Thanks for your post on the power of womanhood. It's good to keep talking about the role of woman in church and in society. As I've talked among my friends, I've found that everyone has an opinion on Ordain Women. As we talk among ourselves, I think it is important that we keep the dialogue open and seek understanding rather than polarize the arguments for and against this movement.
I have my own thoughts on Ordain Women, but I feel like this post by my friend at Meridith Writes really says what I think better than I could. (Her blog is great if you haven't read it.)
As I've considered ways that women could be better represented in the Church, I've found that many areas of improvement can be found right among the regular old members of the Church. And I've always been one that wants to take action rather than waiting for things to change higher up. So let's make things happen.
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I keep waiting for the conference that I do not hear a phrase like "Welp, time for a bathroom break" or "Time to take a nap" said when a women speaks in conference, even when said in jest. It hasn't happened yet. And half the time, it's another women making the joke. Look, if we actually believe the words of conference to be "latter-day scripture," then we need to respect these women and their time at the pulpit. I know, here's your counter-argument: "But she just speaks so sugary sweet. I can't handle listening."
Let me get real with you. I get it. There are speakers, male and female, at conference that have mannerisms and speech patterns that annoy me. In the past, I've even had this problem with members of the Twelve Apostles. But I don't think that gives us license to just tune out. If you can't find a way to listen for the messages, forget the jokes and just sit quietly like the adult you are, rather than disrespect the words these women are saying. And then read what they said later--no audio is needed and their words are most often profound. Also, the sugary-sweet voice is going out of vogue, so this is less and less of a legitimate excuse.
2) Let's read both the priesthood session and the women's session.
Every six months, my girlfriends and I hang out during priesthood session when all the guys are away. It's awesome. Usually, later in the night, some guys will drop by. Topic of conversation: so what did they say? My friends are always so anxious to know. And while eight hours of church is enough for me in one weekend, some of my super righteous friends will even watch the priesthood session sometime that weekend (or nowadays, live).
Do we have the same excitement about the General Relief Society and Young Women meetings (or nowadays, the women's meeting)? If we are women, do we reread the talks after listening to them live? If we are men, do we even watch or read them once? I know I usually don't reread them, even when I somehow make it through the entire conference report. But I should.
I was proud to gather with so many LDS women last Saturday in a meeting of females from eight years old and up. Whereas most of the meetings in the Church are done in a somewhat masculine fashion (this isn't a bad thing), this meeting was unabashedly female. We sang together in the middle of a talk. We spoke of bonds of sisterhood made through service and love. And in that female setting, President Eyring spoke and said, "We have been taught with spiritual power tonight. I pray that the words spoken by these great sister-leaders will go into your heart as they have in mine." Yup, a man got something out of the meeting, too.
3) Let's speak up.
Linguistic study after linguistic study* has found that men speak more than women in mixed gender groups. To most people, this comes as a surprise because women are stereotypically the talkers. I have some theories on why we have that stereotype, but that's for another post. The point here is that we women need to speak up. Speak up in Sunday School. Speak up in church councils. Speak up at church activities. Ignore the buzzing thought that your comment isn't the most brilliant thing ever and say it anyway. We need to hear women's voices.
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4) Let's tell women's stories.
Every year around Easter, I read about the life of Christ. And every year, without fail, I'm surprised about all the women scattered through His story. They are everywhere. They are washing His feet and serving Him. They are listening to His words and studying with Him. They are confidently accepting His good word even as He turns them away. The New Testament is the only book of scripture that feels like the real world to me--a world that has about 50 percent men and 50 percent women. Let's take a cue from these Gospel writers and share stories of women. When giving a lesson or talk, why not find a woman's story to showcase your thoughts or use a quote from one of those sister-leaders mentioned above.
This isn't the most earth-shattering list of changes, but I think they are important changes nonetheless. They are small things that can show a bit more respect and recognition toward women in a church that already preaches for empowered women. Like I say ad nauseam, I'm a feminist because I'm Mormon.
Cheers,
Amanda
*In their review of 60 years of research, James and Drakich (1993) found that out of 58 studies, only three showed women to speak more than men, with the remaining 55 studies showing men to speak more or to have no difference between genders in amount spoken (24 studies, or 42.9% of the studies, showed men to speak more).
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