Urban Dictionary defines sisterhood as “a bond between two or more girls, not always related by blood. They always tell the truth, honor each other, and love each other like sisters.” The concept of sisterhood has been adopted by many groups, from close friends, to sororities, to the women of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
In the book “ ‘Strength in Our Union’: The Making of Mormon Sisterhood,” Jill Mulvay Derr examines the relationships between Mormon women over time. The author illuminates how the practice of plural marriage and the extended families that these marriages created strengthened bonds within the community of Mormon women. Unlike other Americans, the Mormon women were able to form attachments due to the unique phenomenon of polygamy. Derr further strengthens her argument that polygamy was a cornerstone in the Mormon women’s groups, by elaborating how female ties in the Mormon community weakened, after the practice of polygamy disappeared from the Church of the Latter Day Saints. In addition, Derr alludes to other practices which cemented ties in the nineteenth century and which lessened bonds in the twentieth century. In the author’s comparison of the two centuries, she proposes, “while nineteenth-century Mormon women’s networks centered in Mormon organization, theology, and family life, the affiliations of twentieth-century Mormon women were far more diversified, and the sense of collective closeness and identity wanted” (Derr, 199).
Although Derr’s points are very well presented, with ample proof, she fails to draw on some categories of Mormon women. While discussing the nineteenth century, the author defends her points with the quotes of the leading ladies, known as the “inner circle” of women, involved in the Relief Society. The piece fails to consider other Mormon women who are not quite as involved in the church and who perhaps are not members of the Relief Society. While looking at the nineteenth century, Derr examines women heavily involved in the Mormon community and pronounces these ladies as highly interactive with each other. When contrasting the book’s assertions to the twentieth century, the author includes the entire population of Mormon women, which are decreed to be not as involved as the previous generations. Derr’s resulting conclusions are highly suspect because her sample varies from century to century.
The speeches by Ezra Taft Benson discuss the role of women in the Church. These pieces emphasize that the place of a woman is at home, especially his speech “To the Mothers of Zion” which is a how-to guide to being a good wife, mother, and homemaker. In another speech, specifically addressing the single ladies, Benson underlines the importance of dating a fellow Mormon in order to obtain a temple marriage. The president’s words mirror the doctrine of the church that clearly states that the role of women is motherhood.
Questions:
- How did Joseph Smith’s treatment of the role of women differ from that of Benson?
- Women’s rights advocate for the right of women to choose their own future. The majority of Mormon women choose to raise a family over furthering their education or having a career. Can the Mormon’s stance that having a family is the correct choice be viewed through the lens of women’s rights?
- How do you reconcile the concept of Benson advocating for solely temple marriages with our previous readings on race and the dearth of interracial marriages in the Mormon Church?
Derr’s writing clearly demonstrates that the role that female Saints are supposed to play has morphed over time. In Joseph Smith’s era, there was a religious and realistic equality between men and women. Women had been told, “You shall be crown’d with honor in heav’n and shall sit upon throne, judging those over whom you are plac’d in authority” (Derr, 162). They were considered queens and priestesses instead of fertile mothers. Although still submissive to male authority, women held power in matters beyond just their physical ability to reproduce and rear offspring. They were active in Church groups as well as domestic decision making. During this time period, the Saints suffered countless upheavals that required husbands to disappear or families to move. Thus, Mormon women took control and were acknowledged for their loyalty, sacrifice and strength. This recognition separates the nineteenth-century female Saint from today’s domestically-confined woman.
ReplyDeleteThough having a career and furthering education (two things that modern "liberated" women do) may seem incompatible to the Mormon ideal of motherhood, working outside the home is often reconciled with motherhood. Furthermore sometimes LDS women view their education or work outside the home as preparing them to be good mothers. It is true that the majority of LDS women chose to forgo education and career in favor of raising a family in the home. When the women do this they do so fully believing that being a mother is what they are supposed to do, that it is their divine calling. Motherhood is often viewed as as important as the Priesthood, something given only to men. Women find importance in motherhood when they realize that they have a celestial importance, raising and educating "spirit children". So the women do not feel trapped in the home. Rather they take pride in what they are doing. They rationalize their role as housewives by relying on their religion. The LDS religion not only encourages women to stay at home, but it also provides them with the reasons why they should stay home and feel proud of that fact.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Smith and Elder Ezra Taft Benson treated women very similarly. Both Smith and Benson perceived women as wives and mothers. According to the two Mormon leaders, the women in the Church were to be the caretakers of the domestic sphere and the values system. Benson states in his speech, “To the Mothers in Zion,” that a woman’s “calling” is to “save and exalt” their children. Likewise, the Mormon Prophet wanted that women, through their work in the Relief Society, “assist in ‘correcting the morals and strengthening the virtues of the female community’” (Derr 161). Smith notably never gave women the priesthood, an act which promoted the equal-but-different viewpoint of males and females in the Church, an idea which Benson strongly advocates.
ReplyDeleteThe difference in Smith and Benson’s views towards females lies in the fact that Smith lived in a time period in which gender inequality was the norm. In the early 19th century, most women, including those living beyond the boarders of the Mormon communities, were wives and mothers and nothing more. Women possessed few freedoms, few careers, and few liberties. In comparison, Benson lived in a time period in which women were receiving more and more rights. In 1977, years before Benson delivered his speeches, “issues connected to the women’s movement peaked” (Derr 196). Thus, while Smith’s “traditional” views mirror his time period's general social values pertaining to women, Benson’s “conservative” ideas contrast sharply with the more liberal social atmosphere of his era.
I wholeheartedly agree with Maggie’s view on Mormon women and their respective decisions regarding education and plural marriage. In the realm of women’s rights, stringent feminists sometimes chastise women if they choose to stay at home and raise a family. What if these women want to stay at home and choose to do so? Whether their choice is fueled by religious beliefs or not, women should not be reprimanded for doing what she feels is the best option for her. However, I think that not letting women have positions of power in the church, especially in today’s society, and then saying that their duties to raise “spirit children” are equally important, is euphemistic. Of course raising children is important, but not letting women have an active leadership role in their religion, something that has such a large impact on their lives, is an obvious example of the suppression of women’s rights in the Mormon Church. If I was a Mormon wife who devoted my life to the Mormon religion, I would want to have an active part in the church and raising children would not fulfill my need to take part.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ellie that radical feminists have perverted the concept of women’s rights. Women have the right to choose how they will occupy themselves, and, contrary to hard-line feminist ideology, there is no incorrect choice. A Mormon woman’s decision to become a homemaker and forgo a career should not be offensive to women’s rights advocates; in fact, it is the tangible expression of a woman exercising her right to choose. However, I believe difficulties arise when that same Mormon woman’s decision to remain in the home is juxtaposed with Church teachings such as those presented by President Benson. Mormon women are constantly inundated with doctrine that definitively identifies their places as mothers in the home, and they experience intense pressure from Church leaders and their LDS peers to conform to this ideal. The true issue becomes whether Mormon women really are choosing to remain at home and focus on motherhood or if they are being coerced to forgo careers by an oppressive religious directive and fear of social exclusion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous statements that women's rights advocate having a choice to be a homemaker or a career woman. However, I don't agree that the Mormon Church is pressing the women to be housewives and that is why they many are choosing to stay at home. There are obviously a significant number of women in the church choosing to be career-minded if the President is taking the time to address the topic. Although it does seem that women's rights followers criticize someone who chooses to be a housewife, their stance is usually that they have a choice and they do not have to conform to the job of housekeeper that the male-dominated society has set for them. Mormon women recognize this choice and one should not underestimate the intense faith of these women who believe their eternal salvation and exaltation is tied to their choice to become housewives.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, it would be interesting to read Benson's speech to the young men and see if a double standard exists in moral expectations for young adults in the Mormon Church.