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The Exponent II Blog features posts relating to Mormon feminism. We welcome posts by diverse voices. Submit a guest post to join the conversation.

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Repent of what? Why isn’t there a message of love? Of lifting where we stand? Of being aware of those in our communities and supporting how we can? Why is an institution that claims to teach of Jesus Christ not encouraging it’s members to be actively engaged in their communities? To be present with those most vulnerable? To let go of insisting that we all see the world the same way and making sure people have food, safe shelter, and health care? Am I missing something?
person walking a tightrope stretched over a high canyon between two dark cliffs
In an organization that commands exact obedience, it's important to be aware of its negative potential and be equipped to prevent it.

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It’s no secret that our church is built for men, specifically married men, designed to serve their needs and reinforce their authority. By contrast, the only way for a woman to have any semblance of power is to be power-adjacent. To be an influence, an auxiliary, a wife. The church limits itself by holding onto patriarchy with tight, stubborn fists. The lack of diversity in our leadership creates an echo chamber of ideas and perspectives. Problems surrounding inequality--instead of being met with real solutions--become frustrated, circular. Could this be what God wants? For an entire gender to remain stunted, voiceless?
Today is a day of sadness. The church has lost two of its best and brightest. Valerie and Nathan Hamaker from the Latter-day Struggles Podcast have formally resigned from the church, not because they wanted to, but because they refused to face excommunication.
When a new apostle is called, his wife appears to be purposefully excluded from the meeting in which his call is extended. She's either not invited at all, or sent to wait somewhere else while the men meet. She's only informed after he's already accepted the calling that she'll be an apostle's wife until the day that he dies, travelling and living a very different retired life than she had expected.
The sons of God lead and direct the church, but the daughters of God find that their spiritual authority is not valued within church walls. Many daughters of God have tried (and failed) to change this, but women lack the necessary institutional authority. Women and gender minorities are currently dependent on men in leadership positions to modify the structure of church administration so that the spiritual authority of every child of God can be honored.
All the things I truly valued about my faith told me that God could and would speak directly to me. I knew that God gave me a conscience to guide me and a passionate desire to good.
Blogger April Young-Bennett ponders the words of President Camille N. Johnson at the 2025 Worldwide Relief Society devotional about the Nauvoo Relief Society. She says, "I like the thought of women claiming a priestly lineage. When our male counterparts are ordained to the priesthood, they are told their priesthood lineage, tracing their priesthood ordination back through generations to Joseph Smith.  For women, the connection to our spiritual ancestors can feel vague. We don’t even join the Relief Society; we are just added to the roles automatically on our 18th birthdays with no ritual to mark the occasion.   It was different at the time of the Nauvoo Relief Society. At that time, women could be ordained."
A 2025 Worldwide Relief Society Devotional review focusing on Sister Dennis' words, "They Had That Covenant Relationship with God."
A 2025 Worldwide Relief Society Devotional review focusing on Sister Yee's words, "We are more similar than we are not."