Up until about 7 or 8 years ago I proudly called myself a feminist. Ever since I can remember there has been a passion and fire in my heart for women and women’s issues that at times seems like a raging inferno. I remember standing in front of a statue of Venus at the…
Several months ago one of my readers sent me this article and I thought it was so enlightening. I was going to link to it but the link where it was posted no longer works. Since this one is too good to miss I am re-posting it in its entirety here. “Women in the Image of…
Last Sunday we blessed our daughter. Ever since she was born my mind and heart have been filled with worries about this little girl’s future. The world is getting increasingly darker and and it scares me to send my perfect, pure and beautiful daughter out into a world that will hurt her. I know how…
Image Source I have always been really sensitive to violence. When I was young it wasn’t uncommon for me to run to my room sobbing because of things I’d seen in a movie or on TV. Even now when I read or see something violent it stays with me for days, clinging to my mind,…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints just held its bi-annual General Conference this last weekend. These two days of broadcasts were a chance for Later-day Saints to hear from the prophet and the apostles and to gain added guidance and direction in our lives. It was wonderful. It is funny how when I…
In “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” it states, “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers…
“Behold thy Son” by Lester Nielsen Several times in the New Testament Christ calls his mother, Mary, by the term “woman.” He does it at the start of his ministry, when he performs his first miracle at the wedding in Canaan. When she expresses concern that there is no wine he responds,“Woman, what have I…
A year ago one of my blogging friends posted that she was doing the “Dress Dare” hosted by the young Catholic women who blog at “Defining Beauty”. Here is the details of their dare. Here we go! The Official Rules are: Wear dresses and skirts throughout the month of May. Exceptions: Snoozing {zzz} and Exercising.…
I can’t believe the month of May is already half way over. It has gone by so quickly, but then again my life has been pretty fast paced lately. I just thought I’d check in and see if anyone else is still hanging in with the dress dare and is still wearing skirts and dresses!…
About two months ago I received an email from one of my readers asking me this question and I thought that since Father’s Day is coming up now would be a good time to answer it. She said, “What makes a great feminist husband? What I mean by this, is that I see so…
I haven’t been on the Internet much the last few days and so yesterday was the first I heard about the “Wear Pants to Church” event that Mormon feminists are planning as a show of solidarity. I don’t consider myself to be a “Mormon feminist”, as I’ve mentioned before none of the brands of feminism…
My little boy has really been into “dress up”. Every day he comes downstairs in a new outfit and has a new identity. Some days he is a train engineer, a robot, a spaceman, a pirate, and for awhile a witch… complete with the witch hat and dress. The first day he wore the witch…
“And if thou wilt inquire, thou shalt know mysteries which are great and marvelous; therefore thou shalt exercise thy gift, that thou mayest find out mysteries” D&C 6:11 Last Saturday was the General Relief Society meeting for the LDS church. I was moved by each of the talks but the part of the meeting…
I have written, and re-written, the second half of Miriam’s story a dozen times (read the first part here). It was hard for me to write. Mostly because the topic is so close to my heart. Over the last few years my heart has broken as I have watched people I know and love, and…
Awhile ago I received this email, she asked: I am currently a working mother of two little ones, 3 and 4. And as such I often struggle with the concept that “fathers are … responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families … [and] mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture…
This is something completely different from what I normally write. Our library is having a Harry Potter fan fiction contest and it inspired me to write down this story I’ve had ruminating in my head. I’ve been piecing it together ever since I wrote my post about “Why Being a Mom is Just as Cool…
I feel grounded choked down by laundry, children, dishes, covenants choices already made Time is racing past me the march of degrees, careers, travel, experience steadily passing me by like hikers on a mountain trail. They get closer to the…
I’ve been working on a project for our church’s Relief Society Birthday Party next month and in my research I stumbled across this quote from Belle Spafford (pictured below), the 9th General President of the Relief Society. It has really intrigued me and I’m curious to know your thoughts on it. This is what she…
We recently inherited a 1960 set of Encyclopedias from my in-laws. It has been fascinating to skim through these books and get a snap shot of what the world was like during that time and what people were thinking about. Many things haven’t changed (like an elephant is still an elephant, right?) but there were…
The original Barbie doll, introduced in 1959 (Image Source) I was a HUGE fan of Barbie when I was younger. I easily had two dozen Barbies who between them all owned enough dresses, shoes, and accessories to clothe a small city. My friends and I played Barbies well into Jr. High and then, when it…
In church on Sunday we talked about the story Ruth and Boaz and about half way through the discussion I found myself laughing softly to my friend who was sitting next to me. We had just read the part in the story when, after washing and dressing herself as her mother-in-law instructed her to, Ruth…
I want something strange for my birthday. Basically a box with two big Q-tips This is the DNA Test for the National Geographic Genographic project. For $200 they will send you two mouth swabs, which you swish around in your mouth, and then mail back to them. With the swab they are able to use…
It seems like very General Conference I have my ears and heart open to, and searching for, messages about birth, womanhood and motherhood. They are topics that I can always rest assured will get addressed in some way during General Conference. This time my heart was especially touched by Elder Henry B. Eyring’s talk entitled…
My junior year of college I signed up for a women’s literature class as part of my Women’s Studies minor at BYU. Shortly before the class began they notified us that there would be an instructor change, but since I didn’t know either instructor I didn’t think much of it. When I went to go…
The practice of women wearing veils is found repeatedly throughout the scriptures, and for a good portion of human history it has been common for women (and sometimes men) to veil their heads and faces. Today, in many religions around the world women still cover their heads and their faces when they are in the…
Feminism and I have had a long and tenuous relationship. I started struggling with “women’s issues” when I was really young, around 11 or 12. I had lots of hard questions about why men’s and women’s roles and places in society were so different. For most of my pre-teen and teen years my questions smoldered…
The Banquet of Esther and Ahasuerus by Jan Victors There was a time in my life when I had a lot of anger about issues relating to women. I wasn’t angry at a specific person or organization per se, but angry at a world that treated women as objects, raped them, enslaved them, prevented them…
When I was younger I really struggled with why women couldn’t hold the priesthood. In fact, for a little while my testimony was really shaken because I thought God was being unfair and demeaning to women. Yet throughout the last few years, as I’ve really prayed and searched for understanding, God has given me little…