Women and the Priesthood

A while back at a family gathering the topic of women not being able to hold the priesthood came up. The implication being that we are somehow suppressed, or less than, because we don't have that opportunity. How do you explain in a few words, that it isn't like that at all. The real understanding is such a paradigm shift from the cultural norm. I have been reading Eve and the Choice Made in Eden by Beverly Campbell. That book, in my opinion, provides a very good look into the cultural background of the LDS woman and why, when we really understand our value and role as women, we feel no need to try and compete with the men or take over their role. An analogy I was thinking of this morning: Is any one part of the body more important than another? Like for instance the heart and the brain. Is the role of either the heart or the brain any less important to the life of our bodies. So also are the roles of the men and the women. We could compare the women to the heart and the function of the priesthood(men) with the brain. The brain directs and organises. The heart pumps the life blood that nourishes the body. We symbolically associate the heart with love and emotions, even to spirituality. Emotional intelligence and intuition come from the heart. How can we value the role of one over the other? They are both of equal value.

Other thoughts on this issue:
When we look at the primary purpose or work of the church, it is to bring the salvation of souls. (saviors [saving] of men) "There needs be an equitable division of labor so that the respective missions of men and women may be jointly undertaken and jointly acomplished." (Campbell 143)
This leads me to one of my favorite quotes from the book:

"Men have to have something given to them in mortality to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. They are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls... and the regenerating force in the lives of God's children." (Matthew Cowley)