Blog Tag: General Conference
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An Open Letter to Claus Inc. North Pole
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Claus,
A recent video mashup of male LDS leaders providing instructions to LDS women on how to be LDS women, left me longing for gender parity in General Conference speakers. The ratio of two female speakers to 36 male speakers documented here is devastating to those like me that hunger for messages from Heavenly Parents spoken in a female voice of leadership.
An English speaking woman of modest means or a non-English speaker is restricted to the meager rations of LDS female leader voices doled out in increments of two every six months (with a once a...
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Should Women’s Meeting be part of General Conference?
There was quite the kerfuffle over Women's Meeting a couple weeks ago. Prior to the meeting, Ordain Women supporters pointed out that "the General Women’s Meetings are not considered part of general conference. They are auxiliary meetings and, as such, represent women’s secondary status in the LDS Church."
But during General Women's Meeting, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said that "we open another general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" and referred to the five sessions of General Conference to follow as the "remaining sessions of our worldwide general conference" as if Women's Meeting were the first. The Salt Lake...
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The Fatherhood Shift
by MargaretOH
"We've demonstrated that women can do what men do, but not yet that men can do what women do. That's why most women have two jobs—one inside the home and one outside it—which is impossible. The truth is that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it.” –Gloria Steinem, 2009.
Occasionally the gendered language of the church is more hurtful towards men than it is towards women. We hear it when women are spoken of as naturally more righteous or when men are said to lack self-control. The gendered culture of Mormonism is so...
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(Not?) Watching Conference
Ten years ago, I was a freshman at BYU. One Saturday morning, I was sitting in my Deseret Towers dorm room doing my homework like a studious, dedicated undergrad. My roommate burst into the room, "Are you going to watch conference with us?"
"Conference?"
"Yeah, it starts in like 5 minutes."
"It's Saturday. I'm doing my homework. I'll watch tomorrow's conference."
Clearly there was a clash of cultures.
I had grown up in Illinois in a family that didn't have satellite television. We had to drive 45 minutes to the stake center to watch General Conference and my family was not going to do...
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May 2014 Visiting Teaching Message: Teacher’s Choice From Conference
The Visiting Teaching message the month following conference is always a freebie of sorts, where each teacher or pair of teachers can choose which talk to highlight.
I would likely choose Elder W. Craig Zwick's talk, "What Are You Thinking?" simply because it is the one that resonated with me the most.
He begins by sharing an intense story about driving in a semi-truck with his wife and infant son before the days of car seat regulations. Accordingly, his wife held their babe on her lap, which was well and good until they made their "descent over historic Donnor Pass, a...
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Men at General Relief Society Meeting
Women are seeking to attend Priesthood Session during the upcoming General Conference. (You can read more about these plans here.) The main purpose of this action is to show support for the ordination of women.
While not the main focus, these plans have illuminated the differing policies toward gender at Priesthood Session and General Relief Society Meeting. Great lengths are taken to ensure that Priesthood Session is a male-only space. In contrast, not only do men attend Relief Society Meeting, they preside over it and offer the keynote address.
Priesthood Session
General Relief Society Meeting
Presiding Officers
Men preside over Priesthood Session, both at...
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The Spirit of Fear
“Wow, that scares me to death but please connect me,” I replied when I was invited to connect with a new group that would “unapologetically advocate for women's ordination in the Mormon church.” That group became Ordain Women.
Openly advocating for women’s ordination breaks a taboo that has been prevalent even among Mormon feminists. My first, reflexive feeling about it was fear of censure and discipline. Almost immediately thereafter, a scripture came to my mind:
“God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Why do I fear the people I love? Why do I fear the church I...
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Why I haven’t written a letter
As many of you know, this is the final week of the “Let Women Pray” letter writing campaign in which All Enlisted, the group behind the Pants Day, has asked women to write letters asking general authorities to allow women to pray in general conference.
I haven’t written a letter. I don’t have an issue with the idea of writing letters. And in theory, I would love to see women pray in general conference. But I find myself conflicted by the campaign.
It starts with the word “let.”
While women have never prayed in general conference (see DefyGravity’s introductory post here), I...
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God as a Telephone Wire and Other Proper Channels
We are now within the final week of the Let Women Pray Letterwriting Campaign. Letters are due on February 22. I did not organize this campaign or the Wear Pants to Church Day Campaign that preceded it, but I supported both events. Among Mormons who chose not to support either event, a common critique is that the organizers of these campaigns are not following the proper channels. Campaigning, lobbying, publicly disagreeing with church practices, organizing, advising church leaders or otherwise "murmuring" are worldly forms of "protest."
In light of these critiques, I am going to analyze some of the more...
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Play “Let Women Pray” Mad Lib
The deadline to send letters encouraging our leaders to let women pray in General Conference is February 22. It's right around the corner and letter-writing can be stressful. To ameliorate some of your stress, we've created a Let Women Pray Mad Lib, guaranteed to produce a unique letter every time:
Let Women Pray Mad Lib
You can see the original letter at:
https://www.change.org/petitions/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-let-women-pray-at-general-conference
Why don't you go ahead and sign the petition while you're there? I did.
And if your Mad Lib letter wasn't quite reverent enough to send to a General Authority, try this one:
Let Women Pray Reverent Letter
Now just copy and paste...
What is Exponent II?
Exponent II provides Mormon 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 was founded in 1974 by a group of Mormon women in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These women were inspired by the original periodical, “The Woman’s Exponent,” to create a forum “posed on the dual platforms of Mormonism and Feminism.”
For 50+ years, Exponent II has shared women’s voices in its quarterly magazine, and members of the community have convened at an annual retreat. Our reach has expanded as technology has advanced: the blog, founded in January 2006, has reached millions. As we look to the future, we are focused on growth and building a more inclusive community.
