1. For a succinct overview from which to begin, see Peggy Fletcher Stack's article in the Salt Lake Tribune entitled "Mormon Feminism: It's Back."
2. A similar, though more in-depth, overview is available in a podcast from the Radio West radio program. The show, entitled "Mormon Feminism Today," was broadcast in September and includes interviews with Claudia Bushman and Joanna Brooks.
3. Patheos recently hosted a symposium on Mormon Feminism with a wide range of participants that gives a good idea of some of the complexities and varying perspectives involved in the issue.
4. The Mormon Women Project features interviews with faithful Latter-day Saint women. Quoting from their "About" page: "This digital library will show that among the 7 million women currently members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is stunning diversity and strength that may not always be recognized. The MWP is particularly interested in highlighting the righteous choices women make in all circumstances and locations. It celebrates women who have made deliberate choices — with the help of the Spirit and personal revelation — to overcome personal trials, magnify motherhood, contribute to communities outside their homes, or be converted to the Gospel." When anyone says Mormon women are all the same, send them here.
5. If you work with young women, read this essay by Kathryn Soper: "Why Standards Night is Substandard: Teaching Sexuality to the Young Women."
6. And finally, for an articulate response to and reformulation of Soper's essay, read this by Rosalynde Welch: "Women, Desire, and the Hidden Discourse."
Interesting. I'll definitely check some of these out.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that inequality was ever (is) an issue. It could be that the first prophet I started listening to was Hinckley, or maybe it is the utopian bubble that I live in. Either way, I see this as being more of a historical issue for our daughters than a brick wall. I think men of my generation (in our American Mormon subculture) widely accept the equality of our partners, and those men who do not will die out of mainstream in the upcoming generation. I pray that I am right.
ReplyDeleteI teach my Primary students that it was Christ's plan to allow us to choose, and that in order to sustain Him as our Savior we MUST make our own choices. In that same line of thought, we must also enable that power in others. I don't see any problem or contradiction when personal revelation drives any segment of society one direction before universal revelation is later decreed in that same direction.
Where do you find all these?
ReplyDeleteMHC: Oh, you know, around ... I heard the radio program, a friend showed me the MWP, and I think the rest are on the Patheos portal.
ReplyDeleteAdam: I do definitely notice a difference in attitude between men around my age and those of the older generation (and in the women too, for that matter—women my age tend to be much more comfortable challenging previous assumptions, or at least more vocal about it). But I think it's still an issue, especially at the institutional level.
I am glad you included this. I've already referenced the information when hearing non-LDS people (and for your readers, I'm not either) make broad and unfair generalizations about Mormon women.
ReplyDelete