I’m a latish Boomer who rejoiced when Second Wave Feminism started in the late 1960’s. Perhaps I was wired for feminism in the pre-existence and came to earth as a full fledged feminist. What I do know for sure is that the inequality between men and women in society and especially in the church has bothered me ever since I can remember. The Fascinating Womanhood garbage being preached first as a Gaynote, Firelight and Merrihand in Primary and continuing in YW and RS has never remotely appealed to me. There were times when I tried to be the “Perfect Mormon Girl/Woman” to try to be more acceptable to my mother and to other people. After a couple of months I would struggle so much with cognitive dissonance that I would give up trying to be like the rest of the women at church. Then I would remember what I had learned about my dad’s mother plus her mother and 4 other sisters.

Back in the early part of the last century they were marching in women’s suffrage parades and handing out pamphlets about giving women the vote. During the Spanish Flu pandemic they were some of the only people who weren’t sick, so they cooked for their sick neighbors who couldn’t care for themselves. Although they were poor, they knew others who were worse off than them and they helped them. These strong, brave women did whatever needed to be done if they could. Each of these 5 women had different strengths that when combined together made life for many people much better. NONE of them were your “typical Mormon woman”. I revel in knowing this and have chosen to honor their legacy by working towards women’s equality in my own unique way.