Our Mission
Exponent II provides feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
Exponent II has no official connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Our Story
On a sweltering day in June 1974, a group of Latter-day Saint housewives, graduate students, and young professionals gathered in the Boston suburbs. Their mission: to produce the first issue of Exponent II, a “humble yet sincere” newspaper “poised on the dual platforms of Mormonism and Feminism.” They claimed it to be the spiritual descendent of the Utah-based periodical the Woman’s Exponent (1872-1914), wherein their ancestors had wrestled with issues of women’s rights and faith.
The Exponent II staff expected that their faithful exploration of LDS women’s experiences would be gratefully received by church leaders and felt surprised when they met pushback. Nevertheless, Exponent II quickly became a national platform that provided Mormon feminists a space to question and integrate different aspects of their dual — and sometimes dueling — identities.
Now Exponent II arrives quarterly in mailboxes as a beautiful art-filled magazine and in inboxes and RSS feeds through its blog, which has reached millions of people. From the Equal Rights Amendment to queer identity, our platforms have hosted some of the most urgent conversations of our time. Our primary approach to challenging topics has been through sharing individual stories via personal essays, poetry, and art. Though we lean progressive, Exponent II seeks to facilitate nuanced conversations by prioritizing community over ideological purity and providing opportunities to listen deeply to one another.
In the 1990s, Exponent II changed the original phrase, “Our common bond is our commitment to the Church and the women of the Church” to “Our common bond is our connection to the Church and our commitment to women.” And in 2020, we updated our mission statement to include gender minorities. What has always endured is our instance to honor all spiritual journeys in an atmosphere of trust.
Whether in person at the annual retreat in New England, on the page, or on a screen, the organization helps individuals find their voices and witness one another’s lives and stories. It nurtures a vibrant community where women and gender minorities along the Mormon spectrum can bring their whole selves in a spirit of trust and belonging.
Fifty years after its founding, Exponent II continues to add to the body of evidence of what it is like to be a Mormon Feminist. There are so many more stories to tell. We want to share them.
Text adapted from Fifty Years of Exponent II (Signature Books, 2024) by Katie Ludlow Rich and Heather Sundahl. For more about our history, read this essay by Carrel Hilton Sheldon from Exponent II Vol. 22 No. 4 Summer 1999.
