While I was looking for a fun activity to do in primary for Father's day I came across a very interesting blog...it is called "Feminist Mormon Housewives". I only read a few posts before I felt like my head was going to explode, but I just want to share a couple of my absolute favorites.
Q: "What do you think? Is it possible to give a Father’s Day talk that doesn’t skirt the issue or use the word preside?"
A: "I spoke on Father’s Day once. I talked about when Lehi faltered as a Father...Mainly though, I talked about the historicity of small metal recurve bows and how the arrows of a small metal bow would be too short for a normal wooden bow made from a tree. I don’t think I skirted any issues." (This one gave me a good idea for primary...talk about all the mistakes Father's make and the rest of the time discuss the rich and complicated history of Central and South America...or something else that has nothing to do with the subject).
Q: "While my feelings about the male-only Priesthood are complicated and unresolved, I know how I feel about some other gender issues – I reject patriarchy. This might make lesson 14, “Patriarchal Leadership in the Home”, a little awkward. So….. for those of you who don’t accept a black and white version of male-only Priesthood, patriarchy in the home, women’s divine roles, etc., how do you cope when you have to teach these topics in a Gospel setting? Is it okay for the youth to know other perspectives exist? What do you do?"
A1: "my concern is that the young women have to realize that a 12 year old boy has more power and is more important than his mother in the eyes of the patriarchal church."
A2 (My FAVORITE!): "The true answer is the sexist answer: girls have awesomeness, direct from Mother. Father and Son can’t give this direct awesomeness because they aren’t Mother, so they get to give males a chance to place someone ELSE at the center of existence. Only when males are spiritually doing this are they getting close to the awesomeness Mother gave her daughters. Father and Son are awesome because they figured out how the priesthood can teach them to be awesome in a male way. Because the Natural man is what? An enemy to God? Maybe, but that’s harsh. More like the natural man is kinda douchey."
About the Young Women's broadcast:
"I know what I don’t want to hear. I don’t want to hear about virtue, I don’t want to hear about anything pink or soft. I don’t want to hear about how the world is dangerous or coarse or vulgar."
"Today at church I was sitting in the chapel, watching over the kids practicing for the primary program (suffice it to say I consider primary program practices the height of disrespect to children)"
"Apparently the “ward council” (turns out just two chauvinistic, middle-class, middle-aged, white, males present at said meeting) has decided without the input of mothers that we need to either nurse in the mothers lounge or cover the baby with a blanket. Like the baby is the obscene part? Knowing breasts are under shirts is bad enough I guess, but having a baby connected to them (and hiding said breast with babe’s head) make everyone squirm?
I was very upfront and said I have huge issues with this. That this is a public health issue, and the law says that women can nurse anytime anywhere. I said I feel like I’m doing society a service. If people don’t see breastfeeding, they won’t think it’s normal and won’t breastfeed their children". (I'm guessing this lady is ok with pornography...if people don't see it they will think it isn't normal).
"A large part of what we do on this site is share our dreams about how we wish the church could be different. What is there to do about it? What are approaches that are actually meaningful for creating change in the church? When oppressive conditions exist (and in my opinion, the status of women in the church is inarguably oppressive), it is because an oppressor is making a decision that denies full personhood to the oppressed. By doing so, they are denying their own full humanity. The only way to end this is to stop the oppression. By stopping the oppressor." (watch your back men of the church haha).
ANYWAY...
Needless to say, I think these women belong to the wrong church. Either that, or they are getting something completely different out of it than I am. I know this post is a little long, but I could not keep all of these... interesting... posts to myself.
