That Great Day When There Will Be An End to Patriarchy

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by Shawn Tucker:

Imagine if you woke up one morning and it had all rolled back. Your wife no longer had a job or even interest in having a job. She was at home patiently waiting for orders from you. Instead of having her own thoughts or plans or ideas, she lived only to serve and support you. All of which is to say that she was very, very dependent upon you. She did little or nothing without your explicit or at least tacit consent, down to the smallest activity. And imagine that your daughters, if they were not married already to men who ruled their lives, then now they are underpaid and disrespected nurses or elementary school teachers. You may have a daughter off at college but, by her own admission, she’s only there to get her “Mrs” degree. Your daughters, in fact all of your children, are as dependent upon you as your wife. They do little on their own without seeking first your approval. For every decision in the family, whether great or small, you must make it alone. You might talk to some other men about it or maybe look in the scriptures for some guidance—books written by men for men—but patriarchy demands that you make every decision and that every decision be flawless. This is the world where father must know what is best in every situation and all the time and for everyone involved. This is patriarchy, and it puts an impossible demand and weight on men while it robs women and other powerless people of participation and of a full voice in making decisions.

Suffragette: An LDS Perspective

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by LJ:

This is me and Holly Washburn at a Suffragette screening. I'm holding up two Vs for Victory in a nod to Winston Churchill. It's not two peace signs, though peace is a good thing too.

I went with my friend Holly to see a screening of "Suffragette" about the women's rights movement in Britain in the late 19th century, and cried myself dehydrated.

Frankly, I was confused why this movie affected me so deeply. My life is embarrassingly good, compared to a washerwoman in 19th century London. My parents were middle-class, loving people with good education. My mother was (and still is) a powerhouse who taught me I could accomplish anything with enough hard work and elbow grease. I graduated from college. I married a man who brings home the bacon, then comes home to wrangle three kids, cook dinner (sometimes) and mop the floor (always) so I have time to write fiction.

But those tears, people. The tears. I am usually good at muscling them down when Hollywood throws an emotional potshot. But there's one scene where Carey Mulligan's character [SPOILER ALERT] finds out her estranged husband is adopting out their son to another family, and she has no say in the matter. I broke down into quiet sobs and Holly kindly slipped me the stack of napkins, originally intended for popcorn grease. I used all but two of them.

Are Mormon Men Unintentionally Discriminating at Work

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by Alex Fuller:

I recently attended a seminar on gender discrimination in the workplace and was surprisingly conflicted afterwards. I had begun the seminar thinking, "Of course I treat men and women equally." After, however, I was left wondering if I regularly discriminate without realizing it.

This seminar happened the same week that I heard a comment that equally surprised me. The comment came from a LDS female coworker who observed that LDS men are often less inclusive and less open with women in the workplace. She was the only woman in a small minority of Mormons in the organization. Despite her shared beliefs, she often felt excluded by her male LDS coworkers. They were tackling similar projects, but she frequently had to find her own support group.

How could this happen?

Although I don't think most LDS men discriminate on purpose, I wonder how many times we shy away from women either unconsciously or deliberately.

Dear Editor: Hairstyles Too Extreme

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by Eliana:

I have very little memorabilia from my years at BYU. I don't think I ever owned a piece of clothing or anything stamped with a logo. I had a lot of pens from their fabulous selection in the bookstore, but those are long gone.

What I do have is this very special letter to the editor, circa 1998, from The Daily Universe. The letter was written about me, by a stranger. I feel pretty special, even all these years later. Oh how I don't miss the self-righteousness of the Cougars, though it seems to be alive and well from the stories I still hear about leggings, skinny jeans, and the testing center.

Do you have any classy 1990's memorabilia? Kolob Kitsch can probably help if you are feeling nostalgic for EFY cds and such.


Eliana Osborn was raised on cold weather and wild animals in Anchorage, Alaska, setting the stage for her adult life in the Sunniest Place on Earth in Arizona. She grew up in the church and didn't know there were places where conformity was preached. She has degrees. She writes. She teaches. She has some kids. She even has a husband. She's trying to do her best. Twitter: Eliana0Eliana. Website: elianaosborn.com.

Responding to Non-Mormons about Women and the Priesthood

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by Shawn Tucker:

About two years ago or so the missionaries came to our home to talk with two of my university students. It was a great experience all around, with the students asking questions and the missionaries generally doing an excellent job. It was also great for my children to see missionaries in action. Toward the end the missionaries mentioned modern prophets, and the students asked about them. The elders showed the typical pictures from The Ensign. The students, both female, asked why there were not any women, to which the elders responded that women are not ordained to the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When the two twentysomething, female college students asked the two, twentysomething, male elders why, one of the elders said that since women are better nurturers and can bear children, men are given the priesthood. This was met with considerable skepticism on the part of the young women. Oh, and I wanted to grab the elder’s words out of the air and stuff them in his sock.

Another Approach

Since that evening, I have thought a lot about what I might say to non-LDS friends about why women are not ordained to the priesthood. What follows are ideas I have learned/stolen from others, and if I could find their original sources I would give them credit. The approach includes three elements.

Don't Use Gender Roles

The first element of what seems like a wise approach is to not use gender roles or stereotypes as an explanation. Saying that women are one way while men are another, even if those roles are in the Proclamation, is not going to sit well with many non-Mormons. Many people would find this line of thinking sexist. In addition, I think there are two more problems with it. The first problem is that talking about gender roles are not our specialty or expertise. Few of us are sociologist, anthropologist, social historians, or people who have spent the years of study necessary to talk with confidence about issues like gender roles. In this respect I don't think the Proclamation gives us enough foundation or expertise to support that approach. But the second problem for me is that I'm not sure the Holy Ghost will testify, will carry to the hearts of non-Mormons, the idea that women are not ordained because of gender roles. Perhaps that is just my experience, but this does not seem like something that the Holy Ghost will powerfully testify to others.

MMM: Seeds of Unorthodoxy

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by Kristine A:

I had always been a strict orthodox Mormon, probably the Mollyest of Mormons. No R-rated movies. No second pair of earrings. I went to Ricks College and threw away all of my shorts and tank tops. I believed that womanhood = motherhood (and motherhood = priesthood) and that a woman's place was in the home. In 2011, after ten years of marriage and one IVF baby, against all rational thought we took a job cross country in Virginia that was a pay cut; leaving a house in Idaho we rented out at a $400/month loss and creating a need for me to work full-time. It didn't make sense, but we prayed about it and it felt right. Little did we know what lay in store for us in Virginia.

I think I can pinpoint the exact moment my faith transition began. I had a Virginia friend share some posts from Modern Mormon Men on Facebook and I began following MMM. Shortly after I read two posts about patriarchy, "The Modern Patriarch" and "The Reluctant Patriarch." I'd never even conceived that a Mormon man could not embrace patriarchy. I'd always embraced "girl power" and "proper roles of women" and had felt that unnamed tension. These two posts left me examining my own beliefs, and I ended up talking to my husband about how I never had been totally comfortable with patriarchy. He looked at me like I was Captain Obvious. Apparently for ten years he had struggled with the fact that I was not exactly submissive and easily entreated towards the presider of the home. He said he knew within a month of marriage that his successful, independent, confident, dynamic wife was not going to fit in the leadership model of the family he'd been hoping for, no matter how orthodoxly Molly Mormon I was. The conversation ended with his promise that the only purpose of the priesthood is to serve, so if I ever felt my daughter and I weren't being served enough by him - I should just let him know and he'd make course corrections. It may seem innocuous, but it was the first time I'd allowed myself to question whether anything my Church had given me was God’s will.

Feminist Club

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by Eliana:

My entire extended family on the maternal side got together for a reunion over Thanksgiving. It was fun, I chatted a lot, yada yada yada. My mom has four sisters, no brothers. They are loud women with lots of opinions. My mom is probably the most mellow which I can't believe I am even saying. I've grown up with strong, interesting women for my whole life—and all of that generation are active in the church.

My little cousins (by which I mean Grown Women Younger than Me) cornered me and asked if we could have dinner together one night. A girl table! How fun! Not having to eat with children! This is how Nichole and Abby presented their offer:

"Eliana, can we have dinner with you tonight so you can teach us about Mormon feminism?"

How can a girl say no to such a request? I let go my laughter at the idea of having anything to share or having any special knowledge on the subject and agreed to go for it.

Best. Conversation. Ever.

That One Time CES Didn't Hire Us Because I was "Different"

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by Kristine A:

Once upon a time I was a newlywed; a newlywed with a husband trying to be a Seminary teacher back in the Ricks College days that had an East Idaho Pre-Seminary (OPT) training program. So I took Religion 370, Intro to Teaching, in Fall 2001 along with my husband. I forget all the details back in the day, but we progressed through the program to where he was teaching seminary part-time at Madison, Sugar City, and Mud Lake High Schools. We were in our final semester where you are up for hire and it's pretty intense and down to the wire. I remember this last semester there are a few things they do to screen applicants:

1. Lots of in class evaluations by OPT area supervisor.
2. Spouse survey.
3. Meeting with CES hierarchy, if you pass middle management interview. I think there may have been a GA interview at the end right before hire.

We had a few things going against us:

1. The OPT area supervisor didn't like my husband. My husband didn't like him. They both thought that the other had a too high opinion of themselves and constantly tried to take each other down a notch. In retrospect it was entertaining.
2. I don't like being manipulated and I have a strong personality.

Don't Edit Me, Bro!

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by Kyle:

This past General Conference gave plenty for people* to buzz about. Whether it was speakers delivering their talks in their native language or the first black woman praying in the Women's Session. And even the Women's Session being referred to as part of the whole General Conference rather than a separate meeting.

Unfortunately it appears as though the Church has taken some action in order to walk that last point back a bit.

First, let's see how this all got started. At the beginning of the Women's Session on September 27, 2014, President Uchtdorf opened his talk to the women of the Church by saying:

"My beloved sisters, my dear friends and blessed disciples of Jesus Christ, I am honored to have this opportunity to be with you as we open another general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the coming week the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles will meet with all the General Authorities and general auxiliary leaders, and the remaining sessions of our worldwide general conference will follow on the coming Saturday and Sunday" (emphasis added).

From his remarks it is pretty clear that he considers the Women's Session the first session of General Conference. This brought much joy to many women of the church as it has been long debated whether the Women's Session (until recently the Relief Society Session and the Young Women's Session) actually was a part of General Conference, or if it was just its own meeting.

21 Lessons from a Lesson on David and Bathsheba

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by Shawn Tucker:

So I was asked to substitute for Sunday School, and the lesson dealt with David and Bathsheba. (For a slightly amusing take on this challenge, see here.) Here are 21 lessons I learned from preparing the lesson:

1. When David saw Bathsheba in the bath, she was performing a ritual washing or Mikveh. She was not just chillin' in the tub after a long day. In fact, the verses tell us she was doing this because she had just finished her period.
2. Jerusalem is on a hill, so David could have looked out from the roof and seen Bathsheba.
3. There is nothing, NOTHING!, in the scriptures to suggest that Bathsheba had put herself on display, wanted to be seen by anyone (including David), or was doing anything but performing a ceremonial washing. In fact, the verses mention her bath and her period to drive home the point that Bathsheba's child was David's and could not have been Uriah's.
4. David saw a beautiful woman performing a ceremonial washing, became sexually aroused, had his men take her, and then had non-consensual sex with her.
5. The sex between them is non-consensual because David had all of the power, had compelled her to come to him, and someone in Bathsheba's position is not completely free to say yes or no to sex. What David did was beyond adultery; it was rape.

Guest Post: Rationality, Thy Name Is (Not?) Woman

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Let me be clear up front: I am not a feminist.

Personally I don’t support the Ordain Women movement. When they had ‘wear pants (trousers, for my UK friends) to church day,’ I rolled my eyes. I’m pretty much a traditionalist on women’s issues, regardless of my other political and scientific views.

But a recent turn of events really got my hackles up on a ‘woman’s issue’ and I want to hear from men, particularly Modern Mormon Men, on what they think.

Recently, due to a change in life circumstances (newborn baby) I was released at my request from being the primary president in our ward and was called instead to teach in Relief Society once a month. This means that my husband and I now teach the same lesson on fourth Sundays, the Teachings For Our Time General Conference address chosen by the Stake Presidency.

In the run up to my first lesson, I was listening to General Conference again and pretty much called which talks we would be teaching, though the Stake hadn’t yet released the list for the next six months. However, there was one talk (Elder W. Craig Zwick's) that I was less than eager to listen to, let alone consider teaching to a roomful of 18-90 year-old women.

I don’t dislike his message. In fact, it’s a very important one that I feel needs to be discussed and understood.

What bothered me was his use of the word ‘irrational.’

Titanism

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by Reid:

In the October 1964 General Conference, Sterling W. Sill made this bold assertion:

"Certainly the greatest problem of our generation is its titanism, as shown by our enmity toward the Almighty."

I have to admit that I had never heard of titanism prior to reading his talk (which immediately made it into my General Conference Classics file). In classical Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of giants with enormous size and strength that sought to rule heaven. They made war with Zeus and the other Olympians, but were ultimately defeated and thrown down. Titanism has therefore come to represent the tendency to be at defiance and revolt against tradition, convention and established order. Elder Still used titanism to represent "our unfortunate human inclination to fight against righteousness ... [and wage] war against God and his purposes."

The parallels between the War of the Titans and the War in Heaven (Revelation 12:3-14) are hard to miss. Similarly, we can't make it through an entire day without being confronted by the ferocity with which the world takes the fight to the gates of Heaven. But Elder Still wasn't talking to the world as much as he was talking to the church. The Church has always known it's share of conflict from within; perhaps the most unlikely titans that battle God do so from within His Church.

With the Priesthood Session of General Conference just around the corner, battle lines seem to be forming once more. The Ordain Women movement seems determined to press its case, and the Church equally determined to hold the line. Not only was their petition for tickets denied, but their premise was labeled as "contrary to revealed doctrine." They were asked not to protest, but given maps on how to find "free speech zones" if they insist on doing so.

Let me be clear that I am not redefining titanism as the OW movement or any other movement in the Church. Any attempt to compile a list of offenses constituting titanism would be presumptuous; it's manifestations are highly individual anyways. Fundamentally, titanism is a state of mind that puts us at war with God on a individual level: our priorities become more important than God's priorities. Though we may agree with Him on everything else, even one point of disagreement is enough--if we feel strongly enough about it.

Googling Your Way Through Parenthood

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by Kyle:

Google is one of my best friends. We've laughed together, we've cried together, and it always has the right answers to my most difficult life's questions. I thought I used Google a lot before becoming a father, but in the past 13 months I am constantly seeking knowledge and advice from my trusty friend.

The good news is that because Google basically owns, and probably designed, the Universe, I am not alone in turning to it with all my questions. I am also not alone in looking to Google for answers when it comes to my one-year-old daughter.

In a recent New York Times article Seth Stephens-Davidowitz did some analysis on parent’s Google queries about their young sons and daughters. Here’s a bit about what he found:

• Parents are 2.5 times more likely to search “is my son gifted” than “is my daughter gifted.” For every 10 searches about girls being smart, there are 25 about boys. He notes that there is a similar bias when looking across other search terms relating to intelligence. (There are also more searches asking if a son is “stupid” than the same about daughters)

Guest Post: PSAs for Mormon Men

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In response to the WAVE Women’s Service Mission post PSA Campaigns for Men, Modern Mormon Men and WAVE got together for a collaboration.

The LDS community has its own peculiar flavor of rape culture, bolstered by modesty rhetoric taught by church leaders which can run the risk of young people assuming that how a young woman is dressed can lead to sexual assault. You may remember the story coming out of BYU where a male student scolded a female student for what she was wearing on campus. Now, thanks to Modern Mormon Men and Scott Heffernan, there’s a meme for that!

Guest Post: “Thy Nursing Fathers,” Some Thoughts on Priesthood and Motherhood

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According to full-time contributor, Dustin, writing guest posts on MMM gives you more personal energy. See if he's right by writing something now. Submit via email with a short personal introduction.

Robbie Taggart is the father of four wild, holy children. His marriage to his radiant wife, Julie, has taught him more about joy than an other mortal experience. He is a teacher and a lover of good music, good poetry, good books, God's good earth, and good folks everywhere. He keeps a blog celebrating the holiness of the everyday.

Image via ChrisK4u

What does it mean to be a nursing father? This question has swirled around my head these days, eddying in and out of my consciousness. Nephi and his little brother loved the phrase. How many times does one of the prophet-brothers mention Isaiah's brief prophecy about Israel being brought home in the warm arms or on the sturdy shoulders of the Gentiles? "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers." It's a tender image, and it's no wonder to me that Lehi's boys loved it so much. But what does it mean?

My mother-in-law tells that when she was a young mother, she used to say to her husband when she was pregnant or nursing: I wish you could feel this, experience this. The shiver of joy when you sense the first fluttering movements of another life bound within the walls of your rib cage. The iambic movement of another heart thrumming beneath your own. The true first communion, the connectedness, the at-one-ment of breastfeeding. I wish you could know. Perhaps some men would cough uncomfortably and look away, but I perceive the holiness of it all, the striking beauty of these miraculous gestures of love. And I sometimes wish I could know it experientially.

Last Sunday I stood shoulder-to-shoulder-shoulder in what became a wide ring of men in a sacrament meeting. Our left arms each rested lightly on the shoulder of the man to our left. With our right arms we each reached toward the center of the circle, our limbs becoming the small branches of a human nest, our fingertips gently brushing the white dress of my cousin’s baby girl—this small white bird who recently came flapping into this broken, holy world from some other reality, who nestled and cooed, eternity-eyed in the center of our whorl. An unspoken signal set us raising and lowering our arms rhythmically and in unison, as if to convince the child that a slight breeze was brushing the tree in which her safe nest lay, a calming, gentle ruach. This virile tenderness mixed with the slow pour of emotion pleading forth from the father's lips—prayer, petition, blessing—taught me of God. What God is like. How I can be like God.

I wish my wife could experience that, could know it experientially. Just as I wish I could know firsthand what it is to mother. So I think I understand why some women in the Church think that the priesthood should be offered, at least, to women. I understand that they have their reasons, all of which I don't pretend to fully comprehend, but I can imagine. There is a beauty and a strength and a grace to the priesthood. It is a surpassing gift. It is a wonder. It is, I feel, my tutorial in holiness. It teaches me to minister. I am grateful to be a part of it, to be held by it as much as I hold it.

Guest Post: The Mormon Feminist Survey

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Image via CMCarterSS

Nancy Ross and Jessica Finnigan are writing an academic paper on Mormon feminist identity and responses to the Mormon Spring. We’re defining the Mormon Spring as the recent changes in church policy together with online activism and activity on the Bloggernacle, from 2012 onward. We need adults, men and women, who identify as Mormon feminists to take this survey. If you identify as Mormon feminist, but have not been baptized, you can still participate in the survey. Our paper will be published in an academic journal. While that may not sound exciting, it is an opportunity to tell people outside of the Bloggernacle about Mormon feminism.

Take the survey here! 

And now for the accompanying song... (after the break)

The History of Mormon Feminism, to the tune of The Brady Bunch

Can Boys Be Doctors?

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by Eliana (bio)

When my oldest son was 4 or 5, he asked me a serious question.

“Can boys be doctors?”

It was a tender moment for this feminist mama. Eye doctor, principal, pediatrician, Primary teachers, dentist, Lego club director, librarian, classroom teacher. All women.

My boys are lucky to have a very involved father who loves spending time with them and loves them more than anything on earth. But we live far from extended family so uncles and grandpas are once a year phenomenon, if that.

I know that once my boys turn 12 they'll have some male leaders at church. We're not into sports—adults or kids—so no manly coaches can help me out. I'm not sure how else to get more male role models onto the scene.

I read a lot too much about raising boys: Boys Adrift, Raising Cain, Wild Things, among others (all of which I'd recommend whole-heartedly). Raising Modern Mormon Men, or men of any kind, is a job I take seriously. I know my sons (I don't have daughters) need more than dad and the quirky pop from Phineas and Ferb to set them on the path.

Any advice dear readers?

Why I Don't Think Women Will Pray in Conference ... Yet

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by Ben Johnson (bio)

When I was in college I took a course called Philosophical Issues in Feminism. Incidentally, it was the only A I received in my four years at the university. During the semester I remember thinking, "This is great and all, but how are you going to reach Sally Jo Smith in Koosharem, Utah? She's not going to care, let alone understand, why women's comportment in magazines is a big deal. Nor is she going to get her dander up over some glass ceiling when she hasn't ever set foot in an office building." My takeaway was that all of this was fine for ivory tower feminists talking to and publishing with other ivory tower feminists, but if you want to call folks to your cause you've got to sell it and sell it well.

Which brings me to All Enlisted. If their goal is to bring about change within the church I think they are going about it the wrong way. I personally think they would have had a better chance getting a woman to pray in conference if they hadn't organized "Wear pants to church day." Whether intended or not, that brought negative attention to the church. In my mind, there was no specific goal (women could already wear pants to church). It seems the sole purpose was to highlight their perceived lack of equality within Mormonism and it gave everyone an excuse to laugh and point. Right or wrong, I think All Enlisted now has a negative 'reputation'. Anything they agitate for now has a stigma attached to it, no matter how noble or right.

Which now brings me to having women pray in conference. A great idea. It is specific, no doctrine has to change to implement it, and you have President Kimball backing you up. I hate to say it, but I don't think it is going to happen because the movement is attached to All Enlisted. It's akin to having a heated discussion with someone you don't like. Even when they make a good point you don't want to yield because you just can't give them the satisfaction. Not to be too crass, but the church has a brand to protect. Do you think they want to be known as the organization that caves to every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a Facebook page and 1,200 likes?

Imagine the mayhem that would ensue if a woman offers a prayer in conference this April. The more liberal members would chest thump and crow about victory and immediately start planning their next attack. The more conservative members would get angry and perhaps even waver, questioning how leaders with a direct line to God could be swayed by a small group of people with Twitter skills.

I don't want to seem like I'm trying to dump on All Enlisted. As I said, I think having a woman pray in conference is a great idea. I look forward to the day. I just think we are farther away now than we were a week ago. Whether you agree or disagree your comments, as always, are welcome.

Mom vs. Mom

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by May Jones (bio)

Ever since the whole Hilary Rosen/Ann Romney media firestorm (I've always wanted to use that expression), I've noticed a lot more videos and articles featuring moms being posted on Facebook. Now, it could be that they were always there and I'm starting to pay attention more, given recent events, but a few of them have caught my eye. This article in particular left me speechless. The author states that motherhood as a form of feminism is "dangerous." She compares women who choose to breastfeed their infants more than a few months to animals. She claims that women who spend more time with their children are less happy. They should focus less on those children and focus more on figuring out how to be sexy for their husbands. I wish I was kidding about this, but I'm not. Pretty ridiculous.

As for me, I think it's fabulous that today, women can choose to work away from home, paid at home, unpaid at home, part-time, full-time, or freelance ... the options are there! And that's not even taking into account all the profession choices. My eleven year-old daughter changes her mind about her future line of work on a weekly basis. A few days ago, she came home from a field trip to a water conservancy plant/nature walk declaring that she would be a botanist. I love that she is unaware of any limits or constraints.

The days are long past when a woman has had to say, "Hmm, factory worker, farmer's wife, nun, or woman of the night, what's it going to be?" And even then, not really having much choice in the matter. We're doing much better today.

Guest Post: Is Mitt Romney a Closet Male Chauvinist? How Do Mormon Men Really View Women?

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This column was posted yesterday on Joanna's Ask Mormon Girl. She asked if we wanted to re-post it in full on Modern Mormon Men so she could hear what our readership has to say on the subject. We're eager to see what you think!

Joanna Brooks is a national voice on Mormon life and politics and an award-winning scholar of religion and American culture. The author of The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith, she is a senior correspondent for the on-line magazine ReligionDispatches.org and has been named one of 50 Politicos to Watch by Politico.com. A twenty-year veteran of the Mormon feminist movement, she was the subject of an extensive CNN.com profile: Crossing the Plains and Kicking up Dirt: A New Mormon Pioneer and of the acclaimed American Public Media show On Being’s Mormon Demystified show.

Dear Ask Mormon Girl:

I was reading an article about Romney and Mormon feminism, and it struck me that even though Romney stuck up somewhat for the Mormon feminist publication Exponent II in 1980s – 1990s Boston, he still behaved like a Mormon man “keeping control” over the women in his ward (not sure how else to word it). Then, when he was governor of Massachusetts, I’ve read that he had a female lieutenant governor and his cabinet was almost 50% female (and they weren’t concentrated in “feminine” offices).

I guess I’m just confused by the “cognitive leap” that powerful Mormon men make between their views of women’s roles in the Church and the reality of women’s roles outside the Church. I’m tempted to see these men secretly thinking that in a “perfect world,” all women would be at home raising kids while they’re husbands are running the world — and if these men gained enough power, they’d try to shape the world in that direction. Am I wrong — are some Mormon men secretly questioning the Proclamation on the Family?

AP

Dear AP:

I think the question of how Mitt Romney relates to and views the role women in leadership settings is an important one. Given the LDS Church’s conservative political record on gender—including its very public commitment to the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment—voters deserve to know how Romney will regard women as constituents and colleagues. I think the Washington Post article you cite did a good job calling attention to the fact that yes, there are Mormon feminists and an ongoing dialogue about gender in Mormon communities, and that Mitt Romney sometimes did a decent job of responding to women’s priorities and concerns and other times was a bit tone-deaf and imperious. (More on the tone-deafness in a minute.)