2.18 Carolina Allen and Susan Roylance discuss standing up for the family as a basic unit of society

Currents: the Big Ocean Women Podcast

Carolina Allen and Susan Roylance discussing standing up for the family.

“The family is that cellular level of society. And if we don’t preserve it, if we don’t look favorably upon it, it’s really hard to move forward in every aspect of society, and so it’s really critical that we talk about it in Big Ocean Women. It is central to who we are.” - Carolina Allen

“That’s kind of been the thing that I contributed or tried to contribute, is bringing together the good language (in UN and Conference documents) and getting into the hands of the people who would do things about it.” - Susan Roylance

“I got so tired of talking about poverty and doing nothing, that actually, when I finished the negotiating guide in 2000, I said, ‘Ok, guys, you’ve got this. I’m going to try and do something about poverty, ’ and that’s when my husband and I went to Africa.” - Susan Roylance

“I thought that this is something that is really important to share with others: The feminization of poverty: what happens when fathers aren’t present and aren’t providing for their families in a way that supports the family. It turns into the feminization of poverty where it’s women led households carrying the burden of everything on their shoulders, and we see this alot in the world.” - Carolina Allen

“I think that it’s really important if we’re even going to begin talking about poverty, and the feminization of poverty, we talk about the second half of our population which is men and fathers.” - Carolina Allen

“It’s such a critical point to make that men are part of the solution as well: that men and women working together for the benefit of their children and their future posterity, how everyone has some kind of a contributing role, that they need to be present, that they need to be engaged, that they need to be aware that their absence is really felt, not just at the very local level, but at a national and international level what happens when the family unit breaks down.”

- Carolina Allen

“There’s so much scientific research that shows that an intact family is the best thing for a child! There are so many measurements that show that the child does better if they are in a home with their biological parents, their father and their mother, and I think that because of the whole feminist movement we have devalued the value of fathers, and fathers are critical to a functioning family. If you care about poverty at all, fathers are the solution. We need to have fathers involved in helping to provide.” - Susan Roylance

“I think as pro-family people we need to be more armed with scientific information that shows, just ample data to show that without the biological mother and father in the family, the children are not going to receive the kind of help they need in their growing up process.” - Susan Roylance

“I see the value and the presence of good men in the lives of their children, and them striving to be good partners and husbands, and I think that is such a beautiful thing to witness generationally, that little boys can look up to their fathers and to see the things that they’re doing well, and the things that they can then improve on into the future, and hopefully society just improves generation upon generation.” - Carolina Allen

“The family unit…as a functioning unit that is healthy and thriving, it is that protective layer that preserves free will, that preserves individuality, that preserves the innate dignity of children in their wholeness, and it can grow them into their most healthy self.” - Carolina Allen

“What else do we have? It’s worth saving! The family unit is worth saving, it’s worth investing in, it’s worth talking about.” - Carolina Allen

“Creating human civilizations is the greatest power that exists. It’s all centered around that, and we hold that power, and I don’t think that very many women stop and recognize the depth and the magnitude of our power.” - Carolina Allen

“As mothers, when we fully embrace our motherhood, we get to influence that life, we get to pass along our values and our way of looking at the world… And if we do that jointly, yoked to a partner, a husband, a father that equally values our contribution, and that we can really value theirs, we’ve got something impenetrable.” - Carolina Allen

“I think that when we give each other grace and really try to listen, that there are many lived experiences that testify to the things that you’re saying, that you’ve seen, that you’ve been involved in that it adds a whole other level of expertise that is worth our while to listen to.”

- Carolina Allen

“I think that it is really important that we’re positive… My motto is, when I go to the UN, that I want to be a light on the hill… we need to be for something. We’re mothers of boys as well as girls, and we have a real impact on raising the boys of the future. That whole idea that we need to be opposed to all of these things that are happening isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need to be promoting the good things and we need to be an example.” - Susan Roylance

“As individuals, as human beings, we have God given gifts, talents, capacities, inclinations, skills,... whatever that is, it comes from within, and when we’re able to fulfill that to bless other people, and the people that we can have the most impact with is in our families, and we all belong to a family, and when we can use those gifts and talents to bless others, then we find more meaning and purpose in life, and our leadership capacity grows, and our ability to add upon other gifts and talents, it amplifies and grows and the meaning and the purpose grows and so it becomes this beautiful feedback loop that the more you give, the more you receive!” - Carolina Allen

“I learned leadership through motherhood.” - Carolina Allen

“There is true partnership in creating a family.” - Carolina Allen

“No family is perfect, but truly, we shouldn’t give up on families, we shouldn’t give up on our families. We should always be seeking together with divinity in our lives how we can improve upon and strengthen the families that we have.” - Carolina Allen

“If you don’t focus on your family, then you’re likely to have problems. Families are fragile, they are also the greatest thing that can possibly happen to help us to be able to be a strong society, a strong nation, a strong world. That’s the most important thing we can do, and as we recognize that and work towards it, that will make all the difference.” - Susan Roylance

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