any different from women not being allowed to vote? In conclusion, there are some contradictory messages being sent about women from the Catholic Church.