Blog Tag: women
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The Truth About Pop Music and Feminism
by mraynes
This past Saturday, mr. mraynes and I watched High Fidelity for the first time. About fifteen minutes into the movie, the John Cusack character asks, "Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" This question resonated with me because I have recently been asking myself a similar question:
Am I feminist because I'm discontented, or am I discontented because I'm a feminist?
Since leaving my job, moving to a new state and becoming a stay-at-home mother, I have felt a level of unhappiness that truly surprised...
494
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Relief Society Lesson Chp 39: Divine Organization of Women
by Lynette at Zelophehad's Daughters
This is a lesson I find rather challenging, so I’m going to suggest a couple of ways to approach it.
The first part of this lesson talks about the founding of the Relief Society. One way to focus the lesson could be historical—most Latter-day Saints are familiar with (and can possibly even recite) all the presidents of the church, but we don’t generally know as much about what different Relief Society presidents have done, and I think that could be fun to learn. A possible source could be Derr, Cannon, and Beecher’s Women of Covenant—please feel...
520
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The Feminist Domestic
by mraynes
A few months ago mr. mraynes was teaching an Elder's Quorum lesson on unity, specifically unity within the family. A brother in our ward called him out and dismissed what mr. mraynes was teaching, saying in effect "your wife is a feminist and I know how your family works." mr. mraynes was understandably bemused at the situation mostly because this brother had entirely missed the point of the lesson but also because this man had presumed to know what our family was like based on his own stereotype.
One of the reasons that this brother in our ward felt comfortable judging...
343
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Laying on of Hands
by G
The first time that I went through the temple, I knew that I would come back and become a worker there. I knew this the moment that a woman parted a white veil to usher me into a room and laid her hands upon my head.
Backing up a few years, I was one of those beehives who was fairly ticked off at the system that promoted boys to the priesthood and me to lessons on getting married in the temple. There was all this hype about having the power to act in God's name, lots...
500
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Margins to Center
by mraynes
A few weeks ago I was asked to give a presentation to colleagues and members of the community about the ideology of empowerment. Empowerment is my primary job description so I can give a presentation about the subject with my eyes closed. Although it is an easy subject for me to discuss, truth be told, I feel that the concept of empowerment in American society is a cop out. Although I believe that the individual must be an integral part, and even the impetus for positive change, they are only one part of reaching true empowerment. An individual...
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Invocations
Woman's Sphere
Tell me what is woman's sphere?
What path was she designed to tread?
What may she hope? What must she fear?
What may she do and what must dare
To win her daily dole of bread?
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Is she but fit to sweep and sew,
To spread her master's table well,
To go and come, to come and go,
On one unvaried round, and grow
In nothing good if nothing ill?
Has she no mind to cultivate?
No heart for fatherland to glow?
No int'rest in the future fate
Of sons and daughters, that her state
Is almost slavery, vile and low?
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As plants untended droop and fade,
And weeds choke out most precious seed,
So...
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The Woman Without a Shadow
by mraynes
mr. mraynes and I are opera geeks. I spent the first years of my college career training to be an opera singer; mr. mraynes has spent the majority of his doctoral program immersed in opera scores, learning how to conduct them. Where a lot of couples have a song taken from pop culture, our song was "Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde. Every major moment in our relationship is connected to an aria or opera. Dating...Cosi Fan Tutte. Falling in love... "Liebestod" . Engagement...Turandot. Marriage... "Morgen" . Birth of Baby Monster... "Song to the Moon" . Birth of Baby Valkyrie...Brunhilde's Immolation. ...
646
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dirty
During my youth and early adulthood I had a bit of an obsession with being spiritually clean. The peak of this obsession came during my mission and the ensuing couple of years; through dedicated church service, scripture study (including a fixation with memorization), prayer/meditation and temple attendance I sought God's approval, desperately wanting to be found worthy, clean. What I find ironic is that this was the time of my life where I felt the most unclean, the most unworthy, and none of my full hearted sincerity or excellent memorization skills could wash...
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Single and Endowed
By Zenaida
San Diego Temple
I was endowed at the age of 24. I did not serve a mission, and I am still single. I've recently begun to wonder if I could do it again, would I? Would I choose to wait instead? My father was against it, and I expected my bishop to be also, but he was very supportive. Some of the reasons that I personally was given for not receiving the endowment were that it was far worse if the law of chastity was broken after going to the temple, there's no reason to go if you're not...
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The Curse of Eve
by Zenaida
Gen. 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
I had never heard this section of scripture referred to as the "Curse of Eve" until I heard of Emma Smith's blessing that she wrote for herself. I haven't yet decided if I agree with that description of this verse, but I can sympathize.
When Eve is created, she is described as a help meet. Jolene Edmunds Rockwood, in her book, Women and...
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.
