I am proud to call myself a Mormon feminist. I’m an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an adult convert, a mixed-race Asian American woman, and the only member in my family. I’ve always identified as a nuanced member and have been so grateful to find pockets of welcoming, inclusive spiritual spaces for me in almost everywhere I’ve lived.
Exponent has been such an important part of my spiritual life, and it hosts crucial conversations I don’t see taking place anywhere else. But as my time as the blog’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rep comes to a close, I want to gently call in this community and ask that we all share the labor of making Mormon feminist platforms like this more inclusive and welcoming to marginalized voices. For example, it’s not fair to ask the very few women of color to be the only ones commenting on race. If we don’t know what we’re talking about regarding a specific marginalized community, we have an opportunity to learn from members of that community and then share what we learn with others, including amplifying those sources directly with full credit.
I’d love to see more of an effort from Exponent volunteers and readers to hear, get curious about, and engage with issues outside of their experience that may be more representative of global Mormon women and less familiar to white American women (in addition to the issues that are already being discussed that are more familiar to that audience). This could happen on commemorative days and months like Black History Month, but it should also happen year-round.
Just because many Mormon feminist spaces haven’t felt the most inclusive before doesn’t mean they need to stay that way. In Mormon 9:31, Moroni says, “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.” Let’s learn to be more wise than we have been.
Let’s talk about language access, the uneven distribution of the Church’s financial resources worldwide, the lack of racial diversity in leadership of an increasingly globalized church, the fear and discomfort many privileged members feel addressing issues of race, class, disability, and other marginalized identities, and more. Let’s inform ourselves and our families and our communities with what others who are different from us are saying are their priorities. Let’s explore what we can do in our callings, Sacrament talks, Sunday School lessons, temple prep and institute and seminary classes, social gatherings, social media pages, and human-to-human interactions to let everyone know diverse voices are not only tolerated but welcomed in our circles. Let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the good when it comes to speaking up, reaching out, and advocating for others who are different from us. Let’s normalize repentance when we fall short of our values.
In Romans 15:7 Paul writes, “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.” As 2024 reaches its last days, I carry a prayer in my heart that next year and beyond we will all better receive each other, even “the other” that is different from ourselves, as Jesus receives us to the glory of God.
8 Responses
This is all well and good, but how do we “educate “ our brothers and sisters in the gospel within the two hour block? I have a ward filled with nice people who don’t ever make the time to address one another, invite one another into their homes, or reach out to anyone new. I can be standing in the middle of the foyer of the Ward building, never moving from my spot and have every ward member just flow around me, like a boulder in the middle of a river. Everyone has somewhere else to be and they want to be there as fast as possible.. Deep, moving conversations? Hardly! How do we get to know one another when we don’t even take the time to say a simple word of Hello?
I hear you on this one Cynthia. Much the same thing happens in my ward. The two-hour meeting block and the lack of an activity’s committee have made all this so much worse.
Thanks for this call in. I’ll try to do better
Exponent could reopen their Facebook group. I learned so much from that community before it was shutdown.
As far as I can see the old geezers in charge can live in their bubble and never have to look outside. We have this huge effort going to convert in Africa (since the effort isn’t going so well in the Western World any more), but Africa is very far away and we don’t really have to see or interact with them. We can send patronizing Area people, ignore their local culture, and then retreat back to Utah and the safety of sexism and racism..
Certainly we feminists need to continue to support each other and work harder at including ALL women in our efforts. It is difficult though when we encounter so few sisters who are not white and straight. There are so few, it is difficult not to make them a project or at least the token ‘other’.
I so appreciate this reminder. Your words, especially about your experiences with the lack of church resources overseas, have been very impactful for me. Thank you for calling us to be better.
Thank you so much for this call in and for your work as DEI coordinator. I clicked on each of the links in your post, and appreciated those too. I hope others who read this post will click through the links too! So much good stuff there.
I have felt that there is “no room in the inn” for an old, white, male in this forum. If that is the intent, then Exponent II has succeeded quite well. If that is not the intent, then there is room to expand the reach to this marginalized group..
Some of us old birds truly want to hear your voices and learn from you, but it is hard when we often feel belittled, ridiculed, and excluded. I believe we also can help in creating more open spaces for all, but we must feel welcome in order to do so. That isn’t the current message that is being presented in Exponent II.
If you alienate the very people you feel need to change in order to create a more accepting society, how will we as sons and daughters of God ever walk together?
Please let us in.