My book club is reading The Handmaid’s Tale this month. For years, whenever someone suggested that I read the book, I had a bunch of excuses why I didn’t want to. I usually don’t like books with a futuristic or science-fiction bent. I thought it might be one of those Ayn Rand kind of “beat you over the head with my ideology disguised as fiction” kinds of reads. I’ve loved Margaret Atwood’s other stuff, but for some reason I had no desire to read The Handmaid’s Tale.

Now that I’m more than halfway through the novel, I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying it. And since it’s been widely acclaimed as a “major work of feminist protest” I’m wondering what else I should have read by now that I haven’t. (more…)

I’ve got it, by George, I think I’ve got it.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a good homemade loaf of bread, get the baker’s groove, for several months now. CWC helped immensely with her Feel Like Makin’ Bread post, but I was still falling short–due, partly, to my insisting on using at least 1/2 whole wheat flour, partly to my cold-ish north-east facing kitchen, partly to a genetic inability to windowpane (see CWC’s post), and partly due to my own inexperience.

But DH bought me some bread-making instructional videos, along with a home hearth stone, and Epicurious.com sent me a fortuitous email about their Bread Primer, and I kept trying, and…. I think I’ve got something here. So, because I know you are all dying to know what I do (because the universe is indisputably Artemis-centric), I’m going to tell you.

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I was sitting on mfranti’s couch, when the evening light hit my legs at the right angle and she (in that uber mormon-nice way of hers) screeched, “Ahhh! Leg Hair! Ewww!” while pulling her gag face. I don’t really blame her, truth be told, I often have the same reaction. Especially when I put on my dressy boots and the leg hair kinda flops out over the top, ewww. Run Away! (more…)

My parents are family historians extraordinaire. My mother, in particular, is an absolute genius at family history, at teasing out names and dates and pertinent details from small grains of information. She is meticulous: Everything is checked, double-checked, cross-referenced, and no name is added to her pedigree chart unless she is absolutely certain that it fits. A convert to the church, she has had to do virtually all of her work on her own; my father, whose family has been in the church since the 1840s, inherited most of his work, although the research leaves - shall we say? - a bit to be desired.

For instance, according to his records, one of my forebears went to war at the ripe old age of 3. (more…)

I’m late to the party, but here’s a last-minute heads-up or reminder to those interested in partcipating in 2009’s “Earth Hour,” a short and easy way to jump-start your dedication to saving the gorgeous planet God gave us to jaunt around on. After all, He could have given us an ugly ball of plain-ol’ dirt and just had manna fall from the sky at mealtimes or whatever. Instead, we got this phenomenal orb of blue mystery and beauty. Ante-up that stewardship and flip off the lights for one measly hour, starting at 8:30 tonight. Come on. You know you want to. Think I’m just being an annoying granola-crunching fly in your ear? (Uh, eye? The metaphor really doesn’t work with text.) Consider this: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is on board this one, folks. Even iconic Temple Square is going dark.  

SUMMARY of Let Women No Longer Keep Silent in Our Churches: Women’s Voices in Mormonism by Dorice Williams Elliott (W&A ch.

Elliott begins with a story about a new program introduced in her stake called “The Bright Spot.”  The stake president asked each ward Relief Society in the stake to hang a poster and, once a month, set out a stack of cards with household chores on them, like washing windows or cleaning the attic.  Each sister was supposed to take a card and do what it said.  The ward Relief Society president grudgingly announced the program, but she said it wasn’t her idea, and that the Relief Society presidency was protesting it.  There were audible groans in the room, no one took a card, and the poster disappeared after a few weeks.  This story is remarkable in church experience because rarely do women openly resist priesthood authority, but in this case it seemed to be the consensus that this was going too far.

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By: Natalie K

I teach the home-study seminary program for our ward along with one other (male) teacher. The great thing about teaching seminary is that you pretty much get to focus on whatever you want….. I build the lessons based on what I find most interesting/important/relevant to their lives. We’ve had some really great weeks.

Next week, I am in charge of teaching Romans. I love Romans. There are a ton of great lessons in there. But there is one lesson that is looming over me. I really want to talk about the opening verses of Ch. 16…. where Paul identifies several female leaders of the church, including one deacon (Phebe) and one apostle (Junia). (more…)

Awhile back, I was musing on finding my dishwashing zen, and Venus (I think) asked why doing the dishes was _my_ job. Apparently I’d given the impression that, despite my affiliation here and my endorsement of The Feminine Mystique, I’d fallen into The Patriarchy’s trap of female domestication and housewifely subordination, and that I was, un-feminist-like, doing all the housework for my family.

Well, it happens that doing the dishes IS my job. And it is DH’s. Our understanding, since I started staying home with Marigold, is that staying home to raise and care for our child is my day job, and since the work environment is our home, taking care of the house during the day fits into that job description. Which is not to say that the house must be spotless before my bacon-bringer comes home, just that I make a reasonable effort to maintain the house while I and the child I am taking care of are the primary inhabitants.

However, (more…)

HBO’s ‘Big Love’ often stirs strong emotion many church members, and especially recently with the portrayal of temple rites. I haven’t seen the episode and this post isn’t about it or polygamy.

I’ve recently been watching season 2 and show after show I realised there was something that I think is just great. (more…)

Where: Beehive House
Date: Tuesday, March 24th
Time: 10 AM

Come meet Shelah and Lisa and the SLC fMhers!
Wander through Temple Square!
Bring the kids!
Bring Grandma!
Bring your husband and sister wives!

Feedback Needed:
Do we want to pack lunches, or eat at the Lion House Pantry (opens at 11)?
Or other ideas for lunch?

1. My little girl is almost old enough to really involve herself in the cutting, pasting, popsicle-stick crafts of childhood. I’m creating a craft basket for her with everything she needs to really let go. So far I’ve got: paper (different colours, patterns, sizes), felt and fabric scraps, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaner, crayons, markers, chalk, toilet paper rolls, all that good stuff, and I’ve asked her uncles who own a piano bar to put aside some wine corks for her. What else should I include?

2. I might be reading too much into this, but it seems to me that this child of mine, this brilliant, funny, charming, smart, gorgeous child of mine, is already a perfectionist. Whenever we sit down to colour or play with play-do she gets frustrated and wants me to take over. How do I teach her that it’s okay to not be perfect, that the entire point is to be creative and get your hands dirty and have fun? (She hates getting her hands dirty. Funny, since she loves feeding sheep and cows out of her hands. For some reason animal slobber is okay, but paint is simply not acceptable.)

Originally posted March 20, 2005.

March 17th was the anniversary of the founding of the Relief Society. It seems there wasn’t much mention of it around the Bloggernacle, including here.

About a month ago, our Relief Society President announced to the RS board, the plans for our Relief Society Commemorative Dinner. Each member of the board was going to be assigned a General Relief Society President, read up on her (with materials provided) and come, in character, and give a 3 minute address about each woman after the meal. I sat nervously waiting to get my assignment. Would I be Sister Smoot? Sister Winder? Eliza R. Snow? As Sister C. read through the names, I thought to myself, “Please let me be Emmeline B. Wells. Please let it be Sister Wells.” Sure enough, when my name was called, I was given a package of articles on the very person I had hoped to be. (more on this later) As I looked over the articles, I couldn’t help but wonder if a train wreck was coming. (more…)

(this was up briefly a couple months ago, I’m out of town and re-posting it)

I was waiting for Brick to finish his dance class (you really haven’t lived until you’ve seen a red-headed 4-yo-65-lb future-defensive-lineman popping to Christian hip hop)(I really hate futbol, but some destinies can not be escaped), I was thumbing through a back copy of Forbes with the cover story, The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

What really struck me was Number 3, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo.

Eh? (more…)

By: Rosemary

I should say at the outset that I am a non-Member, whose sole interest in the Church is academic (which understandably but in my case, unfoundedly, often raises red flags among Members).  I am a Communication PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania, studying religious communication.  I am interested in the ways in which religious ideals and cosmologies shape the development of culture. Although I am not LDS, my husband was raised in the Church; I see my current relationship to the Church as that of “investigator” (of the development of culture). I’m developing this role by visiting with missionaries weekly and taking  a (secular, ethnographic) course on the LDS at my university.  I currently lurk at fMh, hoping to gain a more sociological (and less institutional) understanding of Church life.

I feel like, in my limited understanding of LDS beliefs, there is a marked difference between the role of the physical body in Mormonism when compared to most other world religions.  While I do see that emphasis is placed on the spirit, I also see an unprecedented importance of the physical body—in fact, our missionaries (a retired couple) told us just this week that the main purpose of our lives on the Earth is to obtain a physical body to be more like God.  I was raised in a mainstream Protestant denomination, and never heard any suggestion that God had a body or that Jesus was/is in a literal physical form in Heaven.  (more…)

A harrowing narrative of maternal craziness, as told by Muffin. You know, just in case you need to start your day with a humorous piece of fluff which definitely fits in the “housewives” portion of our moniker. Except, of course, that this one concerns the utter necessity of leaving the blasted house.

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I know it’s not April yet, and in many parts of the country “the droghte of March” is still piercing “to the roote,” but here in Texas, it feels like spring. In fact, spring break starts on Saturday. Our house is on the market (and if posts from me are few and far between over the next few months, just imagine me trying to keep a house spotless with four kids and white carpet), so we’re skipping town, making the biannual pilgrimage to DH’s parents’ house in Utah. (more…)

 I’m not much of an athlete.  I played a lot of softball as a kid, but since my high school didn’t have a softball team, summer church-league ball was about the only chance I had to play as a teen.  And when I was cut from the ninth-grade basketball team, I never tried out for school basketball again, but was still able to enjoy playing with my ward’s YW team.   The only time I ever wore a uniform for a school team was when I was a senior and my high school tried putting together a gymnastics team–aside from the German foreign exchange student, I was the poorest performer.  

 As an adult, my participation in team sports has been limited to church leagues, and with only spotty contributions at that–a torn ACL, six kids to birth and nurse and shlep around, and hip bursitis have all combined to keep me on the sidelines.  Nevertheless, I’m grateful that the stakes I have been in over the years have continued to call athletic directors at both the stake and ward levels to work to provide opportunities for teens and adults of all abilities to play team sports. 

Despite the stakes’ efforts in my area, team sports for girls are drying up due to lack of participation.  Girls’ basketball has been absent for years, and volleyball and softball are becoming increasingly rare.  There are probably several reasons for this decline; the possibilities that come to immediately to mind are:  lack of space or equipment at church buildings; more community opportunities to play a larger variety of sports; a parental de-emphasis on competition; family busy-ness with other activities such as music lessons and tutoring; apathy (which has its own list of reasons).  My own daughters have been uninterested in participating, and I haven’t pushed them to do so–we’re plenty busy as it is–but I can’t help feeling sad that lack of interest leads directly to lack of opportunity for teen girls who enjoy playing but aren’t skilled enough to play for city or school teams.

What has happened to organized girls’ sports in your stake?   Are boys’ and men’s teams still able to find enough participants while the girls’ teams languish (and if so, why)? Is it even the church’s place to provide sports opportunities?   

By: Kimberly

“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Mat 22:39

This is the second of the two most important commandments- this straight out of the lips of Christ, when he walked among us. Christ allocated its priority and made it second only to loving God.  I’ll assume we’re all familiar with the concept. (more…)

First Published April 2005

Lorie Winder Stromberg introduces herself this way:

“I’m a fourth-generation Mormon, seminary and BYU graduate (BA and MA), married in the temple with two children, ages 16 (a junior in high school) and 21 (a senior at Harvard). Because of my outspoken feminism, I am perpetually what I like to call the “Meals for the Dead Coordinator,” either compassionate service leader or on the activities committee. I’m also a free-lance editor. My husband, an attorney, was just released from the bishopric in our ward and now teaches the High Priests.

I date my feminism from 1973, when I was invited by a BYU Family Home Evening sister to attend a meeting of the Utah Valley Chapter of the Women’s Political Caucus. The discussion focused on The Equal Rights Amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1972 and was being ratified by the States. I was converted.”

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Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away (or, on this very blog, but still a really long time ago), we were having a book club discussion of Women and Authority, which was edited by Maxine Hanks and published by Signature Books in 1992 or is available online.  There are links to the archived discussions in the sidebar.  Here’s a summary of chapter 7, where we left off.

SUMMARY of Non-Hierarchical Revelation by Todd Compton (W&A ch. 7)

When considering authority, it is important to note that revelation is a key ingredient in decision-making in the LDS church at all levels.  In this essay, Compton looks at non-hierarchical revelation (that which is received by someone relatively low in the hierarchy or outside it, and is accepted by higher-ups or the general church membership), which may happen more frequently than thought and may be healthy in decision-making.  There are patterns of such revelation in the scriptures and church history.  Church leaders are inspired and also human and fallible.  Recognizing their fallibility is not criticism; it keeps us protected.  Also, Compton considers inspiration to be on the same continuum as revelation. (more…)

Black men are threatening and violent.  White men are petulant douchebags.  White women are skinny, frail and emotionally unstable.  Black women are ripped and will have sex with anyone who acts interested. 

At least it would seem so from watching music videos.  Well, the videos playing on my gym’s music channel, anyway, which admittedly isn’t a simple random sample of music videos.  These videos have become a distraction, however, as I will catch a video out of the corner of my eye and literally stop what I’m doing and stare, wide-eyed, at what’s on the screen.   I’ve stopped facing the TV during squats, because a few days ago I almost dropped the barbell during a T-Pain video.   (more…)

Since Holy week and Easter will be coming up in a few weeks time, I plan on doing something for each of the days in the run up to Easter Sunday. As with the advent calendar, I’d like your input. Email me your favourite Easter song/hymn/poem/scripture/thought…whatever.

Main holidays are Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and of course Easter Sunday. Any thing appropriate to any/all of these would be welcome at fmhrebecca at gmail dot com.

I’ve noticed(ymmv) that in the gym locker room,  it seems the older women, the ones that have a few years of accumulated fat around the belly and  gray hair, don’t care as much about changing and showering in full view of others. They appear to be comfortable. Unlike the youngish, and firm, women and girls who not only don’t shower and change where anyone can see them, but go to great lengths lest one catch any glimpse of their forbidden bits.

Doesn’t it seem like it should be the other way around? (more…)

I’m reading Julia Alvarez’s book, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.  It’s good so far.  I smiled when I came across this passage at the beginning of the book, where one of the Garcia girls, Sofia, is planning her father’s 70th birthday party and briefly considers hiring a belly dancer or a “girl who’d pop out of a cake.”   Sofia decides against it, however, because:

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So…hey.

It’s been a while.

And it’ll be a while longer, really. I’ve been swamped. I am swamped right at this moment (1:51 am). I’ll be swamped for many months to come. But I’ve sworn to our great Tyrant, Lisa, that I’m gonna post more (read: at all). Fer realsies.

But today is not that day.

Today, I’m just here in an introductory capacity, to let you know that YOU ARE MISSING OUT. (more…)

I realize that most of us don’t know the difference between LIBOR and a Libra, but I’m still curious about the general perception.

The two sides of the debate go something like this:

1. These big banks are insolvent. Zombies being propped up by the government. Government response could range from nationalizing (this can mean many different things) or to letting banks implode and watch the chips fall.

2. These big banks face a liquidity crisis. Their “toxic” assets will have value when things stabilize and the financing is there to purchase them. The government must help them muddle through until then.

Okay, so it’s actually Monday Morning, but it just occurred to me that this would be relevant to yesterday’s Women’s Day observance. Originally posted March, 2007.

Ever since I reviewed (in my fashion) Martha Sonntag Bradley’s Pedestals and Podiums last year, I’ve wanted to write a post about the Church’s response to ERA and specifically about the IWY Conference held in Utah in 1977. So in honor of WHM I will make an inept effort to be scholarly and stuff. This information is mostly drawn from chapters 6 and 7.

(But before we get to that let me just announce that I’m supposed to be getting photographed tomorrow and I have taken this opportunity to grow an enormous unicorn zit right in the middle of my forehead. End aside.)

And in the spirit of my last post on the virtues of rebellion, I think this story nicely illustrates one of the dangers of putting too much emphasis on obedience. (more…)

Today is International Women’s Day. Since it fell on a Sunday, I was at church today and it was the subject of a talk in sacrament meeting coinciding with the upcoming Relief Society Anniversary that will be celebrated in my branch later this month.

The RS president in my branch gave a nice talk about all the usual RS values: sisterhood, charity, service, motherhood, etc. But there one part in her talk that bothered me. (more…)

We made a family trip to the Downtown SLC library today. As we were checking out, I saw the following on a bookmark-type flyer thingy. I thought I should pass it on to the FMH community for anybody in town, temporarily or residentially, who wants to go.

Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations
March 19, 7 p.m.
Main Library Auditorium (more…)

HBO’s Big Love will depict one of its female characters in full temple dress during its March 15th episode.  I’m not sure which parts of the actual temple ceremony the episode will portray (if any), but it’s remarkable that even parts of the LDS temple ceremony could be broadcast into millions of homes next week.  

Anyone have details about the upcoming episode and the Church’s reaction?

The last few weeks my preschool class has been obsessed, obsessed I say, with the idea of being ‘girl trapped’ or ‘boy trapped’. Every time we sit down at a table or sit in a circle, a discussion ensues, “you’re boy trapped” or “you’re girl trapped” as every child makes note of the gender of students sitting next to them.
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