not in Primary anymore
About
We are young Mormon feminists advocating for change.
We are young:
We respect the sacrifices and efforts of people in the feminist movement throughout history. Their tenacity and unwillingness to compromise on the values they held dear resonate with us as stalwart examples of commitment to progress. We embrace this heritage and are dedicated to carrying it on as the next generation of young feminists. We are not naive; we may not remember or have even been alive at the time of many important feminist events, but we are actively seeking to learn and understand our heritage as we continue to fight for women’s rights today.
We are Mormon:
We are current members, past members, questioning members, and people who culturally identify as Mormons. We decry attempts to demean our faith based on our quest for greater understanding and equality. We value the efforts of Mormons who have battled both publicly and privately, loudly and silently, for change. As we navigate the paths of our own coming-of-age eras, we appreciate the ability to learn, grow, and take action for what we believe is right. We plead for a common understanding that each individual’s understanding of and relationship with deity is personal, private, and not to be coarsely judged by others.
We are feminists:
We define feminism as the advocacy for women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality. Furthermore, we acknowledge that there are a myriad of different oppressions and dedicate ourselves to the dismantling of kyriarchy. We reject the acceptance of extreme connotations as the definition for feminism and urge all people to do the same. We are not ashamed to call ourselves feminists. We are people actively seeking to eradicate vestiges of injustice in our societies in small and simple ways.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Exactly how young is “young”?
A. Although all are welcome on this blog, the average visitor is between 15-30 years of age.
Q. I see that some of your articles are not strictly about Mormons and feminism. What’s up with that?
A. Not everything is strictly related to the LDS Church, but we all write from the perspective of being young Mormon feminists.
Q. Why are there so many men contributing? This is supposed to be a feminist blog!
A. Our vision for the future of the feminist movement is that it will be made up of people of all sexes and genders. Everyone is affected by patriarchy and kyriarchy, and we welcome all people to educate themselves and and eliminate oppression however they can.
Q. Do you have a current temple recommend? Does your bishop know about this? How can you be faithful members?!
A. As stated above, every contributor’s standing before God is their own business. We appreciate you not judging us for our heartfelt searchings for understanding. Also, not all of the contributors are currently active members.
Q. I think you just need to have a little more faith.
A. Thank you for your opinion.
Q. I have a question but it’s kind of personal. How can I contact you?
A. You can always email us at youngmormonfeminists@gmail.com. We welcome your questions!
Q. I want to get involved with YMf and possibly contribute!
A. Awesome! Email us at youngmormonfeminists@gmail.com!
Young Mormon Feminists 
58 Responses to “About”
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Where does this stop. We are all under a prophet but he is under a loving Heavenly Father and Our Savior even Jesus the Christ. Also the Holy Ghost. This god head is made up of MEN who we ALL indeed answer to. This is wonderful. It is Perfect. Usually us mortals are never satisfied I find the restored gospel to be very satisfying and all though humans make mistakes. The lord is perfect and we agreed to things in the preexistence and stood up for these things and fought for these things that we knew are true. We agreed to uphold the gospel rather then bring it down. This is the first time I have ever commented on anything online. But I must speak on behalf of the prophets of the church and prophets before them.
“This god head is made up of MEN who we ALL indeed answer to.”
Just to clarify, the scriptures are silent on the gender of The Holy Ghost. It is suggested by some, Paul Toscano being one, that The Holy Ghost may be a female. I do not necessarily support such suggestions, but I am open to the idea. And, for the record, Elohim is used in Genesis 1:27 and describes creating male and female in the image of Elohim. Both genders are encapsulated in the name of God.
As the other commenter mentioned, God mad both man and woman in his image. Supporting gender equality is not bringing the gospel down. If anything it elevates it to a higher level. Being close minded and repeating things you’ve been spoon fed since you were young doesn’t make them right. The same loving Heavenly Father also blessed you with a brain capable of analyzing truth based on evidence. Faith is the knowledge of things which are not seen yet are true, but that does not include NOT seeing what is evident and factual. Open your mind a little and you’ll see that these people aren’t anti-gospel/anti-church. They are God-loving people who are working towards elevating His teachings to a higher leve.
I won’t spend much time on this because your ideology is so “straight out of the play book of Hilary Clinton.” I will not persuade you that you are an extreme left wing bigot nor will you persuade me that I am a right wing nut case. However I do agree with you on one point and that is that Jesus Christ has commanded us to love everyone. Perhaps we can agree that, that is more difficult with some people. As am example I attend a small branch in south west Texas made of 95% Latinos. Some of them are the most righteous member I have ever known and I do love them. When I look at all the camps holding Latino refugees I feel love and compassion for them. However do you realize that there are over a billion people that would like to come to the United States! Should we let them all in? Open all borders? Let ISIS in? Well its a little hard for me to love a man holding a 8 year old boys head on a stick and praising God. What say you about that? Would you love and serve this person?
As for your gun control views, more control is not the answer more love, teaching the gospel and discipline at home is the answer. Read the “The Family a Proclamation to the World. That will solve many of the problems of the world. Are you a heterophobia? It sounds like you have a problem with the Lords gospel? Read the 12th article of faith. We believe in obeying the laws of the land and when I help someone break those laws I am a criminal as well. So, immigration is a violation of the law. We all do not honor the 12th article of faith from time to time but to disregard it all the time for immigration purposes is denying your faith.
“Young Mormon Feminists” sounds like you have a problem with our prophet. I hope not. But I will love you anyway.
Your brother
Continue being awesome.
Glad those of us past 30 can still follow the blog. Most of us are still young at heart. 😉
Seriously, though, glad to have another awesome new site to follow!
The question “do you have a temple recommend” says it all. Women who have been endowed and who truly understand the endowment as it relates to priesthood authority etc. have no need for participation in a Mormon feminist movement because they fully understand the woman’s role in the plan of salvation and exaltation, a role which is just as vital and important as man’s.
Best satirical comment everrrrr. Right?
…right?
Well. What I’m trying to understand is their interpretation of Feminism. It’s apparently not extreme, which is fine, but then…why is it needed? I already understand and value the importance of women in my faith as I’m sure a majority of strong, active LDS people are. It happens to be a major part of our doctrine.
Exactly my thought too matt, after all what ‘changes’ do they want to see?
as an endowed and temple recommend holding woman in the LDS Church, I can assure you Holly that sexism is rampant in our church despite our knowledge of our divine roles. While it is true that we have a divine role, women are also still struggling to be looked at as valued and strong leaders in the church. Despite where women in the church are now, there is always room from progress and growth and sometimes women’s rights are put on the back burner unless they are rallied to the forefront. For goodness sake, women are just now able to pray in General Conference- we have plenty of room to expand.
On a side note, I believe that most sexism involved within the LDS church does NOT come from LDS doctrine, but from LDS culture.
I’m interested in the plan of action as to enforcing feminism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Is it education? Information?
As a convert, I felt it did not hinder my gender in anyway. Nor did my marriage to another member or my temple or Church experiences.
Is the culture truly this bad where advocacy is needed?
If anything, the Church (and I am referring to the restored Church, not the slang shortcut) offers a lot of protection for women.
In fact, the Church, I believe, is perfect in design. It’s the members who are not perfect.
This is simply my curiosity.
Priesthood is not about rights, it is about service and obligations.
I just stumbled on this blog and am reading the comments. You nailed it right there! A major reason I’m not currently active in the church is because of the LDS culture, NOT the doctrine. I’m definitely going to keep following this blog!
I’m an endowed woman, have a current temple recommend, and am active and participating in my ward. I’m also a young Mormon feminist. The two are not mutually exclusive.
I’m not trying to judge or demean anybody when I say this, but I don’t understand why people are less active because of the culture of the church if they have no issues with the doctrine. I mean who cares if some people in the church are uninformed ignorant and bigoted? I always thought that if someone truly believed in the doctrines and principles of the church they would remain active because they knew that the church is true nomatter how imperfect the people may be.
Agree!
A sincere question: did you mean to rip off fMh so blatantly, or was it unintentional?
Pete- fMhLisa was the one who originally contacted us to see if we’d be interested in creating an fMh-type blog for Mormon feminists who don’t necessarily connect with the tagline “angry activists with diapers to change.” It was at her encouragement that we created this blog, and it is completely intended to be like a younger version of fMh.
Well, at least you’re willing to acknowledge the total lack of originality. FMH may be a group of Church-hating manhaters, but, I think at least they’re the first ones to blog about it.
Also, I would encourage you now to change your path from one of hatred and rebellion. The fact that you would listen to Lisa suggests there’s not much hope, but at least I tried.
I think it is GREAT that you are filling a need that was not completely met on fMh! I know this blog is new; I hope that comments like Pete’s (below) won’t be too discouraging. I think he is dangerously close to violating your commenting policy. I don’t see this blog as Church-hating or man-hating. Thanks for the thoughtful (non-hateful) way you are addressing sensitive issues.
The only time re-branding made sense to me was when feminism was crtizied by womanists. But then again, that’s not quite a priviledged group. Which does answer the question in the headline for me who to do re-branding for: the supressed. Men who don’t feel included: not so much.
Hey! Just discovered this blog — love it! I’ve enjoyed the posts I’ve read so far 🙂
Just listened to the fmh podcast with you on it, and wanted to say hello! I think this is great!
I’ve read every post and I love the topics that you address. There is a completely different world out there than most mormons know about and surprisingly, it is a good world! We can find good and inspiring things! Keep doing what you’re doing because obviously even the people that don’t agree with you are reading!! XO
Not surprised at all to see that one of the main contributors defines herself as a Marxist.
I grew up mormon, I love your blog and the way you put things. Thank you!
I”m really inspired by the idea of a blog that looks at religion as well as feminism. I’m not religious myself, but so often it seems like those things are opposing, but it doesn’t seem like they always should be. I haven’t read much so far but what I have has been great, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this blog.
Glad you found us! I hope you’re enjoying what you’ve read 🙂
I think this is a great blog, in spite of what people like Pete think. He’s clearly afraid of feminists by labelling them as church haters and man haters. If he read a little more on this blog, he’d realise how completely wrong he really is. Don’t let people like that hold you back.
Also, there is plenty of room for feminism in the LDS church. It’s not a perfect church and needs to change on so many levels. As I see it, the church needs to catch up to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[…] Information and Research). It has spawned websites such as Mormon Women Project and a blog called Young Mormon Feminists by a Brigham Young University […]
.I guess the approach that I’m tanikg on this is to see the whole condescension and men being a privileged label things as part of the cultural critique. I think it highlights that, as far as we’ve come, we still haven’t achieved the same level as each other (ie. gender democracy). Men are still MENSA members to use your analogy and non-men (women and transmen) are just people. It is, I think, an intrinsic part of the gender caste system we live in.If I’m making sense, that is LOL
I suppose that sounds and smells just about right.
I understand what these authors are trying to accomplish but what I perceive to be the underlying cause behind many of the arguments which occur in the comments section after the articles is that there isn’t a common way to frame the problem. This page pleads for “common understanding”. I hope that it is one day achieved. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a Mormon Feminist blog which accomplishes this. In fact, I have found them to be somewhat hostile for people who don’t already share insight into the feminist viewpoint. Ironically, that means that the very people who need to change are actually put off by the discussions hosted here – something I don’t believe that the authors of Mormon Feminists blogs truly wish. There are indeed non hostile discussions of Mormon Feminism such as the brilliant and uplifting article authored by B. Kent Harrison and Mary S. Richards (https://byustudies.byu.edu/showTitle.aspx?title=6384).
I am an earnest seeker of truth and I believe much good could be accomplished on blogs such as this one. Up to this time, however, I haven’t been satisfied with the discourse. I have a daughter (3) who will one day seek for additional insight as to what I can teach her about the issues Mormon women face in church and in society at large. I hope that by then she will be able to find an appropriately profound discussion which is edifying and to which I will happily make reference.
I wish that the authors of this blog and others like it would be more explicit in hopes to increase faith and that their design is not to create doubt but understanding. Some have left a church over the very issues discussed here, not as a result of this blog but as a result of not being able to find satisfying and uplifting answers and a way to resolve doubt (Mark 4:16 -17).
I can understand the desire to “fight” for change but I think that is one point where modern secular feminism should be significantly different from that of the Mormon faith. Fighting (symbolic, philosophical, or other) implies contention. Contention is in is direct opposition to what the authors of this blog and others like it hope to achieve, which is the purging of ideas which prevent us from seeing the world as God sees it.
Hi Newell,
I would love it if people would comment more on articles on this blog, but I cannot control that- the comments section is open and people are free to contribute their thoughts. Similarly, I have an open invitation to anyone who wishes to publish something on this blog (related to Mormon feminism), and I have never turned down an offer of content. But I can only publish what is submitted. This blog was not created with any kind of agenda about being explicitly faith promoting or doubt-creating- people speak honestly about their opinions and experiences, and how that affects readers is a separate topic. Feminist Mormon Housewives DOES have the explicit mission to be faith promoting, however.
I love this blog! I am a semi-less active man in the church that is often frustrated by all the blatant offensive treatment to women. I just wanted to say, you are not alone. There are good men that stand by your cause. Good luck to all of you. I will always speak my mind when it comes to this matter, even when it is not popular in the LDS culture. God bless.
I’m unclear about the purpose of this blog. I read one post and enjoyed it, so I came to this page to learn more, but after reading I still don’t have a clue about what you specifically want to accomplish. Honestly when I hear the term “Mormon Feminist” I think of women who want to hold the priesthood. I’ve seen references from commentors about discrimination in the church against women. Maybe I just need to read more posts but I’d like to know specifically how women in the church feel discriminated against. I don’t want to sound antagonistic… I’d really like to understand.
Hi Christina! The purpose of this blog is to be a platform for the voices of many young Mormon feminists to write about and discuss their experiences. YMF does not act as an activist front for any particular group or cause, which is perhaps causing your confusion in “what [we] specifically want to accomplish” – that depends on the person writing the post 🙂
You wanted to know specifically how women in the church feel discriminated against- it would be awesome to read more posts to better understand that! There are many here that would be helpful to you, and almost all of them are fairly short. This is also a concise list of how myself and many other women are unequal in the Church. http://www.ldswave.org/?p=402
Thanks for your reply. I found the letter and many of the comments following it very helpful.
Hi, I found the site via a Buzzfeed article on feminist Mormons. I am an Anglican/Episcopalian hopefully entering the priesthood, and always interested in the perspectives of feminists of other faiths. One small piece of pedantry regarding your position on men and feminism – sex is not the same as gender, and there are more than two genders. Talking about ‘both sexes’ excludes and harms those who are genderqueer or otherwise outside the gender binary. Non-binary folk are still people and deserve to be included. Could you change it to ‘all genders’ please? Even when talking about just men and women, it’s gender and not sex.
Hi Jade- thank you so much for your comment! I have not re-read the About section since I published it in 2012 and you are absolutely right that I relied on the gender binary in my language. I apologize for that and will go fix it now. Thanks again for your comment.
Hannah, I want to be respectful of your and others’ right to a differing opinion, but I am genuinely confused about what you just wrote. The Proclamation On The Family clearly establishes that God’s children are “gender binary.” How do you reconcile your comment, and that of “Jade” with the clear, gender binary explanation found in the Proclamation?
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There are some interesting insights and comments that I have read thus far. Let me say that I have called myself a feminist for a long time, and I happen to be Mormon. I do not, however, adhere to the thought that being a feminist means that I stand for sameness in all things. Equality can mean that things are different because situations are different.
During my life I have wrestled with questions such as those brought up on this blog. In seeking answers to those questions I have been greatly blessed. I have an abiding testimony of the organization of the church. I have an abiding testimony that the Lord has given his prophet the knowledge and authority that is needed for the church to operate at this time. And I have an abiding testimony of my Heavenly Father’s love for me, that it is equal love that he has for his sons on this earth, that it is equal love that he has for his married daughters on this earth, and that it is a love that convinces me that the organization of the church is what I need to fulfill my mission as his daughter.
I enjoy respectful discourse on a variety of subjects, I do encourage all who have questions about this to take their questions first to their Heavenly Father, who loves us all equally and has no other agenda than our happiness.
I am a non-Mormon and I am puzzled by some of the comments from people who apparently see no discrimination by gender in the Mormon church and no need for change. If only men can become bishops, is this not discrimination?
Thank you for all that you’re doing. It makes me proud that there are members of our church who will ask questions and actually discuss gender equality in our church.
Regarding your logo “Not in Primary…”
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
People need to understand that in the church there is doctrine. This doctrine has been the same forever and will remain the same forever. Faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints understand the purposes of the roles of both men and women in the church. There is no way that women would be able to hold the priesthood and run a family at the same time. It would be too much for one person to handle. That is why marriage is set between a man and a woman. Each have their own divine role and purpose. I am not saying that women don’t have the priesthood in their lives, they can access it at any time! There should be no need for woman to feel alone in this area of the doctrine. Women on the church have plenty of rights and are considered sacred and strong. They should act accordingly.
You mention that it would be too much for a woman to hold the priesthood and run a family at the same time. But I understand that men are also responsible for the upbringing of children, yet they hold the priesthood. A family is exactly what you say: a man and a woman, equally entitled to raise the children they both created. As well, not all women want or are capable to have children. There is such a big emphasis on motherhood as the primary purpose of women in the church, when they have just as much capacity to grow in their professional, social, and spiritual lives. To say our divine role is to bear children is absurd; women cannot bear children without men. That is to say that we are dependent upon men, which has been proved wrong too many times for the inequality of women to be overlooked.
[…] Ms. Kelly’s parents, who live in Provo, Utah, were among those who lost temple privileges, as was a higher-profile leader, Hannah Wheelwright, who just graduated from the church’s Brigham Young University and founded a group called Young Mormon Feminists. […]
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