It was over thirty years ago but I remember it like yesterday. Our daughter was sitting with us in the pews, watching the administration of the sacrament, when it dawned on her: Only boys were participating! That same day she asked her Primary teacher why girls weren’t also permitted to…
Category: Sex and Gender
The Brethren Want Us to Shut Up About Heavenly Mother Already, Again
Discussions are proliferating among liberal Mormons on social media about recent efforts by the Brethren to let the Saints know that they better stop talking about Heavenly Mother, ASAP. Here’s a good early summation of what’s going on, from Twitter. In 1985, when I was a missionary, a relative sent…
Mormon Erotica, Mormon Romance
Mormon Erotica, the new novel from Donna Banta, is a joyous page-turner that, despite the title, is far more concerned with love and romance than sex. While the book contains plenty of reflection on Mormon attitudes toward sex and marriage, the action depicted is strictly PG. As with so many…
Check out “Upper Room Cartoon”
There’s a new Mormon-themed Youtube channel, and it looks very promsing: The Upper Room Cartoon. Two cartoons have been posted so far. They look exactly the same: five white guys who are leaders of the church (have to admit that I don’t pay enough attention to who the leaders are,…
Final religious amicus brief on US same-sex marriage
I’ve been following the same-sex marriage debate on the legal front since the days of Prop 8. In 2010, Judge Walker gave his damning ruling that “a gender restriction on marriage is nothing more than an artifact of a foregone notion that men and women fulfill different roles in civic…
Knowing Emma and Joseph’s History: A Response to the Speculative Essay on Early Polygamy– Alison Udall
It was really enjoyable to work my way through this. This is the first response I’ve done with these new church essays since I had read enough to be able to notice things that I recognized were missing, or implications that were being made that felt incomplete or inaccurate. As…
Deciphering Ballard
M. Russell Ballard begins a talk (given at BYU August 20, 2013) reprinted in the September 2014 Ensign and titled ‘Men and Women in Priesthood Power” with this In what I say, please keep in mind and think straight about the basic doctrines of Christ…. Let me suggest five key…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Response edition
The big news this week is that Kate Kelly has appealed her excommunication. In her appeal, Kate wrote: I am, and have always been, a faithful Mormon. My only “sin†elucidated by you has been speaking my mind and pushing for gender equality in the Church. Far from being wrong,…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Sex Edition!!
This past week was pretty steamy! And wouldn’t be complete without drugs and rock’n’roll! Sex + books: The overeducated housewife has taken up writing porn, and Diana recounted her experience of discovering erotica in Grandma’s basement! In other books, this book on religion by Ryan Cragun looks pretty interesting! Heaven…
Toxic Perfectionism
Evidently some mormon women suffer from toxic perfectionism. So on top of being the angel in the home, they are trying to be too perfect; keep a spotless home, cook a scrumptious, frugal, healthy meal, raise perfectly coiffed children. It’s not only mormon women who suffer from unrealistic expectations (of…