The Battle for Womanhood Continues
In the middle of an article about social media of all things, somehow something significant was written:
The idea that motherhood is a woman’s highest calling may not be unique to Mormonism. But Ann Duncan—associate professor of American studies and religion at Goucher College and the author of an upcoming book on women who view pregnancy as a spiritual experience—says the Mormon conceptualization of motherhood is truly distinct, and it’s one of the reasons Mormon women are so conspicuous online. They have a strong sense that their voices matter.
“If you think about evangelical Christianity or you think about Catholicism, there’s certainly a strong patriarchal tradition that confines women . . . to maternal roles—[but] that doesn’t necessarily elevate the mother and motherhood at the same time,” Duncan said. “But it absolutely happens in Mormonism.”
The structure of the LDS Church is undeniably patriarchal: women cannot be ordained, and LDS leadership remains entirely White and entirely male. But where other religious groups say they revere motherhood only to turn around and relegate mother work to a place of lesser importance than the work of the church or even the work of capitalism, in Mormonism, mother work is integral to God’s plan of salvation.
In 1995, LDS Church leaders issued The Family: A Proclamation to the World, which codified the church’s view of the family. Families, they declared, were “central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
the_archduke
October 28, 2021
Completely off topic, but Elder Gong and Elder Suarez are white?
Miss Manners
October 28, 2021
A completely off-topic question should receive as oblique a response as manageable. To that end, a friend once shared with me a dialogue from a novel that went something like this:
“In New Mexico there are three cultures: Indian, Hispanic, and white.”
“What about blacks?”
“Blacks are white. Very white.”
Elder Gong belongs to the demographic group known as “white adjacent.” Elder Suarez is a tricky one. In his native Brazil he would certainly be considered white, with all the privileges of that office. Should Americans of the United States (of America) view him as a “person of color,” or would it be more respectful and culturally aware to categorize him on Brazil’s terms? Miss Manners recommends simply avoiding the question altogether through polite nods and well-timed sips of your drink. Any archduke is no doubt familiar with the technique.
the_archduke
October 28, 2021
It is just interesting that the writer of that article had to find some way to denigrate the church. In the same breath noting how wonderful many of our Sisters are, they had to point our out how regressive the church is with an all male and all white leadership. Even though our leadership is demonstrably not all white.
G.
October 28, 2021
Bravo, Miss Manners
John Mansfield
October 28, 2021
Archie, I am just going to go ahead and say that you are doing the same thing that you have a problem with Ms. Araujo-Hawkins supposedly doing: combing through the article, ignoring everything until you can find some detail to complain about.
I came away quite impressed by her willingness to dive into an unfamiliar topic, learn about it, and draw understanding that most miss because of prior commitments. When she brought up those mothers who had left the church, they came across as part of the story, not as the real story that members of the church are hiding. Even her overstatement about all white leadership is more correct than not, and was a good, quick way of making her point that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not have a high regard for woman due to lefty egalitarianism. The writer did her job well, and the world could use more journalism with this level of competent workmanship.
Kristin
October 30, 2021
I follow a homeschooling forum that has become increasingly more progressive over the last few years. Their conversations are frank and eye-opening. One of the things I’ve noticed is that many of the moms have spent much of their resources on teaching their kids that they can become anything they want, but they have not taught them that motherhood itself is a valuable, worthy goal. These same women don’t expect or desire to become grandmothers. Their older daughters (in their 20s) are not interested in marrying or having children. Their younger daughters (teens) are nonbinary (along with the alphabet of other current possibilities).
G.
October 30, 2021
Sad. Little lambs need a shepherd.
Leo
October 30, 2021
Related to Kristen’s comment
https://religionunplugged.com/news/2021/10/4/the-future-of-american-religion-birth-rates-show-whos-having-more-kids